Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales sells an NFT of his first edition of “hello world!” | Currency News | Financial and business news

• Christie’s is auctioning an NFT of the rough cut Jimmy Wales made on Wikipedia.
• The edit, done over two decades ago, said “Hello, World!”
• The strawberry-colored Apple computer that Wales helped found the site on is also for sale.

You can now own a holdover from the early days of Wikipedia.

Christie’s is auctioning off the very first cut of Jimmy Wales – which says “Hello, World!” – as a non-fungible token. The strawberry-colored Apple computer that Wales helped found the online encyclopedia on is also for sale. The auction, titled “The Birth of Wikipedia”, will take place from December 3 to 15.

Wikipedia was launched over twenty years ago, on January 15, 2001, with the inaugural edition of Wales, “and even today I’m still amazed at the size and breadth of what it is. become, “he said in a statement.

The NFT shows the nascent layout of the site and will allow the prospective owner to make their own changes to the page, which will revert to its original state with a timer, according to the press release.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale will go to Wales’ social media pilot project called WT.Social, which aims to be a healthier alternative to current sites with its ad-free, donation-free model.

NFTs are simply digital works of art tied to a blockchain, and crypto enthusiasts love them. According to Peter Klarnet, Christie’s senior scholar, Wikipedia, “Building on the efforts of millions of people over the past 20 years, is one of the best examples of what decentralized groups working towards a common goal can accomplish.” .

Other famous websites have capitalized on the growing NFT market, which reached $ 15 billion in transaction volume in October. Twitter creator Jack Dorsey, for example, sold his first tweet, which read “I just set up my twttr”, for $ 2.9 million in March. Also in March, another buyer spent half a million dollars to own an NFT from a New York Times column.