In Brief:
- Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales is auctioning off his first-ever wiki edit as an NFT.
- The auction titled “The Birth of Wikipedia” includes a strawberry-colored iMac G3 that he used to create Wikipedia.
- The auction hosted by Christie’s auction house is taking place from December 3 to December 15.
Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikipedia, is selling off his first-ever Wiki site edit as an NFT.
“‘Hello, World!’ was Jimmy Wales’s first edit to the wiki site’s homepage after it debuted on January 15, 2001.
Wales stated, “It’s been over twenty years since I first typed in the words “Hello, World!” to launch Wikipedia – and even today, I’m still amazed at the size and breadth of what it has become.”
As stated in the announcement, the auction is titled “The Birth of Wikipedia.” The auction also includes a strawberry-colored iMac G3, the desktop computer that Wales used to create Wikipedia.
Christie’s is hosting the auction, which is taking place from December 3 to December 15. At the time of writing, the iMac has received $2,800 in bids, while the Wikipedia NFT has received $2,800 in bids.
The Wiki NFT is estimated to sell for $100,000-150,000, according to Christie auction house.
WT.Social, Wale’s social media network project, will benefit from the proceeds of the auction. The project is an effort to find a healthier and non-toxic alternative to the current social media platforms through a donation-only, ad-free model, as well as to aid a number of charities.
Based on the earliest source code available, the NFT preserves the layout of the Wikipedia home page in 2001. It also features a dynamic function that allows the owner to edit the page, which may be reverted to its original condition using a timer.
This is not the first time a tech giant has launched NFT. Earlier in March, former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey auctioned off his first tweet as an NFT for $2.9 million. Funnily enough at that time, Wales tweeted about selling his iMac and now he ended up auctioning off both the Wiki edit and iMac.
