A historical artifact connected to the creation of the internet just sold as a non-fungible token (NFT) for a whopping $5,434,500.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee is an English academic and scientist who contributed immensely to the innovation of the World Wide Web. He is responsible for developing HTML, URL, and HTTP, three fundamental technologies that remain crucial to the internet’s functionality.
To commemorate this innovation, Berners-Lee opened up an auction for an NFT of the original source code of the World Wide Web. Bidding for the NFT began on June 23rd at Sotheby’s, fetching just over $1,000 and receiving a total of 51 bids.
Offered directly by Berners-Lee himself, proceeds from the $5.4 million sale will benefit initiatives that he and his wife Lady Rosemary Leith Berners-Lee support.
“The process of bringing this NFT to auction has offered me the opportunity to look back in time to the moment I first sat down to write this code thirty years ago, and reflect on how far the web has come since then, and where it could go in the decades to come.
I am thrilled that the initiatives Rosemary and I support will benefit from the sale of this NFT. I want to thank everyone that has worked on this project at Sotheby’s and the crypto community for your help and support.”
Tim Berners-Lee has dedicated his life to fighting for digital equality. He and his wife are co-founders of the World Wide Web Foundation, and he also directs various internet-related non-profits.
NFTs have burst on the scene in 2021, bringing in a massive $2 billion in the first quarter of the year alone before cooling off amid the widespread market correction.
Earlier this month, a CryptoPunk – one of the earliest series of digital collectibles – sold for $11.8 million in another Sotheby’s auction. Both of these sales, however, pale in comparison to Beeple’s NFT sale back in March, which sold for a record-shattering $69 million.
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Featured Image: Shutterstock/Vilmos Varga/REDPIXEL.PL