Wikipedia is on its way to turning 21 years of life and Jimmy Wales, its creator, has made a rather peculiar decision, but aligned with one of the trends of the moment. The first edition in the online encyclopedia , dating from January 15, 2001, will be auctioned as an NFT .
It is a publication of only two words that was made on the cover of an incipient Wikipedia, when very probably not even the most optimistic believed it possible that the platform would become what it is today. On a white background, adorned with some links and a search box, you can see that first message that simply said Hello, World!.
Wikipedia's NFT auction will be held through Christie's, and the bidding will run from today, Friday, December 3, until Wednesday, 15 of this month . At the moment it has not been mentioned what is the figure to be reached, but it is an article that can generate a lot of interest among the nostalgic. Recall that this year a similar event was held with the original WWW source code files, promoted by Tim Berners-Lee.
According to the documentation for this initiative, the NFT that Jimmy Wales has created based on the first Wikipedia post is dynamic. This means that whoever buys it will be able to edit it to their liking —in keeping with the spirit of the Free Encyclopedia—, and later revert it to its original appearance.
Wikipedia also gets on the train of the NFT, for charity purposes
This was the first edition to the front page of Wikipedia, which will now be auctioned as NFT Christie's auction The Birth of Wikipedia will not only cover the NFT of the first publication made on the platform. The other item that users will also be able to bid on is the strawberry-colored iMac that Jimmy Wales himself used to create the site .
“When new and disruptive technologies with enormous potential for change enter the market, there is a lot of enthusiasm and good and bad ideas are launched. I am particularly interested in seeing how NFTs can positively impact artists and creators, and provide them with the opportunity to take ownership. of their work while still sharing freely, “Wales told Highsnobiety.
The money raised from the NFT auctions of the first edition on the front page of Wikipedia and Jimmy Wales' iMac will go to two destinations. On the one hand, it will be used to support entities that work towards free culture ; on the other hand, it will serve as the mainstay of WT.Social , a social network project that the Wikipedia creator himself presented in 2019.
