Co-founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, created an NFT of the first edit on the online encyclopedia. He is selling the digital token through Christie, a London auction house. Also, he is auctioning the Strawberry iMac he owned when he started Wikipedia. The sale will take place between the 3rd and 15th of December, and a portion of the funds will be used to support WT.Social. It is an initiative by the founder to create a healthy social media platform.
He issued a public statement which said, “It has been over twenty years since I first typed in words “Hello, World!” to launch Wikipedia – and even today, I am still amazed at the size and breadth of what it has become.” Wales emphasized that this milestone is an opportunity to appreciate the work done by volunteers on the platform. Also, it will encourage further efforts towards improving the website and imparting useful knowledge to the readers.
While conducting the auction, the President of Christie’s America, Bonnie Brennan says, “Christie’s is honored to present The Birth of Wikipedia, as it gives us a chance to celebrate, on a global level, the initial creation of Wikipedia.”
The Birth of Wikipedia
The auction has been named “The Birth of Wikipedia” and includes the NFT and the iMac. The first-ever edit of Wikipedia read “Hello, World!”, created by Wales himself on the launch date. The NFT has the same design and layout that Wikipedia used to have 20 years back. Interestingly, the NFT allows its owner to edit it, and a timer will reset it to the original state after some time. It’s one of its kind NFT.
“The Birth of Wikipedia” sale at Christie contains another item – a Strawberry iMac. He used this particular computer to develop Wikipedia and then launched it on 15th January 2001. For quite some time, he continued using it to improve and update the website. Later, it went into the possession of Wales’ daughter, who played games on this machine. The machine will come in its original box.
