Two weeks after it was put up for bid, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey finally sold his first-ever tweet as a non-fungible token (NFT) at a whooping sum of $2,915,835.47.
The winning bidder, Sina Estavi, the Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia-based Bridge Oracle – a digital currency, held the highest bid more than once.
Initially, Estavi had offered a bid of $2.5 million on March 6; however, he later topped the figures to become the rightful owner of Jack’s first tweet, as seen below.
just setting up my twttr
— jack (@jack) March 21, 2006
On two occasions, Estavi had the highest bid on Valuable by Cent – the platform on which the tweet was auctioned as an NFT.
Valuable by cent works like a stock market, specifically for the sales of original tweets that the actual owner autographs.
However, Dorsey’s latest sale on the platform marks the highest so far, with most sales averaging $50 to $100 per NFT.
Some NFTs are being auctioned for even high prices; one of such is an NFT by the artiste Beeple and is currently auctioned for $3 million.
Digital artist Beeple posted a new work of art online every single day for 5000 days.
Those pieces have been brought together in one digital collage EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS, minted as an NFT and is being auctioned off by Christie's.
The current bid is $3M pic.twitter.com/rwwa64YXNV
— Tanay Jaipuria (@tanayj) March 1, 2021
Also, an NFT of LeBron James making a legendary dunk for the Lakers made more than $200,000.
If you wonder what an NFT is, do not worry; this article (click here to read) will help you understand better.
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Moving on, Dorsey’s first tweet, which read “just setting up my twttr,” was initially posted on March 21, 2006.
Although it doesn’t conceal any hidden code or value per se, the tweet escalated quickly after Dorsey put it up for auction, attracting more attention to the NFT market in general.
Dorsey donated the proceeds from his tweet
While the bid kept attracting more attention and, of course, figures, Dorsey eventually decided to end the bidding on the tweet’s 15th anniversary.
Ahead of the scheduled time, Estavi made his final, winning bid on Monday afternoon, and according to Reuters, paid using the Ether cryptocurrency valued at 1630.5825601 ETH.
Before the eventual sales of his first tweet, Dorsey had previously claimed that the proceeds from the digital asset’s sales would be converted to Bitcoin and donated.
Then, Dorsey revealed that GiveDirectly – a non-profit organization based in East Africa will be at the receiving end of his donation.
Committing to his pledge, Dorsey posted a receipt of the equivalent of 50.8751669BTC transferred to GiveDirect.
Sent to @GiveDirectly Africa fund 🌍Thank you, @sinaEstavi. pic.twitter.com/aEZu07auLV
— jack (@jack) March 22, 2021
The donation made to GiveDirect is also one of the biggest to be received by the organization who has been able to raise $307.5 million so far.
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Funds received by GiveDirect are channelled into COVID-19 response in Africa and the United States, respectively.
Specifically, Dorsey’s donation for Africa will subsequently be sent as relief cash to families living in extreme poverty.
Currently, GiveDirectly is responding to families in Kenya, Rwanda, Liberia, and Malawi.
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