Nelson Mandela’s Original Arrest Warrant Sold As NFT For $130K

Nelson Mandela’s original arrest warrant has been sold as Non-fungible token (NFT) for $130,000.

It was sold in an auction aimed to fund a heritage site that documents South Africa’s struggle for democracy.

Prior to becoming South Africa’s first black president, Nelson Mandela was a part of a political organization (African National Congress – ANC), in which he became a leader of Johannesburg’s youth division and later deputy national president.

The party’s goal was to fight against white supremacy and racial segregation. However, Nelson helped organize a paramilitary branch of the ANC to engage in guerrilla warfare after a massacre of black demonstrators in 1960.

He was first arrested for treason in 1961, before he was released, and imprisoned again in 1962 for leaving the country without a permit and for inciting workers to strike. He spent the next nearly 30 years of his life in prison and was released on February 11, 1990.

Fast-forward to March 2022, and his legacy continues in a digitalized form. A report from Bloomberg informed that his original arrest warrant was sold as a non-fungible token at an auction for 1.9 million rands ($130,000) to help fund a heritage site that shows the country’s struggles for democracy.

The Liliesleaf Museum Heritage Site will receive the proceeds as it has also held the original document since 2004.

The auction was carried out on an NFT marketplace – Momint – and its CEO said these funds will help the “museum sites stay afloat.”