blockster.com
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been making such a boom this year, and the latest popular platform to join the NFT craze is Wikipedia. The co-founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, has announced that he will be selling the first edit ever made on the site as an NFT.
The first words to be written on the site read “Hello World!.” These words were typed on the platform on January 15, 2021, after Wikipedia was launched. These words have now been minted, and they are being auctioned off as an NFT.
NFTs have become a popular way of storing digital content on the blockchain, such that the content cannot be duplicated, as there can only exist one version of the content on the blockchain.
NFTs have transformed the collectibles world because they can be used in storing art and other pieces of vital information that is unique. Because of the problem with art duplication, NFTs have become very popular among artists.
Collectors interested in owning a piece of the world’s largest online repository that offers free information can buy the Wikipedia NFT. According to Christie’s, this NFT is expected to sell between $100,000 to $150,000, given the popularity of Wikipedia.
As aforementioned, Wales developed Wikipedia in 2001. However, Wikipedia was not his first concept, as he had initially tried to create a site known as Nupedia that contained peer-reviewed information. However, Nupedia never materialized, with Wales stating that it was too rigid.
The idea of building Wikipedia came from Larry Sanger, the other co-founder of the repository. He made a plan that made it easy for people to contribute to the web pages, and the site was able to grow significantly. Since then, Wikipedia has ranked as one of the top-10 most visited pages on the internet.
During the early years of Wikipedia, the previous versions of pages would be lost because of edits, but Wales developed a code that preserves a page’s history, making it easy to revert changes. This code will be sold in the NFT.
The other thing included in the NFT is a strawberry iMac that Wales used to work on Wikipedia during its early years. The NFT auction will run until December 15.
Wales noted that this NFT would give the buyer a chance to make edits on the page, which will allow them to artistically express themselves in an exciting moment. He further hoped that the buyer would create “something amazing” from the NFT.
he stated.
Wales noted that the proceeds of this sale would be directed towards WT.Social, a social media project that Wales has also been working on. Part of the money would also be donated to charity.
Peter Klarnet, a senior specialist at Christie’s, stated that the growth of Wikipedia is proof of the power of crowdsourcing. He commended Wikipedia for allowing billions of people globally to access a wide range of free information.
Klarnet stated.