A non-fungible token (NFT) of the very first text message that was ever sent has just sold at an auction run by the Aguttes Auction House in France for the price of €100,000. Sold as part of a charity campaign, which was raising money for the UN Refugee Agency, the digital asset is said to be a detailed replica of that first message, and as it is an NFT, can be traded on the Blockchain.
As part of the sale, Aguttes Auction House founder, Maximilian Aguttes said that he was "delighted to be able to support the sale of this landmark piece of history" and that the NFT represents a "historic testament to human and technological process".
The actual text message itself was sent by Neil Papworth, a 22-year-old British engineer on December 21, 1992, with the receiver, Vodafone's Richard Jarvis, getting a message saying, "Merry Christmas".
"We're proud to be bringing together a major technology innovation from our past with cutting-edge technology of today, to help people in desperate need of support," said Vodafone UK's CEO Ahmed Essam.
Take a look at the listing for the NFT here.