The web’s source code is being auctioned as an NFT — and the bidding stands at $3 million

<div></div> <p><span class="HighlightShare-hidden" style="top:0;left:0"></span></p> <div class="InlineImage-imageEmbed" id="ArticleBody-InlineImage-102178336" data-test="InlineImage"> <div class="InlineImage-wrapper"> <div class="InlineImage-imagePlaceholder" style="padding-bottom:55.55555555555556%"> <div style="height:100%" class="lazyload-placeholder"></div> </div> <div> <div class="InlineImage-imageEmbedCaption">Tim Berners-Lee, a native of London, is a recipient of the 1998 MacArthur Fellowship carrying a stipend of $270,000 for his work in pioneering the World Wide Web.</div> <div class="InlineImage-imageEmbedCredit">Elise Amendol | AP</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="group"> <p>LONDON – With just a few hours to go, a non-fungible token of the original code for the World Wide Web is currently selling for $3 million in a Sotheby’s online auction.</p> <p>The <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/this-changed-everything-source-code-for-www-x-tim-berners-lee-an-nft/source-code-for-the-www/bid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">auction</a> will finish at 7 p.m. London time on Wednesday.</p> <div style="height:100%" class="lazyload-placeholder"></div> <p>NFTs are a type of digital asset designed to show that someone has ownership of a unique virtual item, such as online pictures and videos, or even sports trading cards.</p> <p>The web NFT has been <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/15/web-nft-source-code-is-being-auctioned-by-inventor-tim-berners-lee.html">made by British computer scientist and web inventor Tim Berners-Lee</a>.</p> <p>It includes original time-stamped files containing the source code written by Berners-Lee, an animated visualization of the code, a letter written by Berners-Lee on the code and its creation, and a digital “poster” of the full code. They will all be digitally signed by Berners-Lee.</p> <p>“NFTs, be they artworks or a digital artefact like this, are the latest playful creations in this realm, and the most appropriate means of ownership that exists,” said Berners-Lee in a statement.</p> <p>“They are the ideal way to package the origins behind the web.”</p> <div style="height:100%" class="lazyload-placeholder"></div> </div> <div class="group"> <p>In a bizarre turn of events, Berners-Lee appeared to talk down the significance of the NFT in an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jun/23/tim-berners-lee-defends-auction-nft-web-source-code" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview with The Guardian</a> published last Wednesday after critics questioned whether the auction aligned with the values of the web. “I’m not even selling the source code,” he said. “I’m selling a picture I made with a Python program that I wrote myself, of what the source code would look like if it was stuck on the wall and signed by me.”</p> <p>The auction for the NFT — titled “This Changed Everything” — commenced on June 22, with bidding starting at $1,000.</p> <p>The proceeds will benefit initiatives that Berners-Lee and his wife Rosemary Leith support, Sotheby’s said.</p> <p>Some NFTs have sold for millions of dollars in the last few months.</p> <p>In March, South Carolina-based graphic designer Beeple, whose real name is Mike Winkelmann, sold an NFT for a record $69 million at a Christie’s auction. Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, sold his first tweet as an NFT for $2.9 million later that month.</p> <p>Earlier this month, a rare digital avatar known as a CryptoPunk sold at Sotheby’s for over $11.7 million. Total NFT sales reached an eye-popping $2 billion in the first quarter of this year, according to data from Nonfungible, a website which tracks the market.</p> <p>But there are <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/15/nft-price-crash-what-next-for-digital-collectibles.html">signs that the bubble could be bursting</a>, with sales of digital collectibles falling dramatically in recent weeks. Overall sales plunged from a seven-day peak of $176 million on May 9, to just $8.7 million on June 15, according to numbers from Nonfungible. That means volumes are now roughly back where they were at the start of 2021.</p> <p><em>— Additional reporting by CNBC’s Ryan Browne.</em></p> </div> <div id="ArticleBody-MobileAdhesion" class="MobileAdhesion-container" data-module="mps-slot"></div> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://patabook.com/technology/2021/06/30/the-webs-source-code-is-being-auctioned-as-an-nft-and-the-bidding-stands-at-3-million/">The web’s source code is being auctioned as an NFT — and the bidding stands at $3 million</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://patabook.com/technology">Patabook Technology</a>.</p>

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