The auction of a tokenized version of the first tweet ever sent is due to end in a few hours with a top bid of $2.5 million, where it’s been stuck for more than two weeks.
- The first-ever tweet was sent by Twitter founder and CEO Jack Dorsey 15 years ago today:
- Earlier this month, Dorsey called attention to a tokenized version of that tweet on the non-fungible token (NFT) platform Valuables.
- Even though the tweet was minted in December 2020, Dorsey’s action ignited a brief bidding war between Justin Sun, the founder of Tron and the CEO of BitTorrent, and Sina Estavi, whose LinkedIn profile describes him as CEO of Malaysia-based (and Tron-affiliated) Bridge Oracle.
- Estavi's $2.5 million offer has been the high bid since March 6.
- While there was initial skepticism as to whether Dorsey would actually "sell" the NFT of the tweet, on March 9 he said via tweet (how else?) that the auction would end on March 21 and that he would accept the winning bid.
- GiveDirectly is a non-profit organization that specializes in giving direct cash transfers to low-income people, without strings attached. “Africa response” in Dorsey’s tweet likely refers to its “COVID-19 Africa Response” campaign.
- Given Twitter is based in San Francisco, it's possible Dorsey won't consider the auction over until midnight West Coast time.