Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is selling the first-ever tweet on the platform, which was posted from Dorsey’s account in March 2006. It said, “just setting up my twttr”.
Dorsey has now listed this first tweet as a unique digital signature on a website called “Valuables by cent” meant for selling tweets as a non-fungible token (NFT), an asset whose value is subject to value fluctuations. An NFT is a one-of-kind digital token and the person who buys it is the sole owner of it, which means the purchaser can resell or distribute it.
So what does it mean to own a tweet?
As per the website ‘Valuables by cent’, what a person pays for in order to “own a tweet” is a digital certificate of the tweet, which is unique because it is signed and verified by the tweet’s creator. This certificate is issued once by the website and is signed using cryptography. People can make offers on any tweet that has been posted from a public Twitter account.
“Owning any digital content can be a financial investment, hold sentimental value, and create a relationship between collector and creator. Like an autograph on a baseball card, the NFT itself is the creator’s autograph on the content, making it scarce, unique, and valuable,” the FAQs on the website said.
Once an individual has purchased a tweet, they can resell the tweet on the website or display them in their online gallery. Buyers can also choose to keep the tweet in their private collection. According to Valuables by cent, 95 per cent of the money for purchasing the tweet goes to the creator of the tweet and five per cent goes to the website. For secondary sells, 87.5 per cent goes to the seller, 10 per cent goes to the creator and 2.5 per cent to the website.
Further, the money is credited to the seller’s crypto wallet. As per media reports, on Friday, Dorsey’s tweet received offers as high as $88,000.
