The French newspaper “20 Minutes” on Wednesday auctioned its own non-fungible token (NFT).
The art gallery Piasa in Paris organized the sale of this six-page supplement titled “The crazy years of 2020.” The winning customer paid 3,000 pounds for the bid.
The uniqueness of the copy is secured by a blockchain-based certificate of ownership, a “tamper-proof system” that authenticates both virtual currency transactions and purchases of digital things.
Supporting the IFJ
The funds raised will benefit the International Federation of Journalists’ Safety Fund (IFJ).
20 Minutes is a free daily newspaper published in 2002 and distributed throughout France’s major cities.
The issue, which was published on January 13 last year, shortly before the COVID-19 epidemic reached France, was chosen by the editors and internet users for its “prophetic aspect.”
This year, the value of NFTs has increased significantly in overseas auction houses.
NFTs enable the acquisition of any digital object (picture, animation, music, video, or even a Twitter comment) through the use of a digital token that materializes the object and verifies its authenticity.
Documenting a technological revolution
In search of new experiences, 20 Minutes sought to document this technological revolution by selling its own NFT.
“Through this auction, the newspaper wishes to question the value of quality information,” 20 Minutes said. “20 Minutes is a free newspaper for its readers, but information has a cost,” it said.
The publication added that the sale of an NFT looks to be a perfect opportunity to reflect on this issue while also making crypto-arts accessible to the broadest possible audience.
20 Minutes was influenced by The New York Times, which in March sold a photograph of a column as an NFT for a whopping $560,000.
NFTs can be easily exchanged over the Internet via specialized platforms such as Rarible or OpenSea.
Image courtesy of Cointelegraph News/YouTube