(Bloomberg) -- The chief executive officer of Malaysian blockchain service Bridge Oracle paid Twitter Inc.'s co-founder $2.9 million to buy his first tweet.
Sina Estavi paid for the non-fungible token in cryptocurrency Ether, according to Cent, the operator of auction website Valuables where it was sold. Jack Dorsey, also Twitter's CEO, announced the sale of the 15-year-old tweet -- “just setting up my twttr” -- on March 6.
“This is not just a tweet!” Estavi tweeted after his purchase. “I think years later people will realize the true value of this tweet, like the Mona Lisa painting.”
The sale was reported earlier by Reuters.
Digital art -- anything from pictures to sports highlights -- has been gaining popularity, with non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, providing a certificate of authenticity that runs on blockchain technology. Beeple sold a piece of work for $69 million earlier in March, while auction house Sotheby's said it would start a collaboration with digital artist Pak.
Also read: The $69 Million JPG Signals Boom Time for NFTs
Bridge Oracle, based on a project started in 2019, is a blockchain startup in Kuala Lumpur built on the Tron network, a cryptocurrency platform created by Justin Sun. Sun is the Chinese token advocate who spent a record $4.6 million to share a meal with Warren Buffett. He bid $2 million for Dorsey's tweet, he tweeted on March 6.
Estavi and Bridge Oracle didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Dorsey said he converted the proceeds of his tweet sale into Bitcoin and donated the money to GiveDirectly, a nonprofit that helps the world's poorest.
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