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15 years ago this month, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey sent out the first-ever tweet on the platform.
“Just setting up my twttr,” he posted.
How the world has changed. Not only is Twitter perhaps the most influential social media tool on earth, tweets themselves are now digital assets you can own.
Dorsey’s tweet is currently up for auction on the site Valuables By Cent, and the last bid hit $2.5 million.
Ok—let’s answer the most glaring question on your mind. How the heck do you sell a tweet?
Tweets are sold as non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, which are unique digital certificates that state who owns a form of web media, be it photo, video, or text post. They’re made using blockchain tech, the same as cryptocurrency uses.
Hopefully you’re still with us.
just setting up my twttr
— jack (@jack) March 21, 2006
The tweet will not disappear from the internet, however, not change accounts—rather, the winner of the auction will get a certificate from the site that has been verified and signed digitally by the tweeter—in this case Dorsey—as well as gaining the metadata to the tweet.
So why would someone buy a tweet? As the technology has only existed for a short time, it really depends on how much you believe in the item you’re buying. For some, it will be a financial investment, for others it’s merely a bit of fun. It’s like an autograph or baseball card, the site describes.
It’s not only the founder of Twitter that can sell a tweet, too—Anyone can put their tweets for sale on the platform, and choose to accept the top bid or not. By all means, be our guest.
If you sell a tweet, the seller keeps 95 percent of the money, with five percent going to the platform. If you resell a tweet you’ve already bought, you’ll keep 87.5 percent of the sale, with 10 percent going to the original creator, and 2.5 percent to the auction website. There is no limit on resales, and the percentage does not diminish further than that.
— jack (@jack) March 6, 2021
What next? The money is automatically credited to the seller’s crypto wallet when they agree to sell, with all of it taking an hour to clear on the Ethereum network.
Currently, it looks as if the platform is mostly taking off with crypto enthusiasts, with the highest bidder on @Jack’s tweet from a crypto-company founder based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Jack’s tweet in particular first hit the site in December, but attention towards the auction shot up on Friday after the Twitter founder shared the auction himself.
With the sale already a clear success, we can’t help but wonder which tweet might go for auction next. If we’re holding our money for anything, it’s the early work of one 50 Cent. The grandma tweet will be ours…
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