Archive image.

A man reads the "New York Times" in Islamabad (Pakistan), in February 2019. -

AAMIR QURESHI / AFP

New York Times columnist Kevin Roose sold one of his articles in digital form on Thursday.

The document found a buyer for $ 560,000.

The latest episode in the madness around the new NFT technology, which collectors are snapping up.

The article itself was dedicated to the editorialist's initiative, which aimed to test the market and further broaden the scope of digital works sold as NFTs.

We have a winner!

The NFT version of this column has sold for 350 ETH, or about $ 560,000, with proceeds going to the NYT's Neediest Cases Fund.

https://t.co/gzbcw6Ymw7

- Kevin Roose (@kevinroose) March 25, 2021

The NFT in full explosion

The NFT, a non-fungible or non-fungible token in English, allows a certificate of authenticity to be associated with any virtual object, whether it is an image, photo, animation, video, piece of music and now a newspaper article.

This certificate is theoretically inviolable and cannot be duplicated.

It is designed using so-called “blockchain” technology, which serves as the basis for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.

The NFT, which has only really become popular for only six months, has boosted the digital collection market, so far considered a niche.

On March 11, a digital work by American artist Beeple, titled

Everydays: The First 5000 Days

, sold for $ 69.3 million at Christie's.

Money donated to charity

"Why couldn't a reporter be part of the NFT party?"

", Read the caption of Kevin Roose's article, titled" Buy this article on the blockchain! "

(Buy This Column on the Blockchain!).

After 24 hours of auctioning, a collector who calls himself Farzin and whose username is @ 3FMusic won it with 350 ethers, one of the main cryptocurrencies, or around $ 560,000.

"I just look at my screen laughing without being able to control myself," reacted Kevin Roose, journalist specializing in new technologies, a few minutes after the end of the sale, on his Twitter account.

The journalist had indicated that the proceeds of the sale, after deducting the 15% commission collected by the Foundation platform on which the auctions were organized, would go to the charities of the New York Times.

This Monday, the co-founder and CEO of the social network Twitter, Jack Dorsey, had sold, in the form of NFT, his very first Tweet, for $ 2.9 million.

This Thursday, a digital portrait produced by the famous robot Sophia, with the collaboration of artist Andrea Bonaceto, was acquired for $ 688,000 during an auction on the Nifty Gateway platform.

Culture

NFT-mania: Record for digital artwork sold for $ 69 million

High-Tech

"Crossroad": Digital Art Video Sells $ 6.6 Million at Auction

  • Culture

  • Journalism

  • Journalist

  • Virtual currency

  • Digital

  • Auctions