The creator of the world wide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, is selling off the original code used to create the modern internet as an NFT, the BBC reports.
Some have expressed surprise at the news given that Sir Tim famously refused to patent his invention.
The sale is being handled by Sotheby’s auction house, and the money made will be put towards causes chosen by Sir Tim and his wife, Sotheby’s said.
Sir Tim invented the world wide web – the main modern way we use the internet – in 1989.
He proposed a way of linking together different pieces of information stored on the early internet through hyperlinks, and built the first web browser and web server.
The first web page described the idea: “Aiming to give universal access to a large universe of documents.”
Sotheby’s is auctioning off a collection of four different items as a single digital NFT.
They include “the original time-stamped files” of the source code written for the project, “an animated visualisation” of that code, a letter from Sir Tim about the process, and a “digital poster” of the code created by him.
In all, the files represent nearly 10,000 lines of written code.
NFTs are a form of unique ownership for digital-only items and do not necessarily include copyright control.
They have also been widely criticized as a money-making scheme and bad for the environment.
