British startup Cryptograph launched this summer with its first round of auctions, raising more than $50,000 so far, with two days still to go.
- Prominent crypto developers and entrepreneurs including Gitcoin CEO Kevin Owocki, ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees and Parity co-founder Jutta Steiner auctioned digital autographs and notes related to their work. The digital doodles are used to generate non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
- The top earners so far include Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin (whose notes sold for 77.35 ether (ETH), or roughly $18,719), Ethereum Foundation researcher Vlad Zamfir (25 ETH, roughly $6,050) and Tezos co-founder Kathleen Breitman (5 ETH, roughly $1,204).
- According to Buterin’s auction page, the autographed NFT includes his own “hand-drawn representation of this groundbreaking Quadratic Funding formula.” The bid for his digital autograph will go towards Gitcoin’s open-source grant programs.
- Ownership of the autographs, displayed in a virtual gallery, is publicly verifiable. Plus, contributors will be able to distribute funds across multiple charities.
Correction (July 14, 21:08 UTC): Vitalik Buterin's notes raised 77.35 ETH, not 40 ETH as was previously reported.