It doesn’t get more meta than this. Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the British computer scientist and inventor behind the creation of the World Wide Web in 1989, is auctioning off his original source code as a non-fungible token (NFT).
The auction will run from June 23-30 at Sotheby’s in London, and will include Berners-Lee’s original timestamped files containing approximately 9,500 lines of code, an animated visualization of the code, a letter from Berners-Lee reflecting on the creation of the web and a digital poster of the code.
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“NFTs, be they artworks or a digital artifact like this, are the latest playful creations in this realm, and the most appropriate means of ownership that exists,” Berners-Lee said in a Soetheby’s press statement. “They are the ideal way to package the origins behind the web.”
Aside from his interest in NFTs, Berners-Lee has long been an outspoken advocate for the decentralized web.
The auction will start at $1,000 and proceeds will benefit initiatives that Berners-Lee and his wife support.