The world’s first SMS has been sold as a non-fungible token (NFT) for $149,729 (€132,680) at auction in Paris, according to the auctioneer Aguttes.
Reading “Merry Christmas,” the message was sent by British programmer Neil Papworth from his computer on December 3 1992 to Richard Jarvis, then director of UK telecommunications company Vodafone.
Jarvis received the message on his Orbitel 901 cellphone during the company’s Christmas function.
The NFT is a replica of the original communication protocol that transmitted the SMS, the auction house said. The unknown buyer, who was to pay in the cryptocurrency Ether, will also receive a digital frame with a 3D animation of the message being received.
