Vodafone auctioning world's 1st SMS 'Merry Christmas' as a NFT; check expected price

The first SMS message ever sent will be auctioned off on 21 December, as per the reports of the Irish Examiner. The text was delivered to Vodafone employee Richard Jarvis on 2 December 1992, is being auctioned as a non-fungible token (NFT) by Augettes Auction House in France. NFTs are essentially forgery-proof digital certificates of ownership of digital assets.

Those who bid on the SMS at the auction will have to pay with the Ethereum coin. After the auction concludes, the successful bidder will be the sole owner of the original code that conveyed the world's first text. The first message simply said, "Merry Christmas" and it is expected to sell for between €100,000 (Rs 86 lakh approx) and €200,000 (Rs 1.72 crore approx), with all earnings going to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which assists forcibly displaced people throughout the world.

Selling SMS for good cause

Vodafone Germany CEO Hannes Ametsreiter added stated that they are bringing together the pioneering spirit of two centuries with this auction. He also stated that they are selling the SMS for a good cause. According to The Mirror, Ametsreiter also said that the sending of a short text message nearly three decades ago was a key milestone in the development of mobile communications technology and today, billions of people around the world send wishes for Christmas, Hanukkah, Eid, and many other holidays in the form of texts, videos, audio messages, and emoticons. He further stated that the globe would be less connected today if the first "Merry Christmas" text message was not sent to a cell phone. 

The auction will take place on 21 December at Augettes Auction House's Instagram account. Ahmed Essam, chief executive officer of Vodafone UK stated that they are thrilled to be bringing together a big technological invention from their history with cutting-edge technology from today which is NFT, to help those in desperate need of support, according to City AM.

Historic tribute to human & technology

Auction house founder Maximilian Aguttes remarked that the first printed book, the first phone call, the first email, all of these inventions have revolutionised lives and communication around the world. As per City AM, he also said that this first text message received in 1992 is a historic tribute to human and technology progress and they are thrilled to be able to sponsor the sale of this landmark piece of history for this cause.

Image: Twitter/@VodafoneUK