YouTube viral video ‘Charlie Bit My Finger’ set to auction on Origin Protocol as NFT

The viral 55-second youtube video that turned into a popular meme ”Charlie bit my finger” is set to go auction this Saturday as an NFT (non-fungible-token) through the platform Origin Protocol. The footage is expected to surpass the bidding for the world's first-ever crypto albums from an artist named 3LAU on the platform that sold for record-breaking $11.7 million. With over  880 million views on YouTube, the NFT version of the video will begin sale on May 22, which will mark the video’s 14th anniversary. After it sells, the video will be removed from YouTube forever. 

The ”Charlie bit my finger” is another NFT modified digital asset from the 2000s memes such as The Deal with It glasses that sold for around $23,000, and the Keyboard Cat that fetches around $64,400, all of whom auctioned as NFT and fetch exorbitant prices. Several such digital artworks were sold at Christie's auction house as the non-fungible token. Italian artist Bonaceto displayed AI humanoid Sophia’s work to the public at Nifty Gateway marketplace for bidding. Hanson Robotics’ female AI robot became the world’s first machine artist to sell her Non-Fungible Token (NFT) digital paintings dubbed as ‘Sophia Instantiation’. It has the highest bidding for $118,888.00, nearly ten hours since it was put for auction.

In a statement to The Post, Charlie who will be converting the video into a 1-of-1 NFT said that the NFTs are the “new thing.” The now 14-year-old, speaking from his family home in Marlow, England, about 30 miles from London said that when it was posted on YouTube the trend of meme videos was particularly new, and it intrigued the viewers. But now, the NFT is a “new exciting thing,” he said. The Father of the two children, Howard Davies-Carr, had posted the clip casually to YouTube, which he at the time, had described as a “random moment as the boys were growing up.” The clip soon became an international hit. After the family sells the NFT, the winning bidder will receive the opportunity to create their own parody of the video featuring the original stars, the auction house explained. 

'Disaster Girl' meme NFT fetches $473,000

Earlier, the "Disaster Girl" internet meme similarly managed to sell original photographs at an auction as a non-fungible token (NFT) for 80 Ethereum, equivalent to a whopping $473,000 (£341,000) or Rs 3.20 crore. The bidding opened at $25,000, according to The News & Observer. Zoe, who is now a student at UNC-Chapel Hill and works part-time at an Italian restaurant Il Palio, told the network that when the auction finally came to a close at 4:10 p.m. on April 17 with @3fmusic purchasing the image 180 Ether, or $486,716.40, she was shouting expletives into the air. Every time it would bump up, she said, she just couldn’t believe it was happening. The non-fungible token (NFT) based art is on the surge with art collectors spending unimaginable amounts of money to secure digital ownership of their favourite works.