One of the internet’s first viral videos, “Charlie Bit My Finger,” will leave YouTube after it was sold in an online auction.
Fourteen years after the video was posted online, the family behind the video sold it as a non-fungible token or NFT for $760,999 on Sunday.
“Bid to own the soon-to-be-deleted YouTube phenomenon, Charlie Bit My Finger, leaving you as the sole owner of this lovable piece of internet history,” read a website the family created to advertise the auction.
The 2007 video is just under a minute long and features brothers Harry and Charlie sitting together on an armchair. Baby Charlie bites his brother’s finger, prompting Harry to giggle and exclaim in an adorable English accent, “Charlie bit me! Ouch. Ouch, Charlie! Owww! Charlie! That really hurt!"
The family says they initially uploaded the video in order to share it with the boys’ grandparents, but it soon exploded online, becoming one of the first examples of a viral video and a hallmark of the early days of the internet.
It has since been watched more than 883 million times and it set to be deleted, although as of Monday afternoon it was still available.
Non-fungible tokens create a unique and verifiable way to own and trade digital items the way you would a physical object by using blockchain technology to create a record of ownership, and guarantees authenticity.
It has also become a way for early internet celebrities to capitalize on their fame in a way that was not available earlier.
The sale of the “Charlie Bit My Finger” NFT essentially gives the buyer, known only as “3fmusic”, a certificate of authenticity to the original video, although it does not stop other people from downloading or viewing their own versions.
A back and forth between "3fmusic" and "mememaster" caused the price to skyrocket Sunday.
Other examples of high-profile NFTs are the first tweet ever posted on Twitter and the popular meme “Disaster Girl.”
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