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Crypto Luminaries Auction NFT 'Art' for Charity

Vitalik Buterin's quadratic funding notes raised 40 ETH for an open-source grant program. He and others are auctioning off NFTs on Cryptograph for charity.

By Leigh Cuen
Updated May 9, 2023, 3:09 a.m. Published Jul 14, 2020, 7:55 p.m.
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin with his quadratic funding formula.
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin with his quadratic funding formula.

British startup Cryptograph launched this summer with its first round of auctions, raising more than $50,000 so far, with two days still to go.

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  • Prominent crypto developers and entrepreneurs including Gitcoin CEO Kevin Owocki, ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees and Parity co-founder Jutta Steiner auctioned digital autographs and notes related to their work. The digital doodles are used to generate non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
  • The top earners so far include Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin (whose notes sold for 77.35 ether ETH$2,937.12, or roughly $18,719), Ethereum Foundation researcher Vlad Zamfir (25 ETH, roughly $6,050) and Tezos co-founder Kathleen Breitman (5 ETH, roughly $1,204).
  • According to Buterin’s auction page, the autographed NFT includes his own “hand-drawn representation of this groundbreaking Quadratic Funding formula.” The bid for his digital autograph will go towards Gitcoin’s open-source grant programs.
  • Ownership of the autographs, displayed in a virtual gallery, is publicly verifiable. Plus, contributors will be able to distribute funds across multiple charities.

Read more: Devcon Shows Ethereum’s ‘World Computer’ Is a Movement, Not a Product

Correction (July 14, 21:08 UTC): Vitalik Buterin's notes raised 77.35 ETH, not 40 ETH as was previously reported.

CharityNFTsGitcoinQuadratic FundingCoinFlash

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  • The IMF praised El Salvador's stronger-than-expected economic growth and progress in bitcoin-related discussions.
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