March 28, 2020
By Anjali Kochhar
A digital collection of South Africa’s first black president Nelson Mandela’s original arrest warrant was sold for more than $130,000 as a non-fungible token (NFTs) to fund a heritage site.
According to a report from Bloomberg, the Liliesleaf Museum Heritage Site will receive the proceeds as it has also held the original document since 2004.
The auction was carried out on a popular NFT marketplace – Momint – and its CEO said these funds will help the “museum sites stay afloat.”
“They have been badly affected by the lack of tourism due to COVID. So this is a way to revitalize their flow and keep history alive,” he added.
Before becoming South Africa’s first black president, Mandela was a part of a political organization (African National Congress – ANC), in which he became a leader of Johannesburg’s youth division and later deputy national president. The party aimed to fight against white supremacy and racial segregation.
Mandela was first arrested for treason in 1961, before he was released, and imprisoned again in 1962 for leaving the country without a permit and for inciting workers to strike. The leader spent around 30 years of his life in prison and was released on February 11, 1990.
The NFT trend is picking up pace. Most recently, global star Amitabh Bachchan converted a recital of Madhushala, a famous collection of poems written by his father, posters, and images into NFTs.
He later had to pay tax on them after authorities sent him a tax notice.
About the author
Anjali Kochhar covers cryptocurrency stories in India as well as globally. Having been in the field of media and journalism for over three years now, she has developed a sharp news sense and works hard to present information that goes beyond the obvious. She is an avid reader and loves writing on a wide range of subjects.
