Thread by @Rewkang

1/ Someone recently asked why the @Snowden NFT could have sold for as much as it did ($5.4M)

Here's why NFTs will have a huge role in cultural memorabilia and why such NFTs are valuable

coindesk.com/nsa-whistleblo…

2/ NFTs like "Stay Free" sit at an intersection between Art and Historical Relics

From an Art POV, it's aesthetically impressive & meaningful having a shaded motif of Snowden's face set against court documents related to his whistleblowing

3/ With proceeds going to @FreedomofPress, the art piece was clearly meant to pay homage to both the Snowden saga and the resulting worldwide movement that resulted from his whistleblowing

4/ For those too young to remember, it was not until the Snowden events that the world started paying serious attention to government mass surveillance, privacy, and government-private corporation collaboration in these areas

These themes have remained largely relevant today

5/ Privacy and Self-sovereignty are concepts that ring especially true to those in crypto

We at @PleasrDAO believe they are core tenants of the work we do and so did the others like @jespow that also put large bids in

6/ While the Snowden movement had huge cultural significance, prior to Stay Free, there was no item that could be considered a representation of that movement

No laptop, signed photograph, etc could have represented it

7/ Do items of cultural significance have value? Sure they do

There are 17 known copies of the Magna Carta and an individual copy went for $21m in 2007

reuters.com/article/us-mag…

8/ Totally different items - Sports Memorabilia like Michael Jordan worn shoes or jerseys will fetch high prices at auction for the same overarching reason

Its meaningful to some people and represent a part of history and culture

9/ Snowden doesn’t necessarily have old gear that people could buy, but he has an important role in modern culture as well, and Stay Free, issued by Snowden himself, is the only item that can encapsulate that very important piece of history

🙌