Topline
The “Charlie bit my finger” video, one of YouTube’s original and most viewed viral videos, is set to be deleted from the platform after its creators auctioned it off as a non-fungible token for $760,000, the latest meme to be sold on the blockchain as part of an increasingly lucrative NFT craze.
The video, not pictured, was an early viral hit.
Key Facts
The short, home-style clip, published to YouTube in 2007, features infant Charlie biting his brother Harry’s finger.
The family behind the video—which has racked up over 880 million views—put the clip up for auction on its 14th anniversary.
Following an anonymous bidding war Sunday, the clip sold for over $760,000, along with the opportunity to create their own parody of the video with its original—and now grown up—stars.
The popular video was set to be deleted from YouTube after the auction finished on 23 May in order to leave the winner the “sole owner” of the clip, though at the time of writing it is still accessible.
Key Background
NFTs have exploded in popularity in recent years and are a lucrative source of income for some of the internet’s earliest stars. As a concept, an NFT is a new way of buying or selling media digitally, functioning as proof of ownership for a digital asset. Numerous memes have undergone the NFT treatment this year, including Nyan Cat, Leave Britney Alone, and Disaster Girl, who scored nearly $500,000 for the image. Memes are not the only thing to sell well as an NFT—the New York Times recently sold off ownership to a column for over $550,000 and a piece of digital art sold for $69.3 million at auction in March.
Further Reading
Beeple NFT Sells For $69.3 Million, Becoming Most-Expensive Ever (Forbes)
What Is An NFT—And Should You Buy One? (Forbes)
New York Times Sells Column For Over $550k In NFT Experiment (Forbes)
