The auction for CNBC’s first NFT has officially closed, after several extensions and a tight race leading into the final minutes. All proceeds go to charity, with a final raise of about $96,000.
The NFT sold at a final bid of $61,210.60.
Several big names including former T-Mobile CEO John Legere bid. We also saw the next step in the rivalry between the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks, with bids from their respective owners, Tilman Fertitta and Mark Cuban.
This all comes 10 years after our cherished colleague Mark Haines passed away. CNBC is honoring him by auctioning an NFT of his historic market call at the depths of the Great Recession.
He called a bottom in the stock market at 9:47 a.m. ET on March 10, 2009. At a time when the markets were in complete chaos, Mark was a voice of reason. Mark famously said, “I think we’re at a bottom, I
really do.”
He was absolutely right. The S&P had hit its low of 666. A year after what lovingly became known as “the Haines bottom,” the index was up 73%.
Proceeds from the auction will go to a charity that Mark supported and remains near and dear to his family, Autism Speaks, and to the Council for Economic Education.
This NFT is the actual video and sound of Mark’s call as it happened, uniquely rendered by some of CNBC’s most creative producers and editors to become a piece of digital art.
In addition to the main NFT auction, 50 GIFs marking the “bottom call” went up for sale at $1,000 each. Those GIFs collectively raised an additional $35,000.
Mark, who died unexpectedly at age 65 on May 24, 2011, was a CNBC original: He started at the business news network the year it all began — 1989. We miss him very much.
The auction began at 9 a.m. ET Monday, the anniversary of his death, and ended at around 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday — after several late offers extended the bidding.
Go to Mintable (mintable.app/CNBC) to view the now-closed auction. We would like to add that CNBC is also working with a firm called Aerial to make sure that anything we do in the NFT space is carbon neutral.
