The inventor of the world wide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, is selling the original code used to create the modern internet as an NFT through auction house Sotheby’s.
 
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are digital collectibles that are encoded onto a blockchain - the same technology on which cryptocurrencies run - creating a unique digital watermark showing ownership and the digital rights to that collectible.
 
In recent months many major global sports franchises, fashion brands and household name artists and musicians have launched NFTS.
 
The money raised will be given to causes chosen by Sir Tim and his wife, Sotheby's said.
 
They are auctioning off a collection of four different items as a single digital NFT.
 
They include "the original time-stamped files" of the source code written for the project, "an animated visualisation" of that code, a letter from Sir Tim about the process, and a "digital poster" of the code created by him.

In all, the files represent nearly 10,000 lines of written code, according to the BBC.
 
Speaking to the media recently, deVere CEO Nigel Green said that he recognises that there are still many NFT sceptics.
 
He noted: “Some traditionalist commentators have dismissed NFTs as a fad and/or a bubble about to burst.  I would suggest that these would have been the people, including some tech experts, to have also dismissed the internet in the 1990s and the likes of Amazon in the 2000s as ‘hype’.”
 
However, he went on to say: “But the market is very young and highly speculative at this stage and, as such, the risks are high.  Extreme caution must be exercised.”