| FIFTEEN LETTERS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD: HISTORIC FIRST TEXT EVER SENT FETCHES $150,000 AT AUCTION IN FRANCE This week an auction hammer in the hand of French auctioneer, Claude Auguttes fell in Paris and the world’s first SMS-Text had a new owner. A bidder paid a total of $150,000 for the replica of the communication of the first text message, ‘Me3rry Christmas sent in 1992, which was immortalized as a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) on the Ethereum blockchain. The proceeds from the auction will be donated for a good cause this Christmas season: Vodafone is donating the money raised to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to help those who are in particular need of our support. “In the beginning, it was all an idea. In the end, it turned into real money for a good cause,” said Vodafone Germany CEO Hannes Ametsreiter. “We teamed up with programmers and crypto experts just as we did with auction experts. We are delighted that today’s hammerfall turned this idea into reality in the end. The world’s first SMS as an NFT. For people in need.””During this season of giving, Vodafone has extended its generosity to the millions of people who have been displaced from their homes. This contribution will protect lives and support people in need around the world, this holiday season and beyond,“ said Dominique Hyde, UNHCR’s Director of External Relations.Maximilien Aguttes, Director Development at Aguttes Auctions said after the auction: “We at Aguttes are very happy that the auction was so successful. We believe in the power of charity – and with this auction amount we were able to help support a good cause. It was a unique, one-of-a-kind auction of a real digital artifact. It won’t be the last NFT to go under the hammer at Aguttes, but it will always be a special one. Because of its historical significance we sent the story of the first SMS around the world and it was covered in hundreds of newspapers and magazines on five continents.” FOR MORE PRESS INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Julian Roup on +44(0)7970563958 or email [email protected] ABOUT AGUTTES AUCTION HOUSE French alternative to the leaders of the international art market. Aguttes is the 4th largest auction house in France. Without external shareholding, it is also the first independent company. Founded in Clermont-Ferrand in 1974 by Claude Aguttes and now managed by two of his daughters – Philippine Dupré la Tour and Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier – it is today composed by a team of 60 people. With an international auction room located in the west of Paris and representative offices in Brussels, Lyon and Aix-en-Provence, the company distinguishes itself by a personalized service and reactivity. Its in-house experts enable the valuation and sale of Single Owner French collections, including paintings, and exceptional works of art, jewelries and automobiles. Aguttes regularly breaks world records thanks to its strength in communication and its 70% international buyers. In 2018, the auction house exceeded the symbolic €50 million mark in auction, a result never achieved by an independent auction house in France (there are more than 400). In 2019, it totaled 66M€ and will continue to outdistance the other Parisian auction houses during the years 2020 and 2021. Its growth is based on the following and unchanged values of transparency in intermediation, discretion, rigor and audacity. |
