‘Vitalik’ NFT Collection Takes Top Spot on OpenSea

The Gitcoin Presents non-fungible token (NFT) collection is soaring in value after its open edition mint concluded Wednesday, taking the top spot across leading marketplaces. The collection is rapidly rising in interest and value because of the association of Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin with the project, though his direct involvement in the NFT drop has not been established.

In one week, collectors minted 9,221 tokens at a floor price of 0.5 ETH, or about $770. The collection has already hit the secondary market in full force. According to data from OpenSea, the collection’s trading volume of 7,763 ETH, or nearly $12 million at the time of writing.

The mint, which was executed by blockchain funding company Gitcoin and NFT platform Metalabel, aims to commemorate a 2018 paper about Quadratic Funding, a public fundraising mechanism written by Buterin, Harvard University economist Zoë Hitzig and economist and social activist Glen Weyl.

Purchasing the NFT grants collectors a digital copy of the paper, as well as two essays by the founders of Gitcoin commenting on the success of the funding mechanism.

Twelve of the tokens in the collection were special “Signature Edition” records and were reserved for collectors to mint at 10 ETH, or over $15,000, and earned buyers a copy of the original white paper signed by the three co-authors.

Twitter and NFT collectors have been buzzing about the project, though some users expressed skepticism about what some are calling the “Vitalik NFT drop,” with other users questioning if it is an “official” drop from Buterin.

The collection’s profits will be shared among Gitcoin, Metalabel and technology research firm Plurality Institute, with the goal of continuing to fund public goods.

“Since this idea was introduced, more than $70 million has been directed to public goods and open source projects using quadratic funding by Gitcoin and other organizations,” according to the collection’s website.