Bids for Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey's first ever Tweet reach $2.5m

Twitter (TWTR) CEO Jack Dorsey's first ever tweet is capturing a frenzy of bids after the co-founder put it up for sale.

So far, bids for the tweet, which was published on 21 March 2006 and reads: "just setting up my twttr" have reached $2.5m (£1.8m).

The tweet will be sold as a non-fungible token (NFT) — a digital certificate that attests who owns a photo, video or other form of online media.

But, despite this ownership, the tweet will be remain publicly available even after it is sold.

The buyer will get a certificate that has been digitally signed and verified by Dorsey as well as the metadata of the original tweet.

The metadata contains information such as the text of the tweet and what time it was posted on the platform.

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The tweet was listed for sale on a marketplace for tweets called Valuables by Centin in December, but gained traction last week after Dorsey tweeted about it.

Almost all proceeds — 95% — a sale will go to the original creator with the remainder going to Valuables by Centin.

In a post on Twitter's website, the founders compare the buying of a tweet to a traditional autograph or piece of memorabilia.

"Owning any digital content can be a financial investment," the website says. "[It can] hold sentimental value. Like an autograph on a baseball card, the NFT itself is the creator’s autograph on the content, making it scarce, unique, and valuable."

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