The long-awaited merger (Merge) of Ethereum has happened, and the community cannot rest easy. Moments after the historic event, a user minted the first non-fungible token (NFT) in the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus.
Officially, The Merge took place on September 15 at 06:42:42 UTC on block 15537393. The first announcement of the minting and sale of the NFT came shortly after, at 07:08 UTC.
The NFT, which is a time capsule of the time of the first NFT minting and the iconic panda face, was quickly bought at the price of 36 Ether (ETH).
Someone just paid 36 ETH in gas to mint this
The first minted NFT on proof of stake pic.twitter.com/zKUKI06EjH
— Cirrus (@CirrusNFT) September 15, 2022
Following the announcement of the first PoS-based NFT, the crypto community on Twitter exploded with retweets and comments. Comments ranged from “a questionable decision” to calling it “brutal”. One user even questioned if the Merge panda is going to be the new “ape,” referring to the iconic characters from the Bored Ape Yacht Club.
After the news of the first minting and sale of NFTs was known, the avalanche of firsts of the new consensus system of the blockchain began.
Sheldon Evans, founder of Web 3.0 lifestyle brand Bloom, tweeted that the brand created the first official NFT collection to be minted on the PoS network.
A new beginning
We are officially the first NFT collection on the #Ethereum proof-of-stake chain.
Airdrop of the rest of the tokens will happen later today https://t.co/jGj0EwE1K9
— SHELDON EVANS (Hiring) (@SheldonEvans) September 15, 2022
While some proudly show off their first digital assets and minted collections, others in the Ethereum community proudly show off their first purchases on the new system.
update have made my first great purchase on this beautiful proof of stake network pic.twitter.com/cm5tOAdyVW
— vcBacked_BOB_BOYLE (@Bob_Boyle_1662) September 15, 2022
Consensys, Joseph Lubin’s blockchain software company, is also encouraging members of the community to make their first PoS transaction by minting one of their own commemorative NFTs celebrating the implementation of The Merge.
The Merge has also sparked creativity from big names like Beeple, who created a The Merge-inspired illustration of a large Ethereum logo slowly forming with the support of scientists. Members of the Ethereum Foundation also got creative and composed and performed a song dedicated to the event.
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