Edward Snowden Auctions NFT Titled ‘Stay Free’ on Foundation Platform

Activist, free speech and privacy advocate, and whistleblower, Edward Snowden, is auctioning an NFT called “Stay Free” on the Foundation platform.

The NFT, the only of its kind, is being auctioned on behalf of the Freedom of the Press Foundation.

Snowden dives into NFTs

The piece is an image of the landmark court decision ruling in which “the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance violated the law.” It features the iconic portrait of Snowden taken by the photographer Platon.

The current bid for the NFT stands at 150 ETH, or roughly approximately $365,000. The proceeds will go to the Freedom of the Press Foundation.

Freedom of the Press Foundation executive director Trevor Timm described how the proceeds would be used;

“We’re very excited to use the proceeds of this auction to help further our work developing and improving technology that can protect journalists and their sources, like SecureDrop, our open-source whistleblower submission system.”

Snowden, who became famous for revealing the NSA’s mass surveillance program, has been supportive of cryptocurrencies. He’s also referred to them as the next stage of money and has particularly talked about privacy coins.

With his knowledge of technology, he has offered his own insight into cryptocurrency development. However, he believes that Bitcoin’s development has not been tackling the issue of scaling and privacy.

As for his opinion on central bank digital currencies (CBDC), he categorizes them as “rebranded versions of fiat currencies.”

NFTs show no sign of stopping

The NFT market continues its hot streak with this latest high-profile auction.

Snowden joins Megadeth, The Weeknd, and the WWE in releasing an NFT.

Earlier, the Foundation platform announced that it had sold a “Nyan Cat” meme for 300 ETH, or $738,000.

The influx of celebrities and prominent names like Snowden have put the spotlight on NFTs. The sports and games industry, in particular, have run wild with the special asset.

The mainstream public has also taken to NFTs, as they are a far more accessible means of crypto investment. The narrative thread of mainstream adoption mainly focused on DeFi before, but NFTs have quickly usurped that role.