Stuart Haber and Scott Stornetta, pioneers of the first blockchain, unveiled the Immutable Record NFT collection, minted on the Kadena blockchain. This collection commemorates the first commercial implementation of a blockchain, a revolutionary journey initiated in 1989. Their company, Surety, utilized the New York Times to publish a hash value of seals added to the database, ensuring the integrity of digital records.
Surety’s product, AbsoluteProof, predates Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin whitepaper by almost fifteen years. Referenced three times in Nakamoto’s paper, AbsoluteProof continues to be relevant, catering to businesses requiring an objective defense of the credibility of digitized content.
The Immutable Record NFT collection takes a lighthearted approach, encapsulating twelve consecutive weeks of published hashes and auctioning them as 1/1 NFTs on Kadena. Each NFT includes a signed copy of the New York Times page containing the week’s hash, an original illustration depicting the top news story of that week, and an opportunity for an ask-me-anything session with the creators.
Haber and Stornetta collaborated with graphic artist Steven Straatemans for the illustrations, aiming for universality to bring awareness to this little-known history within the crypto community. The collection seeks to highlight the foundational role of the oldest blockchain in the history of web3 and crypto, extending beyond well-publicized applications like digital currency.
The choice of Kadena blockchain for the NFTs is rooted in security concerns. The creators value Kadena’s security features, and while they chose it for the first collection, they hint at possible collaborations with other chains in future offerings.
The NFT auctions on Kadena involve conventional or Dutch auctions. The first offering, commemorating an incident involving former President George H.W. Bush, sold for 3500 KDA (Kadena’s native token), approximately $1700.
Haber and Stornetta, architects of the blockchain, suggest future offerings and express interest in various technical topics, hinting at potential surprises or puzzles in the current NFT collection. Their aim is not just to celebrate the past but to envision applications beyond the foundation laid by the oldest blockchain.