"Photographer Sells Portrait of Vitalik for $46,000 as an NFT When Ether Hit $1"

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Vitalik Buterin's Portrait as NFT for Sale

In 2015, California-based photographer Matthew Reamer was commissioned by the Swiss magazine publisher Das Magazin to take portraits of Ethereum's co-founder Vitalik Buterin, four months after the launch of Ethereum. Last Tuesday, the photographer announced on his Twitter that he would be selling three portraits as NFTs.

Yesterday, one of the NFTs was sold for 14 ETH on an auction platform, showing Vitalik Buterin in bed with a laptop, appearing diligent. The other two portraits are more typical - a front-facing seated close-up and a headshot against a dark background.

Development of Vitalik Buterin's Portrait NFT

Recalling on Twitter, Matthew Reamer stated: "We rented a crappy Airbnb as our shooting location and managed to capture some beautiful portraits. I was thrilled to see our work on the cover, although I had no idea what the next few years of Ethereum would bring to the world."

Das Magazin offered 750 Swiss francs as compensation, which was worth around $750 at the time. Ethereum was valued at about $1 back then. Matthew Reamer also mentioned in another tweet: "I regret not researching it deeper at the time of the shoot, as ETH was only about 4 months old."

While missing out on the early investment value of ETH, Matthew Reamer later realized: "To my knowledge, the NFT market has evolved based on Ethereum, and I have the only portrait taken of its founder in the early days of development."