It seems that non-fungible tokens are everywhere these days and if you need evidence of that just look at todays Presidential inauguration ceremony in Israel. As the ceremony neared that Knesset, the legislative branch of the Israeli government, gifted the President-to-be a unique and personal NFT in honor of his momentous day. While the terms one-of-a-kind and groundbreaking have been used often to describe NFTs, this example really fits the bill on both fronts.
The NFT that Herzog was gifted contained a copy of the original oath signs by his late father, Chaim Herzog, who served as Israels sixth president. This is significant for a number of reasons, most notably it marks the first time a parliament in the world has created its own NFT.
Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy stated that “It is a great honor for the Knesset to implement one of the worlds most innovative technologies in order to preserve such a significant historical document for future generations.”
Details of the NFT
The NFT oath reads “I am the son of Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Halevi and Rebbetzin Sarah Herzog, and I pledge to maintain allegiance to the State of Israel and its laws and to faithfully fulfill my role as President.” The document dated May 5, 1983, mirrors the oath that his son is expected to read from the podium in the Knesset plenum.
The idea came about when those in Parliament thought it would be a great way to connect the past with the present, and so they would be the first global Parliament to lend the elected president the wording of the declaration in NFT form.
The project was led by Knesset Director-General Gil Segal along with members of the Technology and Computing Division. The team produced the unique image file using secure and encoded devices, which will be delivered to Herzog after his inauguration. Eventually, the NFT will be lent to qualified staff members of the computer department at the official residence of the President.
The project has been a mere week in the making after the original oath was discovered deep within the Knesset Archives. The employees who discovered the oath were so moved by the statement that they suggested gifting the new president a unique copy of it as an inauguration gift. While the creation of the NFT was just a few dollars, the NFT could eventually grow exponentially in value as time goes on.