The long-awaited Ethereum Merge has happened, and the community can’t sit still. Moments after the historic crypto event, one user minted the first ever nonfungible token (NFT) on the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus.
Officially, the Merge took place on Thursday at 6:42 am UTC at block 15537393. The first announcement of the mint and sale of the NFT came shortly after at 07:08 amUTC.
The NFT, which is a time capsule of the moment of the first NFT mint bearin the iconic panda face, was quickly purchased 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 NFT, Crypto Twitter exploded with retweets and commentary. Community remarks ranged from “questionable decision making” to calling it “fire.” One user even questioned if the Merge panda is going to be the new ape, in reference to the iconic Bored Ape Yacht Club personas.
Related: Breaking: Historic day for crypto as Ethereum Merge to proof-of-stake occurs
After the news broke of the first NFT mint and sale, so began the avalanche of firsts for the new blockchain operating system.
Sheldon Evans, the founder of the Web3 lifestyle brand Bloom, tweeted that the brand created the first official NFT collection to mint 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 are proudly showing off their first minted digital assets and collections, others in the Ethereum community are proudly displaying 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, the blockchain software company of Joseph Lubin, is also encouraging community members to make their first transaction on PoS by minting one of their own commemorative NFTs celebrating the Merge.
The Merge has also sparked creativity from big names such as Beeple, who created a Merge-inspired illustration of a large slowly forming Ethereum logo supported by scientists. Members of the Ethereum Foundation also got creative, and composed and performed a song dedicated to the event.