Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's first tweet is expected to sell for $2.5 million on Sunday. Here's why the NFT is so valuable.

• An NFT version of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's first tweet is expected to sell for $2.5 million.  

• Bidding on the tweet ended on Sunday, Dorsey said.  

• Observers said NFT buyers may be speculating, buying pieces they expect to resell in the future.  

When the auction for an NFT version of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's first tweet ends on Sunday, a buyer is expected to pay at least $2.5 million for it.  

The message — "just setting up my twttr" — clocks in at 24 characters, including spaces, placing its value at more than $100,000 per character.  

What makes a tweet from 2006 so valuable? Even in the form of a non-fungible token, or NFT, with a digital signature from Dorsey, it's still just a few lines of code.  

"An NFTs value is largely derived as a function of scarcity and speculation," said Tom C.W. Lin, a professor at Temple University's Beasley School of Law. 

The value of high-priced NFTs — like, say, the $69 million NFT sold this month — comes from the combination of high demand and rarity, as with any piece of art. An NFT version of Dorsey's tweet is a digital object that can't be duplicated, making it scarce.   

Lin added: "An NFT itself does not have much intrinsic value beyond those factors."  

Demand for Dorsey's tweet started slowly. According to Valuables by Cent, where the auction is hosted, the chief executive created the auction for his own tweet.  

The first offer was made on December 15. The bidder offered one dollar. Within a few weeks, the top offer was $3,500. But that offer was canceled by the bidder, sending the bidding back to zero.  

When Dorsey tweeted a link to the auction on March 6, there was another one dollar offer. Users entered nearly 30 offers on the day of Dorsey's tweet, sending the price to $2.5 million. As of midday Sunday, that was still the highest bid.  

Dorsey said he would convert the proceeds from Sunday's sale into bitcoin, then donate it to charity.  

Skeptics and NFT novices may question whether a public tweet can truly qualify as scarce, commanding such a high price. After all, Dorsey's Twitter post has been live for all the world to see since March 2006. And it will continue to be live on Twitter even after Sunday's sale, so anyone can read it for free anytime they want. It's right here: 

So what exactly will the buyer be getting with the NFT version? That version will add a digital signature, making it a one-of-a-kind moment, akin to a work of signed art, according to the Valuables FAQ. 

Dominik Schiener, cofounder and chairman of the IOTA Foundation, said anyone who buys an NFT version of a tweet is basically getting the "essence" of the tweet's value. 

It's important that the buyer trusts both the auction website and the seller. Otherwise, they could just post a new NFT version someplace else, he said.  

"In order for the tweet-NFT to be valuable, there has to be consensus that the platform and technology is a de-facto representation of scarcity," Schiener said via email. "If the world comes to an agreement that the NFT version of an asset on blockchain is 'real', then it means you are acquiring the 'essence' of that thing's value." 

Dorsey's tweet might be worth $2.5 million for collectors simply because they could resell in the future for an even higher price, said David McCarville, a director at Fennemore Craig. 

He said the rise of the NFT market is being driven by early adopters who've made money from cryptocurrency. They may be seeing similar opportunities in the NFT market.  

McCarville said: "These early adopters believe that they are in a position to be the first movers in a market that is still very new and therefore should enjoy significant appreciation in value."

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