Former US intelligence officer Edward Snowden sold the NFT token in the form of his own digitized portrait for $ 5.5 million, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung on Saturday, April 17.
The portrait was compiled from the text of the court decision that the US National Security Agency was spying on the Americans. The crypto picture was sold in the Ethereum cryptocurrency.
Snowden thanked the auction participants in Twitter, and also said that the proceeds will be sent to the non-profit organization “Press Freedom Foundation”, which he has been heading since 2017.
In March, the American’s lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said that the documents for Snowden’s obtaining Russian citizenship were already ready.
In June 2013, Snowden passed on classified materials to the Guardian and The Washington Post about the surveillance programs of the British and American intelligence services on the Internet. After that, he fled to the Russian Federation.
In August of the same year, he received temporary asylum in Russia, a year later – a three-year residence permit. In 2017, the residence permit was extended until 2020.
In September 2019, it became known that the US authorities had filed a lawsuit against Snowden, who, in their opinion, violated non-disclosure agreements by publishing his memoirs. The author himself admitted that in order to publish the book, he had to choose between maintaining state secrets and adhering to constitutional principles.
The US administration has repeatedly stated that they consider Snowden a traitor who does not deserve forgiveness, as he damaged national security.