This Week in Crypto

Crypto things you didn’t know you didn’t know.

To Have and to HODL.

On a rainy day in Palo Alto in March, Rebecca and Peter Kacherginsky stood before family, friends and a few dozen guests on Zoom as they exchanged wedding vows. COVID-19 accommodations aside, the ceremony was traditional. The bride wore a veil; the groom wore a kippah; neither could stop smiling.

Then things took a very 2021 turn.

Juggling her bouquet in one hand and iPhone in the other, Rebecca opened a virtual wallet and sent Peter a non-fungible token, or NFT. He did the same. Using an Ethereum smart contract Peter wrote himself, the couple exchanged unique digital signifiers containing a pink and blue animation titled Tabaat, which means “ring” in Hebrew.

They weren’t only getting married in the historic Gamble Garden, or in the state of California. They were also getting married on the blockchain, a virtual ledger that displays cryptocurrency transactions.

Rebecca and Peter Kacherginsky exchange non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, at their March 2021 wedding.

For the Kacherginskys, the act was a reference to their jobs — both work for the crypto exchange Coinbase — and a meaningful way to mint their union. Unlike their marriage certificate (which was contingent upon government approval), their online relationship status (which Facebook could delete in a heartbeat), or their paper ketubah (which would burn in a house fire), they personally control the NFT. Public, poignant and permanent, it’s the ultimate romantic gesture.

“It's almost like putting a marker on a bench, except that bench is going to be there forever,” Peter says.