Two Israelis, Yuval Meyraz and Yonatan Bendahan, have launched a first-of-its-kind non-fungible-token (NFT) project to encrypt verses from the Bible – the largest NFT venture to date in Israel.

The project, known as CryptoVerses, has encrypted a total of 5,844 verses from the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. All verses have been classified into special collections, based on 45 stories and 536 biblical scenes. Each unique verse is encrypted only once in its original language, Hebrew.

“The minimum price is 0.03 ether (ETH) or less than $90 (£67, €78) per NFT through the pre-sale, where you can buy stories – group of verses as NFTs of one biblical story,” explained Bendahan to Currency.com.

“However, religious believers looking to buy just one can check the available NFTs at our Opensea collection, where the minimum price is ETH 0.05 or less than $150.” 

Devotional items to preserve the Bible

According to its creators, the project has two main goals: preserving the Bible, and creating memorable devotional items and gifts for religious believers.

“Using the Ethereum blockchain, the project follows two goals. Firstly, to give anyone the opportunity to own a unique piece of the Bible and even make a personal dedication on the blockchain to someone they hold dear. It is akin to a 21st century Judaica that can be given as a gift at a Bar Mitzvah, wedding or to keep it as a collectible,” said a spokesperson for Meyraz and Bendahan.

“Secondly, it’s part of an initiative to preserve the Bible – one the most important books in the history of mankind – on the blockchain. This is where the blockchain’s ability to store information in a decentralised manner comes in.

“Historically, there have been many attempts at altering or destroying the Bible. By transferring it to the blockchain, it leaves a digital copy that cannot be altered or destroyed.”

Further reading: Ripple to launch $250m fund for NFT creators