An image created by digital artist Beeple sold at Christie’s for a record $69 million.
This was the first time Christie’s has auctioned such a piece, but will certainly not be the last. With Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) just beginning to gain steam, expect to see more high value auctions of digital art move in the coming year.
Beeple is a digital artist who has been creating a new piece every day since 2007. As NFTs began to take off, his popularity as an artist has also begun to spike.
NFTs are a new trend in the world of cryptocurrency. Essentially, each NFT is an entry on the blockchain that can not be interchanged with another entry. That means that there can be only one original digital file.
Others can still see the image and download it like any other file, but the buyer owns image. This specific file, however, has been authenticated using bitcoin and is therefore, unique. NFTs can be bought, sold and traded, while also being able to appreciate or depreciate, just like Bitcoin.
In the below image, Beeple says he has never missed a day in his nearly 14 year long quest. He’s never done two days at once even. Every single day since 2007 he has created a new piece of art.
This piece of art is called The First 5000 Days.
At the close of the auction, Christie’s announced that the sale puts Beeple among the top three most valuable living artists. The First 5000 Days is the first purely digital-based artwork to be sold by one of the major auction houses.
This auction also marked a rare occasion where winners were allowed to pay in cryptocurrency. Christie’s allowed payment in Ethereum to the winning bidder.
While this image may be the first major NFT sale, it will certainly not be the last. Expect to see others begin flooding the market in the weeks to come.
