A virtual work of art entitled “Everydays: The First 5000 Days.” Created by digital artist Beeple, it is the first NFT-based artwork to be auctioned at Christie’s.
Christie’s
A non-replaceable token from the artist Beeple sold at Christie’s for over $ 60 million, making it the most expensive NFT ever sold at auction.
The final sale price could slide higher as final bids are processed and auction fees are added, bringing the total to more than $ 69 million. But the sale stopped two weeks of insane online bidding and ushered in a new era for collectibles, where prices for blockchain-based digital images now compete with the prices paid for Picassos and Monets. While the future of NFT pricing and their longer-term role in the art world remains an open question, and many see it as a speculative fad, the eight-figure price for the Beeple has suddenly caught the art world.
“As soon as I saw it, I saw it as a huge potential for this as a platform for digital ownership of a lot of different things, not just art,” the artist Mike Winkelmann, better known as Beeple, told CNBC. “Looking ahead, I think this will be an alternative form of asset class.”
The record-breaking work, entitled “The First 5,000 Days,” was the first to ever be sold at a major auction house.
In 2007, Winkelmann wanted to post a new work of digital art every day for the rest of his life and he hasn’t missed a single day. The first 5,000 of those works, which he calls “Everydays”, were put together to form “The First 5,000 Days.”
NFTs, all digital assets owned by blockchain, have become a $ 400 million market – much of that in the last month. Jack Dorsey turned the very first tweet from 2006 into an NFT that currently has a top bid of $ 2.5 million. NBA Top Shots, which are NFTs of NBA highlights videos, have become extremely popular, with sales in excess of $ 200 million and a LeBron James video selling for $ 208,000. Grimes, the musician and recording artist, has sold more than $ 6 million in videos and music.
Until Christie’s sale, the most expensive NFT ever sold was a Beeple work that was turned over by its owner for $ 6.6 million.
It is unclear whether major art auction houses will follow. Sotheby’s said it has made no announcements about future NFT sales and Phillips said it has no “NFT news to share” at this time.