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– The blockchain technology behind Bitcoin and other digital currencies is shaking up the art world as well as the financial markets. Sales of “non-replaceable tokens” – works of art or other pieces of digital property verified as unique originals via blockchain – are exploding, with a 10-second artwork by artist Beeple recently reaching a record $ 6.6 million. sold, Reuters reports. The video, which shows people walking what appears to be the graffiti-covered body of a huge Donald Trump, was purchased in October by art collector Pablo Rodriguez-Fraile for $ 67,000. He resold it almost 100 times as often last week. The 32-year-old tells Bloomberg that he thought it would take longer to increase in value, but it was still “a great deal for the buyer.”
“You can go to the Louvre and take a picture of the Mona Lisa and have it there, but it is of no value because it does not have the origin or the history of the work,” says the Miami-based collector. “The reality here is that this is very, very valuable because of who is behind it.” Bloomberg notes that the boom in digital art has a precedent in the photography market. Beeple, real name Mike Winkelmann, is a digital artist who creates a drawing every day for 13 years. Last week, a two-week auction of his work started at Christie’s. He tells the New York Times that he only started looking at NFTs in mid-October. As with many other NFTs, the blockchain that authenticates his work also includes the requirement that he get 10% of the price every time it is resold. “When you buy the artwork, you enter into a kind of relationship with me,” he says. (Read more blockchain stories.)