Beeple sells NFT for over $69 million. Yep, you read that right.
Artist Mike Winkelmann, also known as Beeple, has sold an NFT artwork for more than $69 million.
The artwork, called "Everydays: The First 5000 Days" is a 21,069 x 21,069 pixel collage, representing the totality of artworks Beeple had been creating every day since May 2007. The NFT (non-fungible token) version of the artwork was minted on the Ethereum network on February 16, and it was sold via a Christie's auction on March 11.
If you're unfamiliar with NFTs, they're a type of cryptocurrency in which every unit (token) is unique, indestructible, with verifiable ownership on a cryptocurrency platform such as Ethereum. For (way) more details, check out our explainer here, but the gist of the story is that NFTs are typically used for digital artworks which have lately often reached outrageous prices.
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Even in the world of NFTs, $69 million is an absolutely staggering amount and a record for the space, but Beeple has been steadily building towards it. He previously sold NFTs for $66,666.66 a piece, and his works have recently been valued in the millions. He also has 1.8 million Instagram followers, and has collaborated with brands such as Louis Vuitton and Nike.
As for the work itself, a short essay on Christie's says the following: "The artist has stitched together recurring themes and color schemes to create an aesthetic whole. Organized in loose chronological order, zooming in on individual pieces reveals abstract, fantastical, grotesque, and absurd pictures, alongside current events and deeply personal moments. Society’s obsession with and fear of technology; the desire for and resentment of wealth; and America’s recent political turbulence appear frequently throughout the work."
The massive amount for which this work was sold is another testament to the rising popularity (and, perhaps, capriciousness) of NFTs. But it's perhaps even more notable that the sale, done with cryptocurrency ether, was facilitated by Christie's. The famous auction house has embraced the new technology and given it legitimacy; it's probably only a question of time as to when the rest of the art world follows suit.
Related Video: A beginner's guide to NFTs, the crypto potentially worth millions
Topics Cryptocurrency
Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car. His ultimate goal is to know something about everything.
