A non-fungible token (NFT) created by digital artist Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple, has sold for a record price of $69,346,250 at Christie’s auction house.
The artwork called “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” is a collage of 5,000 unique images that the artist made – one per day for nearly 14 years. It was minted exclusively for Christie’s on February 16th, and is the first purely digital NFT-based artwork to be offered by a major auction house.
NFTs have unique cryptographic properties, which means that a blockchain can verify the originality and ownership of such digital assets, which include artworks, parcels of virtual lands, and collectibles.
Says Christie’s post-war and contemporary art specialist Noah Davis,
“Christie’s had never offered a new media artwork of this scale or importance before. Acquiring Beeple’s work is a unique opportunity to own an entry in the blockchain itself created by one of the world’s leading digital artists.”
A 10-second video clip from Beeple featuring Donald Trump sold for $6.6 million on the NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway last month. Christie’s says the latest record-setting sale positions the South Carolina-based graphic designer as one of the top three most valuable living artists today.
Featured Image: Shutterstock/jamesteohart