Beeple Everydays Sells For $69M

2021

Date: 11 March 2021 · Place: Christie's online auction · Figures: Mike Winkelmann (Beeple), artist · Vignesh Sundaresan (Metakovan), buyer · Christie's, auction house · Tags: NFT, Christie's, Auction Record 01. Five Thousand Days In A Single JPG Mike Winkelmann, working as Beeple, has posted one digital image a day since 1 May 2007. On 11 March 2021 Christie's auctions a composite of all 5,000 as a single NFT. The hammer falls at $69,346,250, making Beeple the third most expensive living artist at auction, behind Hockney and Koons. The buyer is Vignesh Sundaresan, an India-born crypto investor who fronts the Metapurse NFT fund. He pays in Ether. Christie's settles the transaction in their first-ever crypto-denominated sale. 02. The Day NFTs Stop Being Niche Before 11 March 2021 NFTs are a Discord conversation. After 11 March 2021 they are a Wall Street Journal front-page conversation. The sale is the legitimization event that makes BAYC, CryptoPunks, and the Disaster Girl auction six weeks later possible. Critics point out that Metakovan also runs the B.20 token, partially backed by Beeple's work, and that the sale raises the floor on his other holdings. Beeple, asked about it, says he is going to keep posting one image a day. "I view this as the next chapter in art history. Now there is a way to collect digital art." — Mike Winkelmann (Beeple), post-sale press call, 11 March 2021 Sources • Christie's, 'Beeple: The First 5000 Days' lot page • The New York Times, 'JPG File Sells for $69 Million, at First Crypto Art Auction Held by a Major House' (11 March 2021) • Amy Castor, 'Metakovan, the mystery Beeple buyer' (amycastor.com, March 2021)