A work by Mike Winkelmann, a net artist who goes by the name Beeple, made NFT history yesterday with his piece, “Crossroads”, netting $6.6 million on the secondary market via Nifty Gateway.
Nifty Gateway announced that the work had sold, as the painting by Beeple headed to sale online at Christie’s. Within hours, that piece had skyrocketed in price, and the work had been bid up to $1.8 million. Bidding will continue through March 11.
Within the fast-growing crypto art market, few names are as well-known as Beeple’s. In December, he made $3.5 million in a single weekend, only the second time the artist had ever offered his art on sale. The auction at Nifty Gateway broke records for digital art sales. Many of the works were immediately resold at inflated values—some at more than 1,000 percent of their original price.
Originally purchased by a user called Pablo for $66,666.60 on Nov 1, the new owner, who chose to remain anonymous, paid almost 100 times more, breaking the price record for a single NFT sale. Previously the record was held by CryptoPunk 6965 which sold last week for 800 ETH, with a sale value of $1.55 million.
Interest in NFTs skyrocketed last year, with more than $250 million worth of sales. The artist’s Everyday: The First 5000 Days (2021) shows the growing popularity of the digital art which was being auctioned at Christie’s.
“We’re at this moment in time where there could be a drastic shift—a demographic shift, a generational shift—when it comes to what excites younger collectors,” said Noah Davis, a Christie’s specialist in post-war and contemporary art in charge of the Beeple sale.