In brief
- Digital artworks marketplace MakersPlace has partnered with Christie’s for the first ever auction of an NFT without any accompanying physical artwork.
- The auction house will be selling an artwork by Beeple.
- MakersPlace will also be hosting a “Month of Digital Art Drops”
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If you ever needed another proof that non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are conquering the world, you’ve got it: for the first time in its 250-years long history the renowned auction house Christie’s will be auctioning a digital artwork on its own.
Between February 25 and March 11, Christie’s will be selling “THE FIRST 5000 DAYS” by prolific digital artist Beeple.
This digital artwork is described as an accumulative piece highlighting the artist’s journey creating artwork for the past 13 years.
According to CryptoArt.io, Beeple is currently the most profitable crypto artist globally as his NFTs have been sold for a combined amount of $8 million.
“This historic event marks a significant inflection point for both the digital art and the fine arts industry, bridging the apparent gap in the global recognition for digital art,” said MakersPlace CEO and co-founder Dannie Chu.
NFTs are a special kind of blockchain tokens designed to be unique and not interchangeable. Unlike “common” digital assets, each NFT is one-of-a-kind and can’t be replicated, ensuring its scarcity and collectability. Any digital data can be embedded within an NFT—such as works of art.
Last October, Christie's auctioned off a digital “portrait” of Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto. The artwork was made up of large circular pieces of art enscribed with Bitcoin data. The piece came with its own NFT and was sold for over $130,000, a record price tag for a digital art by that time.
Month of Digital Art Drops
To mark the occasion, MakersPlace will also be hosting a “Month of Digital Art Drops”—an exhibition of artworks created by leading digital artists from around the world.
“Not unlike the advent of Street Art as a blue chip collecting category, NFT-based art is on the threshold of becoming the next ingeniously disruptive force in the art market. Christie’s is proud to be in the vanguard of this exhilarating movement,” said Noah Davis, Christie’s specialist in post-war and contemporary art.
As reported earlier by Decrypt, digital artists, such as Beeple and Pak, who is the second best-selling creator worldwide, earned nearly $12 million in January alone.
Meanwhile, the total value of the crypto art market is approaching a record $100 million—with over 70,000 artworks sold to date.