- Digital artist Beeple has sold a collection of NFT artwork for over $3.5 million
- The incredible sale was conducted via auction by Nifty Gateway over the weekend, with the final piece selling for $777,777.77
- The pieces will be physically made and shipped to the winners, encased in clear plastic
Beeple, a digital artist of some standing in the community, has sold a collection of non-fungible token (NFT) artwork for a staggering $3.5 million. The sales, conducted by Nifty Gateway and spread across the weekend, represented a coup for the artist, the marketplace, and the NFT world in general, with the final piece selling for $777,777.77 yesterday.
AND THAT’S ALL SHE WROTE!!! The auction ends on a ridiculous last second bid of $777,777. This brings total PRIMARY MARKET sales from @beeple‘s collection to over $3,500,000+
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE LEGEND BEEPLE and thank you to the entire community!!! https://t.co/pp4fm0j6iJ
— Nifty Gateway (@niftygateway) December 13, 2020
Beeple Collection Combines Physical With Digital Art
The auction of Beeple’s work kicked off Friday on Nifty Gateway, with the pieces on offer merging blockchain, virtual art, and physical art in a never before seen medium. The moving digital works come in frames which are then embedded in clear plastic where they can be displayed, along with the QR code to prove ownership.
Bids came in thick and fast for the pieces at auction, with the first piece shooting past $500,000 within minutes of its listing. This was a taste of what was to come, with millions more being spent on the pieces over the weekend. The Beeple collection auction closed with a $777,777.77 bid for the last piece, The Complete MF Collection, which comprised each of the 20 auction pieces.
The remarkable event highlights just how seriously the burgeoning NFT market is being taken, with one of the winning bidders stating that his decision to take part in the auction was to “take [a]stand for the future of creativity, open collaboration, and self-sovereignty through digital signature.”
NFT Art Taking Off
According to Nifty Gateway the total taken for the entire Beeple collection was “over $3,500,000+”, a remarkable sum for such a new and untried medium. NFT art pieces have been on the up and up in 2020, with esteemed auction house Christie’s selling a piece of Bitcoin-themed artwork, complete with NFT, in September.
Without any norms having been established in the space yet, and with the intrinsic value of each piece completely tested in a secondary market, it will be fascinating to see how Beeple’s pieces hold their value, or otherwise, over time.
