Beeple's $67M Auction Catapults NFTs To The Forefront

Love them or hate them, there are 67 million more reasons to pay attention to NFTs. Today, Mike Winkelmann, commonly known as Beeple, has become the face of NFTs thanks to Christie’s jaw dropping $67 million auction.

As the Verge points out, up until October, the most that Winkelmann had sold a piece of art for was $100. This despite the fact that he has been sharing his digital art online for over a decade. NFTs have been fetching one shocking amount after the next, quickly making this technology part of the cultural zeitgeist.

Grimes sold $6 million worth of digital art, the NBA sold over $80 million in under 24 hours (and over $280 million in the past 30 days), and the list goes on. From visual artists to musicians to entrepreneurs, all are suddenly trying to cash on this new phenomenon.

While it’s unknown who the acquirer of this particular digital asset was, many have speculated that large crypto whales are responsible for these apparently outlandish purchases. Why? It forces others to take note. The more attention that’s brought to the space, the more valuable it becomes.

Despite the eye-popping prices on a small number of NFTs, the market is still in its infancy. This is evident as the market has become costly for new entrants. For example, if you were to purchase a Crypto Kitty, one of the original NFTs, for $15 today, you’d have to pay over $50 in fees to the Ethereum network (called “gas”).

If consumers had to pay a $50 fee on a cup of coffee at Starbucks, they’d quickly be out of business. That’s why there are tons of new entrants to this space attempting to develop technologies which make participation effectively free.

It’s at the intersection of this new technology and the consumer experience that this publication is focused. If you’re interested in tracking the emergence of this likely multi-trillion dollar industry, make sure to subscribe!