A few years ago, the concept of NFT – non-fungible tokens – would have made no sense. In 2021, NFTs emerged as one of the biggest moneymakers in the art world. Here is a recap of everything that happed with NFTs and Art in 2021.
It’s Beeple Above Everyone Else
Michael Joseph Winkelmann, better known as Beeple, was the undeniable king of NFTs this year. The digital artist opened the year with the re-sale of his work Crossroads. First minted in 2020, it was sold for $66,666.66 in November, an impressive price at the time. But in February this year, the work was auctioned again at Christie’s – for a whopping $66.6 million. But before people could emerge from the shock, Beeple broke his own record in March. His work First 5000 Days – a collection of daily drawings from the artist since 2007 – was auctioned for a massive $69 million at Christie’s. To date, this is the highest price ever fetched by an NFT work. In March itself, he sold another work called Ocean Front for $6 million at the Nifty Gateway. Last month, Beeple auctioned another work at Christie’s, titled Human One. Selling at $29.8 million, it cemented Beeple’s position as the most valuable crypto artist in the world.
Artist Pak continues the big NFT bucks
Another trending name in the NFT world was the anonymous artist Pak. In March, Pak was already the fourth best-selling crypto artist in the world. His works, The Switch and The Pixel, sold for $1.44 and $1.35 million respectively. While none of his individual works raked the big dollars, he still emerged as the highest-earning crypto artist of the year. The Merge, which was sold as 266,445 individual shares, found more than 30,000 buyers. Ultimately, the project earned cumulatively a whopping $91.8 million.
Other Names Who Left A Mark
London-based crypto artist XCOPY, a pioneer of the field, saw some amazing auctions. His work Some Asshole was sold for $3.8 million at SuperRare earlier this year. In November, A Coin for the Ferryman was auctioned for $6 million. Just a few days back XCOPY saw his highest-selling auction at SuperRare. Right-click and Save As guy was bought for $6.57 million, allegedly by rapper Snoop Dawg. Whistleblower Edward Snowden was a surprise entry in the fray in April this year. His NFT was the copy of 2020 court rulings that declared NSA’s surveillance as illegal, superimposed with his image on top. It sold for $5.4 million at the Foundation.
