On March 11, 2021, Mike Winkelmann, a little-known digital artist who works under the moniker Beeple, was catapulted to global superstardom when he sold an artwork for $69.3 million (£50 million) – the third highest price ever made by a work by a living artist, behind Jeff Koons and David Hockney.
This was no ordinary sale, because the artwork, which was auctioned by Christie’s, did not exist physically. Titled Everydays: the First 5000 Days, it was an NFT, or non-fungible token. NFTs are a kind of unique digital certificate of ownership and authenticity – and the art world’s latest hot commodity.
Overnight Winkelmann became wildly rich, immensely famous and highly controversial. To critics, the sale represented all that is wrong with the art world.
