Key Takeaways
- A crypto token representing part of Beeple’s most expensive artwork almost doubled in price after its historic auction.
- Metapurse sold partial ownership of 20 select pieces of Beeple’s work as a crypto token on Ethereum.
- The total market valuation of the 20 pieces, plus the related digital museum, is now over $150 million.
Share this article
Following the iconic $70 million auction of Beeple’s digital artwork today, a crypto token representing partial ownership of the auctioned collection surged by 89% in less than 30 minutes.
Metapurse Acquired 20 Pieces
A piece of digital art called “Everydays: The First 5,000 Days” was auctioned for $69.34 million at Christie’s this morning. The NFT token represents the ownership of a collage created by digital artist Mike Winkelmann (aka “Beeple”) over 5000 days.
Metapurse acquired 20 pieces from the collection made on Jan. 1 each year. Later, the firm issued a combined token, B20, representing joint ownership of the collection, including the digital museum that houses the collection. Metapurse said that it is “fractionalizing ownership, not the assets themselves.”
The firm spent $2.2 million on Beeple’s auction and $1.3 million on the design of the virtual museum, for a total of $3.5 million.
Price of B20 Token Has Surged
There are 10 million B20 tokens in circulation. Metapurse retained 59% of the ownership and transferred 2% to Beeple. The firm sold 1.6 million B20 tokens for a total amount of $576,000 in a public sale. The remaining 23% was allocated to partners of Metapurse.
The price of the B20 token rose by 89% in a flash surge this morning thanks to a whopping $70 million valuation during the Christie’s sale. B20 surged from $14.60 to $27.70 around 10 am EST.
Prices quickly fell, however, as owners booked profit. The B20 token was worth about $19.58 at 2:00 pm PST.
The total market capitalization of the token is now over $190 million, more than twice the amount that the entire set sold for.
Disclosure: The author held Bitcoin at the time of press.
Share this article
Christie’s Pioneers First Major Digital Art Auction With Beeple NFT
Christie’s is running an auction for Beeple’s digital art piece “Everydays — The First 5000 Days”. Christie’s Readying Beeple NFT Christie’s, one of the world’s most famous auction houses, is…
Cult Digital Artist Beeple Raises Record $3.5 Million in NFT Auction
Mike Winkelmann, the legendary digital artist best known as Beeple, has raised a record-breaking $3.5 million for his latest NFT collection called “Everydays.” “Everydays” Breaks New Record Winkelmann auctioned off…
Rare Beeple Donald Trump NFT Sells for Record-Breaking $6.6 Million
A one-of-a-kind Beeple piece has sold for $6.6 million. It’s now the most expensive NFT ever created. Beeple Breaks His Own Record A unique NFT by Beeple fetched $6.6 million…
Looking Back on 2020 and 2021 Predictions
Happy New Year from all of us at Crypto.com Research! 2020 was an unprecedented year for the world and for crypto. Before we fully plunge into 2021 predictions, we will…