• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
FinanceCryptocurrency

He sold a piece NFT art for $69 million. Now this digital artist declares the market is a giant ‘bubble’

By
Ros Krasny
Ros Krasny
and
Bloomberg
Bloomberg
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Ros Krasny
Ros Krasny
and
Bloomberg
Bloomberg
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 22, 2021, 8:05 AM ET

NFT art is “absolutely” in a bubble, said the digital artist who this month sold a non-fungible token of his piece “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” for an eye-watering $69.3 million.

“I absolutely think it’s a bubble, to be quite honest. I go back to the analogy of the beginning of the internet. There was a bubble. And the bubble burst,” Beeple, whose real name is Mike Winkelmann, said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“But it didn’t wipe out the internet. And so the technology itself is strong enough where I think it’s going to outlive that.”

The record-setting NFT is a collage of images made each day for 13 years. “It’s really something that sort of catalogs both my life over that time and sort of things that have happened in the world over that time,” he said.

Subscribe to The Ledger for expert weekly analysis on fintech’s big stories, delivered free to your inbox.

Winklemann, or Beeple, said watching the conclusion of the Christie’s online auction on March 11 was “very surreal. It sort of jumped from like 27 million to 50 million. It was literally just like a bomb went off in the room.”

The sale was a record for digital art, and catapulted Winklemann to third place on the list of works from a living artist, behind the Jeff Koons sculpture “Rabbit” and and David Hockney’s painting, “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures).”

NFTs are virtual collectibles that use similar technology to that behind cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to create a certificate of ownership over a specific digital file.

The South Carolina artist’s work was purchased by anonymous digital asset investor known as Metakovan, Bloomberg News reported. Christie’s accepted payment in Ether, the world’s second-biggest digital coin, which the artist quickly converted to cold cash.

“By Friday night, the guy — it’s a guy in Singapore — he had the artwork and I had the money,” he said. “$55 million in my bank account. Like, boom, done, the next day.”

More must-read tech coverage from Fortune:

  • Tiger Woods returns to video games, exclusively with Take-Two Interactive
  • Why Russia is cracking down on social media
  • France refuses to block Apple’s big privacy changes
  • The r/WallStreetBets crowd has a new target: Saving gorillas
  • Commentary: To fix the cybersecurity talent shortage, we need smarter product design
About the Authors
By Ros Krasny
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
By Bloomberg
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Finance

wyle
CommentaryTV
What HBO’s ‘The Pitt’ gets right—and wrong—about treating alcohol use disorder
By Jonathan Hunt-GlassmanApril 2, 2026
17 minutes ago
nic
CommentaryInsider trading
Prediction markets caught insider traders in real time. Congress wants to shut them down anyway
By Nic PuckrinApril 2, 2026
1 hour ago
Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel.
NewslettersCFO Daily
The hedge fund billionaire betting Miami can rival New York’s Wall Street
By Sheryl EstradaApril 2, 2026
1 hour ago
farley
Future of WorkInfrastructure
Ford CEO Jim Farley says America is sleepwalking past its ‘essential economy’ crisis. Goldman Sachs just showed how big it really is
By Nick LichtenbergApril 2, 2026
2 hours ago
Nima Ghamsari smiles
NewslettersTerm Sheet
Blend’s post-IPO reset: CEO Nima Ghamsari bets that AI can turn it all around
By Lily Mae LazarusApril 2, 2026
3 hours ago
Photo: President Trump
Big TechMarkets
Trump hails ‘tremendous progress’ in Iran but all Wall Street heard was ‘back to escalation’
By Jim EdwardsApril 2, 2026
3 hours ago

Most Popular

Gen Z fled San Francisco for Texas and Florida. Now they're turning 'welcomer cities' into the next big tech towns
Real Estate
Gen Z fled San Francisco for Texas and Florida. Now they're turning 'welcomer cities' into the next big tech towns
By Fortune EditorsApril 2, 2026
6 hours ago
Two-thirds of parents say their adult Gen Z kids still rely on them financially  for support—even though it's putting them under strain
Success
Two-thirds of parents say their adult Gen Z kids still rely on them financially  for support—even though it's putting them under strain
By Fortune EditorsMarch 31, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of gold as of April 1, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of gold as of April 1, 2026
By Fortune EditorsApril 1, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of April 1, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of April 1, 2026
By Fortune EditorsApril 1, 2026
1 day ago
Jerome Powell says the $39 trillion national debt is ‘not unsustainable,’ but warns the trajectory ‘will not end well’
Economy
Jerome Powell says the $39 trillion national debt is ‘not unsustainable,’ but warns the trajectory ‘will not end well’
By Fortune EditorsMarch 30, 2026
3 days ago
Hiring just hit a level not seen since the economy was ‘closed down literally’ during COVID, top economist says
Economy
Hiring just hit a level not seen since the economy was ‘closed down literally’ during COVID, top economist says
By Fortune EditorsMarch 31, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.