It is hard to pinpoint exactly when NFTs exploded into the mainstream, but many credit it to the sale of digital artwork Everyday: the First 5,000 Days, a collage of 5,000 digital images by Mike “Beeple” Winkelmann. The NFT was sold at Christie’s for US$69.3 million, making it among the most expensive works by a living artist.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were all the rage at the pandemic’s start. Fuelled by hype and increased mainstream participation, NFT technology has helped prop the growth and appreciation for digital art.
The first image on the blockchain appeared in 2011 when a tribute to cryptographer Len Sassaman — an image of him made by ASCII art — was created in the Bitcoin block 138725. Then, in 2014, digital artist Kevin McCoy created the first NFT, later sold in 2021 by Sotheby’s for US$1.47 million during its “Natively Digital” auction.
