(Newser)
– The blockchain technology behind Bitcoin and other digital currencies is shaking the art world as well as the financial markets. Sales of “non-fungible tokens” – artwork or other digitally owned pieces authenticated as exclusive originals via blockchain – are exploding, with a 10-second work of art by artist Beeple recently sold for a record $ 6.6 million, reports Reuters. The video, which shows people walking on what appears to be the graffiti-covered body of a huge Donald Trump, was purchased by art collector Pablo Rodriguez-Fraile in October for $ 67,000. He resold it last week for almost 100 times as much. The 32-year-old businessman told Bloomberg that he thought it would take longer to rise in value, but it was still “a fantastic deal for the buyer”.
“You can go to the Louvre and take a picture of the Mona Lisa and you can have it there, but it has no value because it does not have the origin or the history of the work”, the collector says. “The reality here is that this is very, very valuable because of who is behind it.” Bloomberg notes that the digital art boom has a precedent in the photography market. Beeple, whose real name is Mike Winkelmann, is a digital artist who has been creating one design per day for 13 years. A two-week auction of his work started at Christie’s last week. He tells the New York Times that he only started researching NFTs in mid-October. As with many other NFTs, the blockchain that authenticates its work also includes a requirement that it receive 10% of the price every time it is resold. “When you buy the artwork, you are entering into a relationship with me,” he says. (Read more blockchain stories.)