Mysterious crypto investor reportedly bought $69M Beeple artwork
The buyer of the first digital artwork ever sold by Christie’s has been unmasked — sort of.
A mysterious crypto investor who goes by the pseudonym “Metakovan” is the acquirer who reportedly paid more than $69 million for “Everydays: The First 5000 Days,” a so-called NFT, or non-fungible token, by the digital artist Beeple.
Metakovan is a patron for NFTs, unique digital assets whose ownership is recorded using blockchain technology, and is the backer of Metapurse, a fund that collects NFTs to put on display in virtual museums, according to CNBC, which first reported on his historic buy Friday.
Metakovan and his partner, who goes by Twobadour, could potentially split up Beeple’s collage into pieces or offer it as a new token, the network reported.
“We made history and we created a god” in Beeple, Twobadour told CNBC.
Metakovan’s true identity is unknown, but the Metapurse website describes him as an “entrepreneur, coder, and angel investor in blockchain technology.”
The piece he bought is a giant collage of 5,000 different digital illustrations created by Beeple, whose real name is Mike Winkelmann.
It was the first NFT ever auctioned by Christie’s, which advised bidders that they could pay for it with the Ether cryptocurrency.