NFT Artist Beeple Auctions Latest Work for $28.9M at Christie’s

“Human One” is a real-life sculpture that comes with a non-fungible token.

article-image

Beeple’s Human_ONE

share

key takeaways

  • Ryan Zurrer, a former venture partner at Polychain Capital, claimed the artwork
  • The NFT runs on Ethereum blockchain, allowing Beeple to continuously update and change the artwork for the rest of his life, according to the artist

The second most expensive non-fungible token (NFT) just sold for $28.9 million via Christie’s auction house on Tuesday.

Artist Beeple’s “Human One” depicts an astronaut-like figure walking in an almost seven-foot-high translucent box, describing it as “the first portrait of a human born in the metaverse.” 

Elsewhere, Beeple compared “Human One” to a “subscription service,” adding that the owner is also “buying continual access to me updating this piece.” (The artwork runs on Ethereum blockchain, allowing Beeple to update and change the work.)

Loading Tweet..

“While the piece was sold last night, [it] is not complete,” he said in a webinar on Wednesday. “I’m going to keep changing the piece and keep updating the artwork over the course of the rest of my life. That is something that is very exciting to me, and I think is much more analogous to how people will appreciate art in the future.”

Ryan Zurrer, a former venture partner at Polychain Capital, claimed the artwork.

“This is how people will view art in the future as a dynamic thing. You come down in the morning, and the piece looks one way. You come home from work, and the piece looks a different way,” Beeple said. “It just continues to evolve, surprise and just adds to its beauty.” 

Mike Winkelmann, who goes by Beeple, made headlines in March of last year for selling his NFT, “The First 5000 Days” for over $69 million at the same auction house. It remains the highest-selling piece of crypto art for Christie’s. 


Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your inbox every evening. Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter now.


Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Unlocked by Template.png

Research

RTK networks are critical to enabling a world of ubiquitous autonomous drones, vehicles, and industrial robots. We believe the GEOD token enables both a cost and product advantage for the GEODNET RTK network, which will allow it to out-compete multi-billion dollar incumbents Trimble and Hexagon.

article-image

Hunter Horsley says Solana is one of this cycle’s breakout successes that he thinks clients will want to access

article-image

SOL has climbed more than 2,000% in the past two years

article-image

MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor alluded to Marathon’s CEO during a X Spaces on Tuesday

article-image

Crypto’s calls are equally as juiced as puts, creating a “smile” in the volatility surface

article-image

Turns out that owning the end-user via a crypto wallet is quite a prosperous business

article-image

The announcement followed growing speculation that Gensler would announce his exit before Trump takes office next year