Beeple (born Michael Joseph Winkelmann, 1981) is an American graphic designer and digital artist based in Charleston, South Carolina, who achieved global fame when his NFT artwork “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” — a collage of 5,000 daily digital artworks created over 13+ consecutive years — sold at Christie’s auction house on March 11, 2021 for $69.3 million (69,346,250 USD, paid in ETH), making it the most expensive piece of digital art ever sold, the third-highest price ever achieved by a living artist at any auction, and the single most impactful event in establishing NFTs as a legitimate medium for high-value art transactions.
Background
Mike Winkelmann grew up in the Midwest and studied computer science at Purdue University. He worked as a freelance motion graphic designer and VJ (visual jockey) — creating concert visuals for artists including Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Eminem, and One Direction — before his art career. He is married with children and lives in Charleston, South Carolina — not a typical art world epicenter.
The Everydays Project
On May 1, 2007, Winkelmann began “Everydays” — a commitment to create and post one new digital artwork every single day, indefinitely. The project grew from simple sketches to increasingly sophisticated 3D renders, surrealist landscapes, political satire, and grotesque social commentary. The work has been called “the world’s largest consistent art project.”
The style evolved dramatically over 13 years:
- Early days: simple ink drawings.
- Middle years: cartoon illustration.
- Later years: complex 3D renders using Cinema 4D, Octane render, and other tools, often incorporating political figures and social commentary.
First 5000 Days:
By February 2021, Winkelmann had completed 5000 consecutive Everydays. He minted the collage as a single NFT through Christie’s — the first crypto-native NFT sold through a major auction house — accepting bids in ETH. The final bid of $69.3M came from Vignesh Sundaresan (known as “MetaKovan”), a Singapore-based crypto investor.
Impact on the NFT Market
The Christie’s sale on March 11, 2021 catalyzed mainstream awareness of NFTs:
- NFT search volumes increased ~100× within weeks.
- Competitors (Sotheby’s, Phillips) rapidly entered the NFT auction space.
- “Digital art NFT” became a new asset class narrative overnight.
- Secondary NFT marketplaces (OpenSea, Foundation, SuperRare) saw explosive volume growth in the weeks following.
The sale established several precedents:
- Major auction houses can sell NFTs as standard auction lots.
- Digital artwork can command prices competitive with traditional art.
- ETH is a valid payment method at Christie’s (one of the world’s oldest auction houses, founded 1766).
Post-Sale Work
Beeple continued Everydays and began creating physical-digital hybrid art installations and large-scale NFT drops. He has been vocal about concerns in the NFT space — including criticizing certain projects as cash grabs. He established his own NFT platform and licensing approach for his work.
Key Dates
- May 1, 2007 — Begins Everydays project.
- December 2020 — First major NFT drops (2 works total $3.5M) with Nifty Gateway; first indication of major NFT art market.
- March 11, 2021 — “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” sells at Christie’s for $69.3M.
- 2021 — Multiple follow-up NFT drops; continued Everydays.
- Present — Continues Everydays (17+ years); has not missed a day.
Common Misconceptions
- “Beeple is the best-selling living artist by career total sales.” — The $69.3M sale is for a single lot. Many traditional artists have higher lifetime auction totals. Beeple’s significance is the specific $69.3M NFT sale as a landmark moment, not his overall career sales volume.
- “The buyer ‘MetaKovan’ paid $69.3M in U.S. dollars.” — The payment was made in ETH (42,329.453 ETH). The dollar equivalent at the ETH price on the auction date was $69.3M.
Last updated: 2026-04