No digital art piece has garnered as much attention thus far as “Everydays: The First 5,000 Days," the non-fungible token, or NFT, by the artist known as Beeple. Selling for almost $69.4 million at Christie's, Noah Davis, the specialist in post-war and contemporary art for the auction house, explained that the emergence of big-time digital art was bound to happen.
"We decided to hold this auction because it just honestly was inevitable that we would enter this space where the virtual and the real kind of collided and then became one," Davis told Cheddar. "I think that this last year in the pandemic we all were preparing for this mentally in some way or another, and it was just the right place and the right time."
Davis touted blockchain's unique ability to store information that NFTs rely on to preserve the "authenticity" of particular digital works of art, such as Beeple's piece. But, he also noted that, at first, he hadn't imagined it would be put to use in this fashion in the auction world.
"I probably would have expected, if I'm being honest, that blockchain technology would have been utilized in the art-at-auction field more as a kind of clerical device first rather than an actual collectible category," he said.
The auctioning of crypto art is so brand new that Christie's Auction House was unable to set a dollar value range estimate for the expected sale price labeling it "unknown," according to Davis, who said it was among the first things he had to clear with the firm's legal department.
"The estimate was unknown. We went from a $100 starting bid to $1 million in a little more than eight minutes," he said. "The kind of activity in bidding, the frenzy around this lot is like nothing I have ever seen in art-at-auction before."
Despite NFTs being the hot (in perhaps more ways than one) commodity right now and the traditional auction consumer getting up to speed with virtual auctions amid the pandemic, Davis doesn't see tangible artwork disappearing from auction houses any time soon.
"I don't think that auctions of physical art are going anywhere," he said. "But it does mean that there is a new space where art auction houses can operate and it's a purely digital space."
After the 2021 boom, IPO activity slowed down significantly, in part due to monetary policy – but things are getting moving again with tech-friendly companies like Iboutta and Rubrik making a public debut.
With an increasing demand for mental health services, one person wanted to change the therapy game. In 2017, CEO Alex Katz founded Two Chairs, a company that uses technology to match patients with the right therapist.
Not only is April Financial Literacy Month, it’s also the kickoff of the spring homebuying season. So now is the time to make sure you have a financial plan in place – and why it might not be wise for that to include buying your first home.
While the U.S. may slowly be on the path to lowering inflation (and therefore interest rates), Europe has thoroughly trounced America, putting it on the path to lower rates by this summer.
April's release of the monthly Housing Starts and Building Permits reports by the Census Bureau provides crucial insights into the construction activity in the housing market. These reports are an economic indicator, shedding light on the current state of the housing market and its broader economic impact.
Caitlin Clark is heading to the Indiana Fever, the number one draft pick and the highest-scoring college basketball player of all time. And while she may not be getting millions from the WNBA, there's a few ways she'll net compensation for her generational talents.
Author of 'Clean Meat,' Paul Shapiro joins Cheddar to discuss how the cellular agricultural revolution helps lower rates of foodborne illness and greatly improves environmental sustainability. Plus, how his company The Better Meat Co. is bringing healthier food options to the table.
Recent headlines might make it sound like World War III is imminent, but when it comes to your finances, it's not the time to panic. The market is coming off its longest winning streak since 2011.
You may have noticed fewer new venture capital-backed startups (like Airbnb or Uber) lately. The market slowed to a crawl after 2021, but things are expected to take off again in 2025.
Corporate earnings season is underway, that time when companies share their billions in sales or double-digit profits. But the data shows even companies are struggling with high inflation and interest rates.
