Art Lover Buys Digital Work for $6.6 Million
2021-03-02
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1When a painting by a famous artist like Vincent Van Gogh sells for millions of dollars, it makes headlines.
2But what about a digital work made by a current artist?
3Would you expect it to sell for $6.6 million?
4That is exactly what happened last week, with a 10-second video made by the artist known as BEEPLE.
5Last year, an art collector from Florida bought Beeple's video for about $67,000.
6Last week, the collector sold the video for $6.6 million.
7The video artwork shows former U.S. President Donald Trump on the ground, with his body covered in slogans - phrases used by groups to gain attention.
8The marketplace for digital work is growing quickly.
9Thanks to software that guarantees a digital file is unique, such art buys are becoming more common.
10The software is called blockchain.
11It acts as a "digital signature" and proves that an item that may only exist virtually is one-of-a-kind.
12Beeple's real name is Mike Winkelmann.
13He has another digital work of art that is being sold by Christie's, a famous auction company.
14The artwork is a collection of 5,000 photos. So far, offers have reached $3 million.
15When the auction ends, Christie's will accept payment in traditional money or in the virtual currency known as Ether.
16Noah Davis works for Christie's. He said, "We are in unknown territory."
17It's not just artwork that is being sold this way.
18For many years, people have traded sports cards -- thick pieces of paper that had pictures of sports stars.
19Eventually, some of those sports cards became valuable and would sell for many thousands of dollars.
20Sports cards are still popular, but some sports leagues are moving into the digital world, as well.
21For example, the National Basketball Association has a new marketplace for trading short videos, called Top Shot.
22Short videos of big moments from games, like a dunk by LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, are selling for thousands of dollars.
23The largest sale on the site so far came in February, when a user bought the dunk by James for $208,000.
24One Top Shot user told the Reuters news agency he had bought items on the marketplace for about $1 million and re-sold them for almost $5 million.
25Experts in the business of buying and selling digital items say people are getting more used to the idea of owning something they cannot touch.
26Andrew Steinwold runs an investment fund that buys and then re-sells these digital files.
27The fund started in January with a value of $6 million.
28While he said he warns investors to be careful with their money, he also thinks there is the possibility for the market for digital files to increase over time.
29"I think it's going to reach into the trillions of dollars one day," he said.
30I'm Dan Friedell.
1When a painting by a famous artist like Vincent Van Gogh sells for millions of dollars, it makes headlines. But what about a digital work made by a current artist? Would you expect it to sell for $6.6 million? 2That is exactly what happened last week, with a 10-second video made by the artist known as BEEPLE. 3Last year, an art collector from Florida bought Beeple's video for about $67,000. Last week, the collector sold the video for $6.6 million. 4The video artwork shows former U.S. President Donald Trump on the ground, with his body covered in slogans - phrases used by groups to gain attention. 5The marketplace for digital work is growing quickly. Thanks to software that guarantees a digital file is unique, such art buys are becoming more common. The software is called blockchain. It acts as a "digital signature" and proves that an item that may only exist virtually is one-of-a-kind. 6Beeple's real name is Mike Winkelmann. He has another digital work of art that is being sold by Christie's, a famous auction company. The artwork is a collection of 5,000 photos. So far, offers have reached $3 million. 7When the auction ends, Christie's will accept payment in traditional money or in the virtual currency known as Ether. 8Noah Davis works for Christie's. He said, "We are in unknown territory." 9It's not just artwork that is being sold this way. 10For many years, people have traded sports cards -- thick pieces of paper that had pictures of sports stars. Eventually, some of those sports cards became valuable and would sell for many thousands of dollars. 11Sports cards are still popular, but some sports leagues are moving into the digital world, as well. 12For example, the National Basketball Association has a new marketplace for trading short videos, called Top Shot. 13Short videos of big moments from games, like a dunk by LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, are selling for thousands of dollars. The largest sale on the site so far came in February, when a user bought the dunk by James for $208,000. 14One Top Shot user told the Reuters news agency he had bought items on the marketplace for about $1 million and re-sold them for almost $5 million. 15Experts in the business of buying and selling digital items say people are getting more used to the idea of owning something they cannot touch. 16Andrew Steinwold runs an investment fund that buys and then re-sells these digital files. The fund started in January with a value of $6 million. 17While he said he warns investors to be careful with their money, he also thinks there is the possibility for the market for digital files to increase over time. 18"I think it's going to reach into the trillions of dollars one day," he said. 19I'm Dan Friedell. 20Elizabeth Howcroft and Ritvik Carvalho wrote this story for the Reuters news agency. Dan Friedell adapted it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. 21What do you think about the digital sales? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. 22______________________________________________________________ 23Words in This Story 24digital -n. using or characterized by computer technology 25unique -adj. belonging to or connected with only one particular thing, place, or person 26signature -n. a person's name written in that person's handwriting 27virtual -adj. existing or occurring on computers or on the Internet 28auction -n. a public sale at which things are sold to the people who offer to pay the most 29dunk -n. the act of jumping high in the air and pushing (the ball) down through the basket 30fund -n. an amount of money that is used for a special purpose 31item -n. an individual thing