Everydays: The First 5000 Days by Beeple

If two local catalysts propelled the NFT mania of 2021, they were the pandemic and this March 11 record-breaking Beeple sale. The macro-catalysts include the pre-conditions for NFTs that Casey Reas has spoken about and so much of this Timeline has been devoted to, including the rise of mass-media art in the ’80s, mobile technology and blockchains. Developments in systems thinking and abstraction throughout art history were also critical.

However, in terms of more proximate causes for NFT-mania, this sale did more than almost any single event to bring attention to NFTs and the art made on them. The traditional art world, while often appearing noble, is largely dictated by economics. This single—largely economic—event may have therefore done more for mainstream adoption of digital art than any other individual digital art effort in decades.

The flip side to the positive attention this sale may have brought to the space is the undoubted increase in financialization and speculation that it also ignited.

Art Blocks founder Erick Calderon spoke to Le Random about the challenges of hyperfinancialization in the decade.