Metapurse, the NFT fund started by the Singapore-based cryptocurrency “whale” Metakovan, plans to build a virtual museum to house and publicly display Beeple’s record-breaking digital work of art, Everydays: The First 5,000 Days (2021). “We hope to work with some of the best architects on the planet to design something truly worthy of this masterpiece,” says Twobadour Paanar, the steward of Metapurse, speaking for the company and Metakovan, “and to build it in the metaverse over a vast virtual estate.”
“The beauty of this piece is that it can be experienced wherever you are in the world,” Twobadour adds of Beeple’s massive jpeg file, which is already viewable through any internet browser. “Unlike the Mona Lisa that’s in physical space, this is purely digital. So we intend to create a monument that this particular piece deserves, which can exist only in the metaverse.”
The public will be able to digitally visit the museum through an ordinary internet browser, as with other online museums Metapurse has created, but it will also be accessible using virtual reality headsets for a “really immersive experience”, Twobadour says. “So how you choose to dive in is up to you.”
Metakovan, whose identity in real life is not known, revealed himself as the buyer of the first non-fungible token (NFT) to be sold at auction, placing the winning bid of $69.3m (with fees) or around 42,329.45 Ether, in Christie’s frenzied online sale.
Everyday: The First 5000 Days is a pixellated, purely digital work, made up of 5,000 images created daily by the artist Beeple (aka Mike Winkelmann) since 1 May 2007. It is now the third most expensive work by a living artist sold at auction, behind works by Jeff Koons and David Hockney, and is also higher valued than most famous Old Masters, including Raphael and Titian.