The buyer of a record-breaking $69.3 million non-fungible token (NFT)-based artwork last week says he bought it to ensure the work stays in the crypto space.
Talking on CoinDesk TV’s First Mover on Tuesday, MetaKovan – the pseudonymous founder of NFT fund Metapurse – said he plans to “build monuments in the virtual world” for the work by digital artist Beeple.
“It’s like a bridge between the traditional world and the virtual world and I think it’s more appropriate that a guy from crypto bought this,” he said.
Appearing anonymously on CoinDesk TV behind an avatar, MetaKovan confirmed that he is of Indian descent, but intends to remain anonymous as he believes it lends itself to the virtual world.
MetaKovan beat Tron founder Justin Sun to the winning bid for Beeple’s “EVERDAYS,” paying 42,329.453 ether in a Christie’s auction. “I had no idea who I was bidding against,” MetaKovan told CoinDesk.
There has been some backlash to the sale with accusations that MetaKovan is a crypto whale conducting a form of insider trading. “You should ignore those kind of comments. It’s not something I spend my time on,” he said.
MetaKovan bought another work by Beeple in December 2020 that Metapurse offered to the public in fractionalized form through B20 token sales.
“We spent around $2.2 million plus 30% for the cost of sale, and sold 23% of it for not a lot of premium – I took back around $1.3-1.4 million,” he said.
MetaKovan still holds around 50% of the tokens for this piece and said he does not plan to sell “any time soon.”
See also: Now Robots Are Making Digital Art NFTs