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Opinion
Andrea Felsted

Rich Millennials Are Splashing Millions on Crypto Art

The pandemic hit the art world hard. But an influx of young, tech-savvy collectors has kept the market buzzing.

Botticelli? Or Beeple?

Botticelli? Or Beeple?

Source: Portrait of a Young Man Holding a Roundel, by Sandro Botticelli via Wiki Commons; Everydays: The First 5000 Days by Beeple via Christie’s

At the end of January, an impeccably preserved painting by Italian Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli sold for a record $92.2 million. Six weeks later, a work that could not be further from the Old Master, a digital compilation of images by an artist who goes by the name of Beeple, sold for $69.3 million.

The two pieces are worlds apart but their desirability is driven by similar factors. Although the art market suffered from pandemic closures, it’s been saved by an undiminished appetite among wealthy collectors for prestige investments, as well as an influx of younger, tech-savvy buyers whom galleries and dealers have managed to reach online.