The world’s first NFT or Non-Fungible Token was sold for a whopping $69 million at an auction by Christie’s. The digital artwork dubbed “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” was created by the renowned digital artist Mike Winkelmann, popularly known as Beeple. The NFT features a unique digital signature that ensures its authenticity and ownership, making it one of the most valuable digital assets in the world. This groundbreaking sale has opened a new avenue for artists and collectors to monetize digital art, while also enabling the secure transfer of ownership through blockchain technology. Explore the story behind the world’s first NFT and its historical significance in the art world.
The First NFT: Quantum by Jennifer and Kevin McCoy
When most people think of NFT art, they might imagine the popular CryptoPunks or Bored Ape Yacht Club. However, the first-ever NFT was actually Quantum, a generative piece of art created by digital artists Jennifer and Kevin McCoy. In 2014, Kevin turned Quantum into an NFT for one simple reason – ownership.
At the time, McCoy wanted to develop a way to sell Quantum in its digital form, but he didn’t have a way of verifying the creator and ownership history of digital works. He joined forces with tech entrepreneur Anil Dash to explore blockchain technology, which was still a niche field at the time. Eventually, they discovered that blockchain technology could provide an indelible provenance and ownership of digital images.
After registering Quantum on blockchain, McCoy and Dash demonstrated how “monetized graphics” like this could establish provenance and sell digital art during a live presentation for the Seven on Seven conferences. This move set the foundation for what would grow into a multi-billion-dollar market less than a decade later.
Despite its groundbreaking contribution to the NFT space, Quantum was forgotten following its 2014 mint because it was stored on a pre-Ethereum Bitcoin offshoot called Namecoin. However, with the NFT market gaining mainstream attention and selling for millions of dollars in 2021, McCoy started promoting Quantum to media outlets to discuss his work and its role in NFT history.
Thanks largely to this publicity push, Quantum eventually went up for auction at Sotheby’s and sold for more than one million dollars. However, legal issues soon followed. Experts noted that a specific quirk about Namecoin called into question who exactly owned Quantum at the time of the sale. Eventually, a New York federal Judge dismissed the lawsuit in favor of the artists who created and minted the work.
While the controversy surrounding Quantum’s legacy is far from the perfect way to honor the historical NFT and its creators, both Jennifer and Kevin McCoy continue to innovate in the space. In April 2023, the pair are releasing their first NFT collection with a Web3 platform.
Title ideas:
1. The Untold Story of the First NFT: Quantum by Jennifer and Kevin McCoy
2. How Blockchain Technology Birthed the NFT Revolution with Quantum by Jennifer and Kevin McCoy