Sotheby’s ended its Natively Digital 1.2 auction event with 1,500 bids on Tuesday, with a total turnover of US$18.6 million after nine days of live bidding. Three non-fungible tokens (NFTs) reached record bids, including #8817 Ape by Bored Ape Yacht Club, Rare Pepe PEPENOPOULOS, and Self Portrait #1 by Dmitri Cherniak, according to a press release shared with Forkast.News.
Fast facts
- The #8817 Ape by Bored Ape Yacht Club sold for $3.4 million in the auction event, achieving the highest value for a single Bored Ape. In addition, The Rare Pepe portrait of Bitcoin originator Satoshi Nakamoto hit the record for $3.6 million; and the Self Portrait #1 by Dmitri Cherniak sells for $2.6 million, also the highest bid since it was minted.
- Natively Digital 1.2 is the first auction that took place in the metaverse. Bidding began on Oct. 18 and ended on Oct. 26. It is the second NFT auction in this series, and Sotheby’s says it plans to be the firm’s flagship biannual NFT auction.
- The NFT’s rarity can be the prime factor for the ever-high price record. BAYC #8817 is a golden-haired ape and listed as the 17th rarity in the series by Rarity Tools. According to Sotheby’s, the golden-haired ape only accounts for less than 1% of the entire series.
- Max Moore, the co-head of Digital Art Sales at Sotheby’s, also told Forkast.News that the Satoshi Nakamoto Pepe is one of only seven unique rare works in existence out of the hundreds of pepes. About the Dmitri’s Portrait #1, Moore said it “represents the beginning of the genesis of his artwork that went to a collector who really appreciates not only the artist, but the importance and significance of how it exists within his entire body of work to date and how it will exist moving forward.”