NEW YORK • The buyer of a landmark work by the digital artist Beeple, which sold for US$69.3 million (S$93 million), is a leading collector of new technologies who operates under the pseudonym Metakovan, the auction house Christie's said on Friday.

The sale of Everydays: The First 5,000 Days, a virtual mosaic created by Mike Winkelmann - the American artist's real name - caused an upheaval on the art market, where digital art was still a niche just six months ago.

Only two artists have achieved a higher price during their lifetimes in the history of the arts: the British painter David Hockney and the American visual artist Jeff Koons.

The purchaser of the digital collage, Metakovan, is one of the oldest investors in "NFT", or "non-fungible tokens", which are virtual objects like Everydays, whose authenticity and traceability are deemed to be inviolable.

NFTs are based on so-called blockchain technology, which is also used by cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

In 2017, together with his partner, who goes by the pseudonym Twobadour and whose identity is also a closely guarded secret, Metakovan created Metapurse, the main investment fund in NFT virtual objects, of which he is the main financier.

In January, Metapurse said it had acquired 20 virtual paintings from Beeple for a total of approximately US$2.2 million.

"When you think of high-valued NFTs, this one is going to be pretty hard to beat," said Metakovan, in a statement released by Christie's.

"And here's why - it represents 13 years of everyday work."

The 39-year-old artist from Charleston, South Carolina, started the Everydays project in 2007, with the mission of producing a work every day.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE