The images are at once familiar and completely warped. Strange, yet studious. Today, 13 and a half years’ worth of Mike Winkelmann’s images go on sale at Christie’s. The artist, who goes by Beeple, breaks ground at Christie’s with the full debut of his opus: “Everydays: The First 5000 Days.”

The auction is historic for a couple of reasons: For starters, Winkelmann’s work is the first time Christie’s, the historic auction house dating back to 1766, is featuring a piece of digital art, or crypto art—the first major auction house to do so. Also of note are the accepted payment options for “Everydays.” The option to purchase Beeple’s piece using cryptocurrency is another first for Christie’s, located in New York at 20 Rockefeller Plaza.

“We’re at this precipice where crypto is going to be such a more established and mainstream mode of conducting business,” Noah Davis, specialist, post-war and contemporary art at Christie’s, told Bloomberg. “With this [sale], I think it’s the perfect way to dip our toes in and give this a shot.”

Meghan Doyle, cataloguer, post-war and contemporary art at Christie’s, says that the timing couldn’t be more perfect. “We are coming off a year that rendered it absolutely vital for Christie’s, and every art business and institution, to prioritize building and further developing their digital tools in order to optimize the at-home art viewing experience.”

This monumental occasion is not lost on Winkelmann. In an Instagram post announcing the event to his followers, Winkelmann writes: “I could not be more honored and humbled to be representing the digital art community for this historic sale!!! <3”

What began as a creative outlet for a father of two living in a Charleston, South Carolina, suburb with his schoolteacher wife has catapulted Winkelmann to fame most artists can only dream of. Winkelmann, who was born in Wisconsin, is arguably as much an influencer as he is an artist. After a brief career stint designing corporate websites, in May 2007 he began creating a funky new sketch every single day. Since that day nearly 14 years ago, Winkelmann has posted a new digital work of art online every day through January 7, 2021. Beeple_crap, Winkelmann’s Instagram account showcasing the “Everydays” work, has 1.8 million followers, and each post typically garners upwards of 300 comments. But Winkelmann doesn’t just count followers among his riches: At the end of 2020, he grossed $3.5 million for the first extensive auction of his art.

Given his fan base and a younger, tech-savvy generation’s open-mindedness toward Bitcoin, Ether, and other cryptocurrencies, Beeple’s Christie’s show is likely to draw huge crowds, albeit virtual, of course, owing to restrictions around Covid-19. Still, although the opening bid starts at $100, if the December sale is any indication of the value of Beeple’s work, it’s unlikely to stay low for long. The estimate on the work is listed as “unknown” to underscore the unprecedented nature of the sale, Doyle explains.

Never before has the auction house shown a vested interest in digital art, but Beeple—the personality, the brand, the artist—is a promising story. Perhaps it’s one New York City, long a haven for artists of all mediums, is perfectly primed for. On March 11, when the auction ends, just one individual will be one piece of crypto art richer; fortunately, for the rest of us, there’s Instagram.”