[ti:Digital Artwork Sells for Nearly $70 Million] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]A piece of art that exists only on a computer, [00:04.44]created by BEEPLE, sold Thursday for nearly $70 million. [00:12.88]BEEPLE's real name is Mike Winkelmann. [00:16.72]His artwork is a collection of 5,000 images [00:21.76]called "Everydays – The First 5000 Days." [00:28.08]The work he created is a common image file called a jpeg. [00:34.52]It is the first time that an auction company – in this case, [00:39.44]Christie's – sold a piece of art you cannot touch. [00:44.84]Artwork similar to BEEPLE's piece [00:48.40]is now known as an NFT, or Non-Fungible Token. [00:55.52]Artists use technology called blockchain [00:59.72]to prove they are selling original work. [01:03.84]BEEPLE will keep making money each time his art sells. [01:08.52]He has a contract that pays him 10 percent of the selling price [01:14.40]each time someone new becomes the owner. [01:19.56]BEEPLE makes art about technology, wealth and American politics. [01:26.04]He has also made art for music performances [01:29.84]by Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and One Direction. [01:35.28]He said without the new technology that [01:38.44]proves the identity of the owner and the creator, [01:42.92]there was "no way to collect digital art." [01:48.16]Last month, a 10-second video showing an image of [01:52.96]former U.S. President Donald Trump [01:56.68]sold on an NFT marketplace for over $6 million. [02:04.16]When asked about his artwork selling for over 10 times that, [02:08.56]Beeple said: "It's so crazy." [02:12.80]Since the technology is so new, not many people know [02:17.80]what the future holds for NFT art. [02:21.68]Some may grow in value [02:24.72]while others may become worthless, BEEPLE said. [02:28.92]NFTs are used to sell sports videos, [02:32.80]pieces of land in worlds that only exist on computers [02:38.36]and even the first-ever tweet by Twitter's founder. [02:46.00]BEEPLE said NFTs give people who want to invest their money [02:52.20]an option beyond the stock market. [02:57.60]Max Dilendorf is a cryptocurrency lawyer in New York City. [03:04.00]He said many people who are investing in NFTs [03:09.24]do not really know what they are getting into. [03:14.68]"From my experience, participants in NFT markets [03:20.28]are not really thinking it through carefully." [03:24.56]At the same time, however, [03:27.08]he said he expects NFTs to continue to grow. [03:34.72]He said he thinks the physical art market [03:38.56]will become digital in the next five years. [03:43.60]I'm Dan Friedell. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM