This week, ‘TIME: The Future of Business (Beeple Edition)’ was sold for 85 ETH by renowned digital art collector Hanrgb, with the buyer remaining anonymous. The sale marks a significant moment in the history of crypto art—both for its provenance and for its deep cultural symbolism.

Originally minted in May 2021, the piece was Beeple’s first-ever mint on SuperRare, created in collaboration with TIME magazine to accompany its May 10/17 issue. The artwork fused Beeple’s now-iconic dystopian aesthetic with TIME’s editorial voice, spotlighting the radical evolution of business in the digital age.

This was a pivotal cultural moment: TIME, a 100-year-old legacy publication, stepping into Web3 with purpose—and Beeple, still fresh off his record-breaking Christie’s sale, anchoring that moment with a bold artistic statement. The piece was also featured as the TIME cover, a historic crossover between crypto art and mainstream media.

In the artwork’s description, Beeple offers a powerful reflection on the value of digital art:

“People have been creating digital artwork for the last 20 years and it has just as much craft, message, intent, as anything made on a canvas and has just as much ability to affect people emotionally and intellectually. It has been exciting through NFT’s to see people start to realize the value of this type of work and I think we’re just at the beginning of the next chapter of art history.”

While the identity of the buyer remains unknown, the sale signifies a growing appetite for historically significant digital works. Hanrgb’s decision to part with this piece—after collecting some of the most important works in the crypto art space—adds weight to the moment.

As the market continues to evolve, pieces like ‘TIME: The Future of Business’ endure not because of hype, but because of their cultural impact. They represent more than just a transaction—they capture a chapter of history written onchain.