Secondary NFTs see a boost as the auction house launches an on-chain marketplace

• Auction house Sotheby’s announced the launch of a new chain marketplace for digital art enthusiasts to purchase secondary NFTs.
• Many traditional auction houses, including Southeby’s and Christie’s, are now significantly invested in NFT marketplaces.

On May 1, auction house Sotheby’s announced the launch of a new chain marketplace for digital art enthusiasts to purchase secondary NFTs.

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The next development of #Sotheby’sMetaverse is here! The most trusted and dynamic destination for collecting, buying and selling remarkable digital works.

Explore: pic.twitter.com/dCkaCKlXVm

— Sotheby’s Metaverse (@Sothebysverse) 1 May 2023

According to the tweet, all sales on Sotheby’s Metaverse platform will be conducted using smart contracts. This will allow digital art collectors to pay for art and collectibles in either Ethereum [ETH] or polygon [MATIC].

Sotheby’s has stated that it will honor artist royalties via smart contracts on the secondary sales platform and will pay artists automatically based on the royalty amount they choose.

The auction house first ventured into the NFT space in April 2021, when it auctioned off the work of Pak, a pseudonymous digital artist. Sotheby’s sold a rare CryptoPunk known as “Covid Alien” for a whopping $11.8 million in June 2021.

Sotheby’s held its largest ever NFT charity auction in November 2021, auctioning off 140 rare NFTs to raise money for the non-profit healthcare organization Sostento.

The company came under fire in April 2023 when it presented the latest incarnation of its Natively Digital series, a presentation honoring glitch artists in the NFT sector. However, it did not feature any female artists. After public outcry, Sotheby’s put the show on hiatus and then relaunched it with a more diverse lineup.

Traditional auction houses invested in NFTs

Many traditional auction houses are now significantly invested in NFT marketplaces. In February 2021, auction house Beeples sold “EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS” for $69.3 million. In September 2022, Christie’s launched a chain platform for NFT art. This made it the first global auction to allow chain-wide sales.

Christie’s, another prominent auction company, will debut Christie’s 3.0, a blockchain platform, in early 2022. Last year, Christie’s sold 87 NFT lots across all platforms for a total of $5.9 million.