Sotheby’s today (May 1) announced a new curated marketplace for secondary sales of digital artwork and non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. The direct transaction sales system will launch with a collection of works from artists including Diana Sinclair, IX Shells, Sarah Zucker, Refik Anadol, Sofia Crespo, Sebastiao Salgado and Tyler Hobbs.
In total, artworks from thirteen artists will be available for a limited time on Sotheby’s Metaverse’s secondary sales market. The initial offerings will be followed by sales of works from a growing rotation of digital artists.
“To commemorate this event by opening our secondary market to a carefully selected group of artists, many of whom have been at the forefront of the movement and brought digital art to worldwide attention, further underscores Sotheby’s commitment to the NFT community and to creating a space for discerning collectors,” Michael Bouhanna, Sotheby’s vice president and head of NFTs, said in a statement.
Sotheby’s was the first auction house to create an NFT marketplace with the launch of Sotheby’s Metaverse in October 2021. Now, with the launch of the secondary market, Sotheby’s Metaverse will host peer-to-peer sales of digital artworks on the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains.
Secondary market sales will honor artist resale royalties on the chain through smart contracts, with cryptocurrency payments automatically distributed after secondary sales.
“Sotheby’s commitment to honor artist royalties comes amid a larger debate about royalties in the NFT community, and signals Sotheby’s artist-first ethos as one of the only major NFT marketplaces committed to artist resale royalties,” the auction house said .
In June, Sotheby’s Metaverse is also launching a new digital gallery through oncyber, a metaverse platform. The gallery will host an exhibition of works from the secondary market, with a room dedicated to each of the first 13 artists. Another room will be curated with digital artwork from the collection of Cozomo de’Medici, a prominent patron of NFTs, according to Sotheby’s.
Sotheby’s first NFT sale took place in April 2021, when a series of works by artist Pak sold for more than $17 million. The auction house has since handled more than $120 million worth of NFT sales.
Other auction houses have also entered the metaverse and NFT space. In September 2022, Christie’s launched Christie’s 3.0, a platform that sells NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain.
