Sotheby’s Metaverse: A Game Changer in the NFT Marketplace | NFT CULTURE | NFT News | Web3 culture
Introduction: In a groundbreaking move, Sotheby’s has launched ‘Sotheby’s Metaverse’, a secondary marketplace for digital art that aims to address fragmentation in the 1/1 NFT market. By curating artists and collecting their works across multiple platforms, Sotheby’s Metaverse is poised to become a leading destination for collecting, buying and selling unique digital masterpieces.
The launch: Sotheby’s Metaverse kicks off with an impressive line-up of top artists, including XCOPY, Sam Spratt, Tyler Hobbs and Claire Silver. Peer-to-peer transactions will be conducted on the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains, with a 2.5% fee on top of fully enforced royalties.
Navigating the platform: When visiting an artist’s page on Sotheby’s Metaverse ( users will find a brief overview of the artist along with a separate tab containing their complete NFT collection. However, there is room for improvement as list prices from other platforms have not been for example, migrated XCOPY has 0 NFTs for sale on Sotheby’s Metaverse and 24 listed on SuperRare.
Why Sotheby’s Metaverse Matters: The fragmentation of 1/1 digital artwork across multiple platforms such as Foundation, SuperRare and AOTM Gallery has made it challenging for collectors to understand an artist’s full portfolio. While Escher sought to solve this problem for the digital art edition market, Sotheby’s Metaverse has emerged as the first movement for 1/1s, offering a significant advantage to collectors.
The Future of NFT Marketplaces: Sotheby’s Metaverse marks a new era in NFT marketplaces, providing a much-needed solution to fragmentation in the digital art world. However, for this innovative platform to truly succeed, it is essential for NFTs to be listed and actively traded. Keep an eye on Sotheby’s Metaverse as it continues to evolve and shape the future of the NFT ecosystem.
Sotheby’s Art and NFTs
Sotheby’s, founded in 1744, is one of the world’s most prestigious auction houses, specializing in art, jewelry and collectibles. With its headquarters in New York City and locations in numerous other cities around the world, Sotheby’s has a long-standing reputation for connecting collectors with rare and valuable objects.
Sotheby’s and NFTs:
In recent years, Sotheby’s has recognized the growing importance of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and digital art in the contemporary art market. As a result, the auction house has made several moves to embrace and support the NFT ecosystem:
- Natively Digital Auction: In June 2021, Sotheby’s held its first NFT auction called “Natively Digital: A Curated NFT Sale.” This groundbreaking event featured works from various digital artists, including a rare piece by pseudonymous artist Pak and the first ever NFT created by Kevin McCoy, “Quantum.” The auction signaled Sotheby’s commitment to the burgeoning digital art market.
- Collaboration with Pak: In April 2021, Sotheby’s partnered with digital artist Pak to auction “The Fungible Collection,” a series of NFTs that explored the concept of value in digital art. The auction attracted great attention and generated millions of dollars in sales, further cementing Sotheby’s position in the NFT space.
- World of Women NFT Auction: In August 2021, Sotheby’s hosted the “World of Women” NFT Auction, which showcased a collection of digital art celebrating women’s confidence and diversity. The aim of the auction was to promote equality and support female artists in the NFT milieu.
Sotheby’s has demonstrated its willingness to evolve and adapt to new trends in the art world by embracing NFTs and digital art. The launch of Sotheby’s Metaverse, a secondary marketplace for digital art, marks another important step in the company’s commitment to staying at the forefront of the rapidly changing art market.
