Sotheby’s NFT Metaverse includes DJ Steve Aoki, Paris Hilton
18:33, 14 October 2021
Sotheby’s launched a new non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Thursday, to become the first auction house to create a proprietary platform to trade such digital collectibles.
Dubbed Sotheby’s Metaverse, the marketplace will allow users to buy primary offerings, participate in open editions and mint generative artworks. Sotheby’s is partnering with digital artists 888, j1mmy.eth, Yuga Labs and Pak. Additionally, Sotheby’s is also partnering with celebrity NFT collectors, DJ Steve Aoki and Paris Hilton as curators.
Sotheby’s Metaverse is powered by Mojito, a new commerce suite for creating bespoke NFT marketplaces optimised for Ethereum and EVM-compatible networks. Sales over Sotheby’s Metaverse may be in fiat currency or Bitcoin, Ethereum and stablecoin USD Coin.
The inaugural offering on the marketplace will be a collection called Nativity Digital 1.2: The Collectors, consisting of 53 NFTs curated from 19 collectors, including works consigned by crypto-art focused decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) PleasrDAO and Fingerprint sDAO, as well as a contribution from Time Magazine.
Bidding for Nativity Digital 1.2 begins 18 October and runs through 26 October. The works will be showcased for on-site viewing at Sotheby’s London location from 16 October through 20 October.
In addition to contemporary digital art, Sotheby’s Metaverse will offer NFTs in such sectors as luxury & fashion, music & entertainment, science & technology and sports.
Southeby’s named Managing Director Sebastian Fahey executive lead of Sotheby’s Metaverse and will work with co-heads of contemporary and digital art sales Michael Bouhanna and Max Moore. Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s Global Head of Science and Popular Culture, will participate in a supporting role.
“Following the tremendous success of the first-ever retrospective of the NFT movement – Sotheby’s Natively Digital – I am honoured to continue to expand our digital art sales with Natively Digital 1.2, which features works from inspiring collectors who have contributed to the growth of the NFT ecosystem,” said Sotheby’s Bouhanna in a statement emailed to Capital.com. “Natively Digital 1.2 offers a unique introduction to the most prominent NFT collectors and DAOs who have gathered the most important NFT collections to date.”
Most recently, Sotheby’s auctioned five NFT lots curated in partnership with DJ Steve Aoki which sold for a total of $582.840, or a $116,565 per-lot average, which raised $464,000 to support female digital artists.
Read more: Coinbase launching NFT marketplace, taking on OpenSea
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