2021 has been a marvelous year for cryptocurrencies, and Sotheby’s, the premium auction house recently added to the delight. The 277-year-old auction house recently announced that it would accept both Ether and Bitcoin for payment in its upcoming auction.
As the said auction will involve Banksy’s masterpiece, Love is in the Air; the news made a buzz in the art and crypto sectors alike. The auction house stated that it would be the first time an auction house would accept crypto for a physical art piece. Evidently, the move will be bringing two disruptors together: crypto in the finance sector and Banksy in the art circle. Sotheby’s is partnering with Coinbase (renowned crypto exchange) to conduct the bidding. The bidding amount is expected between 3 million US dollars and 5 million US dollars.
The sheer funds involved in the transaction are garnering attention worldwide. This is not the first time Sotheby’s has been involved with the crypto sector. Back in March, the auction house declared auctioning a series of NFTs (non-fungible tokens). NFTs are digital assets representing the ownership of valuable virtual items.
Cryptocurrency’s Previous Involvement in the Art Field
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This is not the first time cryptocurrencies have partaken in the art world. In March 2021 itself, a digital art named Everydays – The First 5000 Days by Mike Winkelmann or Beeple (American artist) sold for almost 70 million dollars. The auction took place at Christie’s and was the first time a renowned auction house sold an art piece that does not physically exist.
Bitcoin recently reached the 65,000 dollar mark, establishing new standards in the crypto realm. Now with Sotheby’s accepting it as a payment option, the world might see a surge in the crypto’s mass adoption. The crypto realm is already benefiting from the support of Elon Musk and Mark Cuban, but this announcement might leverage the trend even more.
Coinbase stated that this partnership could result in other auction houses accepting cryptocurrencies as well.
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Sotheby’s accepting cryptocurrencies as a payment option is something nobody could have predicted. The auction house might have marked the start of an era with crypto and art going hand in hand. With Bitcoin making giant strides in the crypto industry, this announcement might improve its market price even more.
