The platform launched Monday in tandem with its very first collection sale: a 53-lot auction of tokenized art from 19 curators including Paris Hilton and DJ Steve Aoki in a collection dubbed "Natively Digital 1.2: The Collectors." The inaugural sale will last from Oct. 18-26.
Sotheby's says the collection "shines a spotlight on the people who have championed digital artists and contributed to the digital art space." It features items from some big-name NFT projects like Dapper Labs of CryptoKitties fame, Yuga Labs, creators of Bored Ape Yacht Club, and Art Blocks, who created the Chromie Squiggle series, among others.
The platform is powered by NFT studio and blockchain technology platform Mojito, which specializes in developing and operating NFT marketplaces for brands and rightsholders of intellectual property. Sotheby's Metaverse accepts a wide range of payment options, from credit cards and wire transfers to bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDC.
Sotheby's has seen success with their NFT-focused efforts since their first NFT auction held in April, in which $16.8 million of tokenized art was sold in collaboration with digital artist Pak. Earlier this summer, an NFT from the "CryptoPunk" series sold at the auction house for a then record-setting $11.8 million.
A collection of 107 Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, a series of outrageous, monkey-themed digital avatars, sold at auction at Sotheby's last month for a whopping $24.4 million. High-profile athletes like NBA superstar Steph Curry and Denver Broncos captain Von Miller's affinity for the collection, including setting their own acquisitions as their Twitter profile picture, have helped propel interest in the collection.
The prestigious London-based auction house, which has been putting fine artwork up for sale since 1744, indicates in a video introducing Sotheby's Metaverse that it believes the future of fine art is digital, and that NFTs will play a key role in this ongoing artistic revolution.
