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Sotheby’s to Allow Live Bidding in Ether for Works by Banksy
Auctioneer Oliver Barker will be fielding real-time bids for the famed street artist’s “Trolley Hunters” and “Love Is In The Air.”
Updated May 11, 2023, 4:04 p.m. Published Nov 11, 2021, 9:21 p.m.
Sotheby’s, the 277-year-old British auction house, will allow live bidding in ether cryptocurrency in an upcoming virtual exhibition on Nov. 18 to be held at its “headquarters” in Decentraland.
- Sotheby’s auctioneer Oliver Barker will be fielding real-time bids from its New York saleroom for street artist Banksy’s “Trolley Hunters” and “Love Is In The Air” (2006).
- Sotheby’s has been accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment for physical artwork for a while and sold a separate painting by Banksy in May.
- Art fans interested in the auction can tune in from anywhere around the world and follow the live-streamed broadcast by following Sotheby’s social media channels.
- In April, Sotheby’s held its first sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) by pseudonymous artist Pak. The sale fetched $16.8 million over a three-day drop.
- In October, Sotheby’s launched a new platform called “Sotheby’s Metaverse” that allows visitors to view digital artworks available at auction, as well as learn about the collectors and artists behind NFTs.
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Read more: Sotheby’s Takes Its NFT Experiment Into the Metaverse
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