UK Auction House Christie’s Ends Standalone NFT Unit Amid Art Market Slowdown
British public sale home Christie’s is winding down its devoted NFT division, folding it into its broader twentieth and Twenty first-century artwork division, as the worldwide artwork market continues to contract.
Key Takeaways:
- Christie’s is shutting down its standalone NFT division and merging it into its broader up to date artwork division.
- The transfer comes amid falling international artwork gross sales, with public sale home revenues down 20% in 2024.
- Critics say the choice displays outdated enterprise fashions, not an absence of demand for digital artwork.
The determination, described as “strategic,” alerts a shift in how the 256-year-old agency will deal with digital artwork gross sales going ahead.
Christie’s confirmed the restructure on Monday, stating it should proceed providing digital artworks, together with NFTs, however and not using a standalone division.
Christie’s Cuts Digital Art VP as NFT Unit Restructures
Two roles have been reportedly minimize within the course of, together with the vice chairman of digital artwork, although no less than one specialist will stay to deal with future NFT gross sales.
Christie’s had been one of many earliest main gamers within the NFT area, catapulting digital artwork into the mainstream in March 2021 with the historic $69.3 million Beeple sale.
It later launched a bespoke NFT public sale platform and even ventured into crypto actual property.
The newest transfer displays broader pressures within the artwork world. According to the Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report 2025, international artwork gross sales dropped 12% to $57 billion final yr, with private and non-private public sale home revenues falling 20% to $23 billion.
Digital artwork adviser Fanny Lakoubay mentioned in an X publish that Christie’s restructuring seemingly stems from these market dynamics.
“Auction homes can’t justify a complete division when it brings in much less income than the others,” Lakoubay famous.
“It’s not an ideal public sign, however public sale homes deal with secondary gross sales — it’s nonetheless early for digital artwork to scale in that mannequin.”
Some, nevertheless, see alternative within the pullback. Lakoubay suggests the shift might open area for major market improvement and for onboarding conventional collectors into the digital realm.
NFT collector and Doomed DAO member Benji pointed to flaws in Christie’s mannequin, quite than market weak point.
He criticized the public sale home’s high fee charges in distinction with rising Web3-native platforms like Gondi, which cost zero fee.
“This may be Christie’s Kodak second,” he mentioned. “One much less worth extractor means extra worth for collectors and artists.”
NFT Market Cap Rebounds 40% in August, Now at $5.97B
Despite the shake-up, NFT markets aren’t standing nonetheless. August noticed a resurgence, with market capitalization surging 40% to $9.3 billion, though it has since cooled.
As of at this time, the full NFT market cap sits at $5.97 billion, up 2% within the final 24 hours.
Top collections like CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, and Pudgy Penguins have posted modest beneficial properties, indicating that curiosity in digital collectibles stays intact.
As reported, Metaverse platform The Sandbox is undergoing a transformation following the departure of its co-founders and a majority takeover by Animoca Brands.
Co-founders Sébastien Borget and Arthur Madrid have stepped again from operational roles, with over half of the corporate’s workforce additionally let go.
Robby Yung, CEO of Animoca Brands, has been appointed as the brand new CEO of The Sandbox.
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