Sotheby’s Launches a New Secondary NFT Marketplace

Sotheby’s today (May 1) announced a new curated secondary-sale marketplace for digital artwork and non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. The direct transaction sales system will launch with a collection of works from artists including Diana Sinclair, IX Shells, Sarah Zucker, Refik Anadol, Sofia Crespo, Sebastiao Salgado and Tyler Hobbs.

In total, artworks from thirteen artists will be available for a limited period of time on the Sotheby’s Metaverse secondary-sale marketplace. The initial offerings will be followed by sales of works from an evolving rotation of digital artists.

“To commemorate this event by opening our secondary market to a carefully selected group of artists, many of whom have been at the forefront of the movement and brought digital art to worldwide attention, further emphasizes Sotheby’s commitment to the NFT community and to creating a space for discerning collectors,” said Michael Bouhanna, Sotheby’s vice president and head of NFTs, in a statement.

Sotheby’s was the first auction house to create an NFT marketplace with the launch of Sotheby’s Metaverse in October of 2021. Now, with the launch of its secondary market, Sotheby’s Metaverse will host peer-to-peer sales of digital artwork on the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains.

Secondary-market sales will honor artist resale royalties on-chain through smart contracts, with cryptocurrency payments automatically distributed after secondary sales.

“Sotheby’s commitment to honoring artist royalties comes amidst a larger debate about royalties within the NFT community, and signals Sotheby’s artist-first ethos as one of the only major NFT marketplaces committed to artist resale royalties,” said the auction house.

In June, Sotheby’s Metaverse will also launch a new digital gallery through oncyber, a metaverse platform. The gallery will host an exhibition of works from its secondary market, with a room dedicated to each of the 13 inaugural artists. Another room will be curated with digital artwork from the collection of Cozomo de’Medici, a prominent patron of NFTs, according to Sotheby’s.

Sotheby’s first NFT sale took place in April of 2021, when a series of works from the artist Pak sold for more than $17 million. The auction house has since handled more than $120 million worth of NFT sales.

Other auction houses have also entered the metaverse and NFT realm. In September of 2022, Christie’s launched Christie’s 3.0, a platform selling NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain.