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Sotheby’s has launched a blockchain-based NFT Marketplace that will cater to secondary sales of digital art. The marketplace will be exclusively curated by Sotheby’s specialists featuring a rotating selection of leading artists. The platform supports NFTs minted on Ethereum and layer-2 scaling network Polygon. Automated smart contracts will govern the secondary sales process, allowing payments to be made in ETH or MATIC, the Polygon native token. The marketplace will charge a 2.5% fee for sellers. It has partnered with NFT commerce suite Mojito, developed by Web3 venture studio Serotonin. Mojito is backed by Sotheby’s who joined the $20 million investment round for Mojito, in November 2021.
More About Sotheby’s Metaverse
Sotheby’s launched its Metaverse platform in 2021 for its art auctions and has now expanded it to handle resales. The platform aims to provide expert guidance and context for every artwork. The secondary market platform is exclusive, and only the experts will select the artwork. Featured artists will be changed every few months and the initial selection will include renowned digital artists such as Tyler Hobbs, Claire Silver, Hackatao, Sam Spratt, and Refik Anadol.
It is a significant step for the auction house as noted by Sotheby’s Vice President and Head of NFTs and Digital Art, Michael Bouhanna, in evolving within the Web3 space. In January, the company announced that it would accept crypto for a rare black diamond.
NFT Markets Remain Flat
Unlike the company’s latest move, NFT markets recorded a decline in trading volumes and prices since the beginning of 2022. As of mid-April, the daily sales of NFTs plunged from around 40,000 in October to roughly 5,000. However, the platform stopped recording NFT metrics since the middle of last month. Furthermore, according to Crytoslam, there have been more sellers than buyers over the past couple of weeks.
