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Sotheby's launches blockchain-based NFT marketplace as digital collectible trading volumes decline

Brian McGleenon
·2 min read
NFT Sotheby’s New York office located on York Ave and is the headquarters for its global business. It is one of the world's largest brokers (auction houses) of fine and decorative art, jewelry, real estate, and collectibles. Canon EOS 6D (Full Frame censor) and Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens. Circular polarizer.
Sotheby's Metaverse will now provide a peer-to-peer NFT marketplace. Photo: Getty (OlegAlbinsky via Getty Images)

Sotheby's Metaverse will now provide a peer-to-peer NFT marketplace deployed on the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains.

Art auction house Sotheby's is broadening its non-fungible token (NFT) art selection by launching a marketplace that allows digital art collectors to purchase secondary NFTs.

Read more: Martin Scorsese's producer Niels Juul sees NFTs as the future of film finance

The on-chain integrated sales system will operate on the Ethereum and Polygon networks, allowing users to pay for NFTs in ether (ETH-USD) or Polygon's native cryptocurrency, matic (MATIC-USD).

The auction house is attempting to separate itself from other NFT marketplaces by offering a “rotating, curated selection of leading artists hand-picked by Sotheby’s specialists", it said.

Sotheby's Metaverse said it will uphold artist royalties via smart contracts. The platform will automatically compensate artists based on their chosen on-chain royalty rate.

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"Sotheby’s commitment to honouring 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," the platform said.

Sotheby's also plans to unveil a new digital art gallery on the web3 art gallery platform Oncyber in June, showcasing selected works from the secondary NFT market.

Read more: Bored Ape Bar: Inside the $100,000 membership exclusive NFT club in London

Digital art collector Cozomo de' Medici is set to collaborate with Sotheby's on the curation of one of the online gallery rooms.

It comes as the floor price for NFTs have seen a decline, with NFT market volumes at their lowest in 20 months.

Just six of the top 20 NFT collections by market capitalisation saw increased trading volumes during this period, while the others experienced significant decreases ranging from 20% to 99%, according to data from IntoTheBlock.

Read more: What will save the metaverse from becoming a 'ghost town'?

Popular collections like CryptoPunks, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, and Sewer Pass witnessed considerable drops in trading volume.

However, a few projects, including Captainz's NFT collection and Bored Ape Yacht Club, experienced increased trading volumes.

Watch: This AI tool could kill human creativity and is worrying the art world | The Crypto Mile

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