Even Sotheby's Is Riding the NFT Wave

NFTs are here to stay, and it seems like Sotheby’s is the latest institution of the old guard to catch on to the craze. The multinational luxury broker just launched its NFT-only marketplace, aptly named Metaverse. 

The business of art has never been so shaken until NFTs entered the scene, but it looks like this is not a passing fad. With Metaverse now online, Sotheby’s is reportedly the first blue chip auction house to launch its own NFT marketplace. Sotheby’s has been selling NFTs even before Metaverse launched, but the technical glitches of crypto selling eventually urged the auction house to launch a new and improved site exclusive for NFT auctioning. 

Metaverse’s inaugural sale, “Natively Digital 1.2,” tapped 19 NFT collectors to offer 53 lots such as classics like Crypto Links from Larva Labs. Unlike other NFT auction houses, Sotheby’s went all the way and added descriptions of each piece and artist, as well as the complete transaction history of the lot. The addition of art descriptors says a lot—particularly that the auction house is treating each piece as traditional artwork and not just as memes on the Internet. 

Bids were expected to range from $10,000 to $2 million, and with only six days left till it closes, one NFT has already breached $2 million with a $2.4 million bid on the NFT “Pepenopoulos.” Not bad for an NFT. 

Bids will close on October 26. Metaverse is backed by a number of celebrity art collectors such as Steve Aoki and Paris Hilton. 

If you’ve got a couple of U.S. grand to spare, check out Metaverse here.