The prestigious auction house Sotheby’s has launched a new Metaverse-themed NFT platform.
The platform is called “Sotheby’s Metaverse” and has been announced in conjunction with the auction “Natively Digital 1.2: The Collectors” (ND1.2) to be held between October 18 and 26. The auction consists of 53 lots of tokenized art from the vaults of 19 curators.
Welcome to Sotheby’s Metaverse. https://t.co/hZvYIkO3xx pic.twitter.com/9Wl9fUwibe
– Sotheby’s Metaverse (@Sothebysverse) October 14, 2021
Welcome to Sotheby’s Metaverse
The curator list includes some of the top collectors in the NFT space, such as PleasrDAO, Pranksy, and 888, along with crypto-friendly stars such as DJ Steve Aoki and the self-described “Boss-Babe” Paris Hilton.
“These collectors are people with deep histories and relationships in the digital art and media space, many of whom have been collecting long before NFTs became a common term, and have helped build the ecosystem since base”, say the notes of the exhibition.
The platform is accepting payments in Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and USD Coin (USDC), along with credit card payments and bank transfers. Sotheby’s Metaverse is powered by Mojito, an NFT studio and blockchain technology platform that develops and operates NFT markets for brands and intellectual property holders.
The ND1.2 collection includes featured NFT projects such as Yuga Labs (Bored Ape Yacht Club), Dapper Labs (CryptoKitties), Art Blocks (Chromie Squiggle), and Ponderware (MoonCats).
Sotheby’s was founded in London in the mid-17th century, and since then it has grown into a multinational giant that has expanded to 80 locations in 40 countries. The firm hosted its first NFT auction in April, partnering with digital artist known as “Pak” to sell tokenized art worth $ 16.8 million.
In June, the auction house sold CryptoPunk # 7523 – also known as “COVID Alien” – for a record $ 11.8 million, and last month hosted an auction with Yuga Labs for a Bored Ape Yacht Club 101 NFT collection that generated $ 24 million.
Sotheby’s is also no stranger to the iterat metaverse. In June, the company opened a virtual gallery in Decentraland representing the London auction house’s New Bond Street Gallery.
The structure was built in Decentralandia’s Voltaire arts district, and featured Sotheby’s London curator Hans Lomulder, who greeted guests at the door, and The gallery showcased COVID Alien’s CryptoPunk and Robert Alice’s Intelligent NFT (iNFT).
The virtual metaverse has been making headlines lately, due in part to Facebook’s recent push to establish itself in the industry.. Cointelegraph reported on Sept. 28 that Facebook is committing $ 50 million to a two-year fund to support the company’s goal of building its own metaverse.
“The metaverse will not be built overnight by a single company. We will collaborate with policy makers, experts and industry partners to make it happen.” Facebook said as part of its funding announcement.
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