The 279-year-old auction house Sotheby’s made significant strides in the digital art market in 2023, reporting close to $35 million in sales.
Sotheby’s called it one of the most exciting years ever for digital art. They held their first live NFT auction with 300 attendees, generating $12 million in sales. A record $6.2 million was spent on the NFT “Ringers #879” by Dmitry Chernyak.
In total, Sotheby’s ran over 25 digital art-focused auctions, launched an NFT marketplace called Sotheby’s Metaverse, and partnered with artists Vera Molnar and Martin Grasser on a successful multi-generational NFT collection.
Earlier in 2023, Sotheby’s made history by auctioning the manuscript of Neal Stephenson’s sci-fi novel “Avalanche,” believed to contain the first metaverse reference. As interest in NFTs and digital art continues to grow, Sotheby’s plans to refine its primary market strategies and support creators.
Sotheby’s first entered the NFT space in April 2021, and since then conducting multiple record sales. The recent crypto bull run and NFT resurgence have spurred more interest and higher trading volumes in digital art. November alone saw $1 billion in trade volume and a 114% increase in average NFT transaction value.
While risky, Sotheby’s remains committed to the emerging digital art space, recently announcing an upcoming sale of pieces from the Bitcoin Ordinals NFT collection – the first public offering from the project. As a 279-year auction giant, Sotheby’s impact validates digital art as a new creative medium.
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