Sotheby’s to Allow Live Bidding in Ether

Sotheby’s, the 277-year-old British auction house, will allow live bidding in ether cryptocurrency in an upcoming virtual exhibition on Nov. 18 to be held at its “headquarters” in Decentraland.

• Sotheby’s auctioneer Oliver Barker will be fielding real-time bids from its New York saleroom for street artist Banksy’s “Trolley Hunters” and “Love Is In The Air” (2006).

• Sotheby’s has been accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment for physical artwork for a while and sold a separate painting by Banksy offered in May.

• Art fans interested in the auction can tune in from anywhere around the world and follow the live-streamed broadcast by following Sotheby’s social media channels.

• In April, Sotheby’s held its first sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) by pseudonymous artist Pak. The sale fetched $16.8 million over a three-day drop.

• In October, Sotheby’s launched a new platform called “Sotheby’s Metaverse” that allows visitors to view digital artworks available at auction, as well as learn about the collectors and artists behind NFTs.