Uzoamaka U.
Among the biggest art brokers in the world, Sotheby’s prides itself in providing an active marketplace for art pieces. The company recently launched a secondary NFT marketplace on Ethereum and Polygon to that effect.
This move is laudable because royalties are pivotal to expanding NFT art on the Web3 sphere. Through royalties, digital artists can earn an honest living from their work.
Sotheby’s Metaverse
Sotheby’s new initiative on Ethereum and Polygon affords collectors the platform to transact business without the need for an intermediary.
According to the company, artist royalties will be paid via smart contracts on the marketplace. This will be in accordance with the artist’s choice royalty rate.
The secondary marketplace will feature 13 digital artists. All have been selected by the company’s specialists and will offer users expert guidance on each art piece.
The featured digital artists include Claire Silver, Diana Sinclair, IX Shells, Sarah Zucker, Refik Anadol, Sofia Crespo, Sam Spratt, Tyler Hobbs, Pindar van Arman, Osinachi, Hackatao, XCOPY, and Sebastião Salgado.
Depending on the base network, users can purchase NFTs by using ETH, WETH, and WMATIC.
Michael Bouhanna, the VP and head of NFTs at Sotheby’s, had a lot to say on the recent development. He spoke about how the peer-to-peer chain will influence Sotheby’s development within the digital art and collectible sphere. He stated that their greatest “commitment” to the digital art community was to create a “platform for discerning collectors”.
Sotheby’s Metaverse intends to debut a virtual art exhibition in June. It will do this through the metaverse platform Oncyber, hosting various artists and collectors including Cozomo De Medici.
Sotheby’s Previous Run in the Metaverse
In 2021, Sotheby’s delved into NFTs and made more than $120 million. Its largest auction was by digital artist Pak which went for about $16.8 million.
Sotheby’s Metaverse started off with the Natively Digital Sale which featured 53 pieces from 19 NFT artists.
