Sotheby’s Launches Secondary Marketplace for Digital Art Fanatics

Earlier this week, the iconic auction house Sotheby’s expanded its commitment to Web3, debuting a new portal on its Sotheby’s Metaverse platform. The new secondary marketplace will assist in buying, selling, and trading fine digital art.

Quick Takes:

• Sotheby’s Metaverse debuts a curated secondary marketplace for fine digital art, featuring top NFT artists hand-picked by Sotheby’s specialists: XCOPY, Tyler Hobbs, Claire Silver, Sam Spratt, and more.
• The iconic auction house provides an automated smart contract service, enabling collectors to purchase NFT artworks using either Matic or Ethereum.
• Moreover, it will honor secondary on-chain royalty fees for artists, ranging from 5% to 10% of the sale price.

Introducing Sotheby’s Metaverse Marketplace

OpenSea and Blur are prime examples of NFT marketplaces selling top digital art pieces. However, Sotheby’s is bringing something new – a “rotating, curated selection of leading artists” cherry-picked by Sotheby’s art specialists every few months.

The auction house’s metaverse facilitates an entirely automated smart contract service to allow collectors to pay for the NFT artworks in Ethereum(ETH) and Matic (MATIC).

Launching the platform with a bang, its initial wave of artists includes some of the most iconic creators in the space: Tyler Hobbs, Claire Silver, Sam Spratt, and, last but not least, XCOPY.

Benefits and Intricacies Behind the Marketplace

The marketplace on Sotheby’s Metaverse includes several advantages and intricacies that make it a state-of-the-art platform for purchasing, selling, and trading digital masterpieces. One factor is that Mojo — a cutting-edge NFT technology and commerce suite created by Serotonin — powers the platform. Being a reputable venture studio and Web3 marketing firm, Sotheby’s has benefited from the partnership since 2021.

Launching the marketplace is an “important step forward”, according to Sotheby’s Vice President and Head of NFTs and Digital Art, Michael Bouhanna. Initially launching in 1744, the iconic auction house continuously demonstrates its commitment to staying on top of the digital art world and technology.

One of the significant benefits of Sotheby’s secondary marketplace includes honoring secondary on-chain royalty fees for artists, ranging from 5% to 10% of the sale price, before being automatically sent to the artist’s wallet. This ensures that artists continuously benefit from their work, even after being sold numerous times. Sotheby’s made this decision during a time that discussions are resale royalties are prominent.

As a consequence, Sotheby’s Metaverse marketplace showcases a layer of legitimacy and trust in the digital world of art, benefiting both artists and collectors alike.