Sotheby's sells record $7.3B in art this year, NFTs fetch $100M

Sotheby’s enjoyed a record year in 2021, helped by its foray into nonfungible tokens.

The almost 300-year-old auction house reported $100 million in sales off its new NFT category, with first-time bidders flocking to its virtual Decentraland gallery and seeking out Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunk collectibles, according to a year-in-review report published Wednesday.

The launch of Sotheby’s Metaverse — a web3-enabled NFT marketplace — helped draw a wider audience this year with 78% of NFT bidders at auction being new to Sotheby’s and more than half under 40 years of age, its report showed. The sales helped contribute to the company’s $7.3 billion in consolidated sales.

Load More