Quick take:
- Sotheby’s has launched a secondary on-chain NFT marketplace for its users.
- The new platform will allow collectors to sell NFTs directly to each other.
- The company said it will continue to honour artist royalties on its secondary NFT marketplace.
Sotheby’s is ramping up its web3 strategy with a new on-chain NFT marketplace that allows collectors to sell NFTs to each other. The 275-year-old art auction house pivoted to the world of non-fungible tokens in 2021 with the launch of Sotheby’s Metaverse.
It has since overseen the sale of some of the most expensive NFTs, including the pseudonymous Pak’s NFT collection, The Fungible Collection, which sold for US$16.8 million in early 2022.
Sotheby’s Metaverse is one of the leading advocates for respecting NFT royalties. The company said its on-chain peer-to-peer NFT platform will continue to honour creator royalties through smart contracts.
NFT royalties are fees received by the original creators of the non-fungible artwork or JPEG from every secondary resale of their work. Sotheby’s artists will have an opportunity to select their preferred royalty rate, which will be automatically paid to them upon the completion of a sale.
According to Sotheby’s Metaverse, its platform will curate work from some of the best artists, who be rotated every few months. The inaugural list of artists includes the likes of Tyler Hobbs, Claire Silver, XCOPY, Diana Sinclair, and Pindar van Arman, among others.
In a press release announcing the launch on Monday, Michael Bouhanna, Sotheby’s vice president and head of NFTs and digital art said the launch of the peer-to-peer on-chain marketplace marks an important step forward in its evolution within the digital art and collectible space.
“To commemorate this event by opening our secondary market to a carefully selected group of artists, many of whom have been at the forefront of the movement and brought digital art to worldwide attention, further emphasizes Sotheby’s commitment to the NFT community and to creating a space for discerning collectors,” added Bouhanna.
Sotheby’s reaffirmation of its commitment to honouring NFT royalties comes amidst a major debate between NFT marketplaces, creators and collectors about the subject.
While NFT traders seem to be leaning towards platforms that allow some level of flexibility when it comes to paying royalty fees, creators prefer marketplaces that have implemented measures to enforce payments.
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