Sotheby’s to Allow Live Bidding in Ether for Works by Banksy

Auctioneer Oliver Barker will be fielding real-time bids for the famed street artist’s “Trolley Hunters” and “Love Is In The Air.”

By Tanzeel Akhtar

Nov 11, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. UTC

Updated Nov 11, 2021 at 9:21 p.m. UTC

(Getty Images) — ‘CryptoPunk’ NFT Sells for $11.8M at Sotheby’s

Tanzeel Akhtar

Tanzeel Akhtar is a reporter based in London,UK.

Follow @Tanzeel_Akhtar on Twitter

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 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.

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