This decision marks a shift from the auction house’s position back in 2021, when it sold Everydays: The First 5000 Days by Beetpe for $69.3 million, a record for a digital artwork. This sale also marked Christie’s first NFT auction and was a pivotal moment in establishing its presence in the NFT market. However, the NFT boom was short-lived, and the market has since crashed. In 2022, Christie’s reported NFT sales of just $5.9 million, a 96% drop from 2021.
A Christie’s spokesperson told Now Media that the world’s largest art auction house had made “a strategic decision to reformat digital art sales.” They added that Christie’s is still planning on selling digital art within the larger 20th- and 21st-century art category.
The move comes during a challenging time for the digital art sector. Sotheby’s, Christie’s main rival, laid off at least four staff members from its Metaverse and NFT divisions.
While Christie’s is expected to continue offering digital works, integrating them into its broader contemporary art sales signals a shift away from the specialised focus that defined the market at its peak.
