Sotheby’s says more NFTS will go under the hammer

SOTHEBY’S has insisted that it remains committed to selling controversial non-fungible token (NFT) artworks amid concerns that they could be the next to collapse following a crash in cryptocurrencies.

The 278-year-old art dealer said it expects to announce more live auctions “soon” despite having no NFTS for sale yesterday. “NFT sales have not stopped,” a spokesman added.

Sotheby’s, which is based in New York, held its first auction of NFTS in April last year and had racked up $100m (£80m) worth of sales by the end of 2021. These included works from the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club and Bored Ape Kennel Club collections which sold for a total of $26m.

Sotheby’s even created a dedicated website for NFTS, called Sotheby’s Metaverse, though its latest auction, of NFTS sold by Liverpool Football Club, ended on April 4.

Overall, sales of NFT art rocketed to an estimated $25bn last year, according to Knight Frank’s annual wealth report, representing almost one third of the global art market.

They have been endorsed by celebrities including Paris Hilton and Gwyneth Paltrow as well as footballers, including Paul Pogba, John Terry and Michael Owen.

But the rapid rise has been followed by a wobble amid a global rout that is also affecting cryptocurrencies and stock markets more generally, as investors ditch risky assets in the face of rampant inflation and interest rate rises.

The value of NFTS traded has now fallen by about 40pc to $17.1bn in the past three months, according to data from online platform NFTGO. At the same time, the overall value of the market has fallen from a peak of about $20bn in April to $19.3bn currently.

NFTS – unique tokens – are tracked via an online ledger known as the blockchain and kept safe in a digital wallet.