The Art Investor

Singapore-headquartered firm Maecenas is using blockchain-based cryptocurrency to sell shares of artwork. In July, the company partnered with the gallery Dadiani Syndicate for its first sale, offering a 31.5% stake in Andy Warhol’s 14 Small Electric Chairs, valued at $5.6 million. “We’re not selling art, we’re selling a financial product,” says Kim Randall-stevens, Maecenas’s director of acquisitions and sales. “Eventually, anyone who wants to liquidate a fraction of their artwork will be able to do it.” In the coming months, the company will roll out a blockchain-based platform for trading such shares.