UK public sale large Christie’s is reportedly closing its division that handles non-fungible token gross sales, now placing it below a broader division amid a world decline within the artwork market.
The “strategic determination” will see the 256-year-old British public sale home proceed to promote digital artwork equivalent to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), however now inside the bigger twentieth and Twenty first-century artwork class, in accordance to a Monday report from Now Media, citing a press release from a Christie’s spokesperson.
At the identical time, Now Media reported the public sale large laid off two workers, together with its vp of digital artwork, however no less than one digital artwork specialist might be saved on workers.
Christie’s has had an enormous presence within the NFT house, promoting a number of artworks, together with Mike “Beeple” Winkelmann’s Everydays: The First 5000 Days, which closed at public sale in March 2021 with a bid of $69.3 million.
The public sale home had additionally been a supporter of the Web3 house, launching an NFT public sale platform in September 2022 and a crypto-only actual property group in July.
Market situations may have spurred shift
Fanny Lakoubay, a digital artwork adviser, curator and collector, mentioned in an X put up on Monday that she suspects Christie’s transfer could possibly be tied to the “present artwork market contraction.”
The wider artwork market has been declining, with international gross sales down 12% in 2024 to $57 billion, together with mixed private and non-private gross sales by public sale homes dropping by 20% to $23 billion, in accordance to the Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report 2025 launched in April.
“Auction homes can’t justify an entire division when it brings in much less income than the others, even with some current profitable gross sales,” Lakoubay mentioned.
“It’s positively not an awesome public sign, however we must also keep in mind: public sale homes solely concentrate on secondary gross sales of already well-known artists and types. It’s nonetheless too early for that mannequin to essentially work/scale with digital artwork,” she added.
Lakoubay mentioned it could possibly be a great time to concentrate on main market improvement and introduce conventional collectors to new digital artists.
Christie’s could possibly be having a “Kodak second”
Meanwhile, an NFT collector and member of the Doomed DOA, posting below the deal with Benji, argued Christie’s transfer to shut its digital artwork division doesn’t mirror a weak spot within the demand for digital artwork, or that “establishments are now not coming for our jpegs.”
He speculates the enterprise mannequin is prone to blame for the choice as a result of it was “flawed and unsustainable,” and this new path could possibly be Christie’s “Kodak second.”
“How are you able to cost 25-30% fee on one thing that doesn’t must be authenticated / saved / insured / shipped, when your on-line rivals like Gondi cost zero fee for the very same sale?” Benji mentioned.
“I hate to see good individuals lose their jobs, however Christie’s exiting the house is a web optimistic – one much less worth extractor means extra worth for collectors and artists alike.”
Christie’s didn’t instantly reply to Cointelegraph’s request for remark.
NFT market data combined outcomes
The NFT market has had a turbulent few years. Last yr was flagged because the market’s worst yr for buying and selling quantity and gross sales since 2020, partly due to volatility and rising token costs.
Related: NFT market cap drops by $1.2B as Ether rally loses steam
It has been displaying indicators of life in 2025. In August, the sector surged to a market capitalization of greater than $9.3 billion, a 40% uptick from July, as Ethereum-based collections and Ether (ETH) elevated in worth.
The market has proven indicators of cooling in current weeks, however its present market capitalization is up 2% within the final 24 hours and sitting at $5.97 billion.
Several of the biggest NFT collections by market capitalization have additionally skilled features. CryptoPunks is up 1.9% within the final 24 hours, and has a buying and selling quantity of $208,319 with three gross sales.
Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club is up 3.7% and has clocked a buying and selling quantity of greater than $1.2 million and 30 gross sales, whereas Pudgy Penguins is up 2%, has $905,526 in buying and selling quantity and 20 gross sales.
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