Sotheby’s Metaverse has launched its NFT secondary marketplace

The Web3 arm of the New York-based auction house has introduced “Sotheby’s Metaverse Marketplace,” a secondary marketplace for “Art” NFTs with an on-chain sales system based on Ethereum and Polygon.

The move makes Sotheby’s one of the first major auction houses to offer a marketplace dedicated to secondary non-fungible token (NFT) sales.

This new marketplace will allow collectors to buy and sell NFTs “on the same blockchain where the NFTs were created.” This ensures greater transparency and security, as transactions are recorded on a public ledger.

Sotheby’s metaverse, collectors will be able to acquire NFTs!

Indeed, the fully on-chain peer-to-peer transactions will be executed on the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains. Artists’ resale royalties will be honored directly on-chain via smart contracts. 2.5% seller’s fee,” Sotheby’s says.

Collectors will be able to acquire NFTs by paying in ETH or MATIC, according to the announcement.

Sotheby’s Metaverse Marketplace debuts with a dozen digital artists, including popular artists like Tyler Hobbs, XCOPY and Claire Silver.

“The opportunity to expand Sotheby’s Metaverse with an on-chain P2P marketplace is an important step in our evolution within digital art,” commented Michael Bouhanna, vice president of the company.

Sotheby’s has been interested in Web3 technologies for about two years. In 2021, the British-born American multinational began holding auctions for NFTs, in the metaverse and with the ability to pay in cryptocurrencies.

It is not the only major auction house to explore the potential of NFTs. Christie’s also held its first NFT sale, which included an NFT artwork by digital artist Beeple that sold for a record $69 million.

Overall, the launch of Sotheby’s NFT secondary marketplace on the channel is a significant step forward for the adoption of NFTs in the art world. As the market continues to develop, it will be interesting to see how other auction houses and art institutions respond to this new technology.