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Christie’s Auction House Sells NFT Crypto Art ‘Block 21’ for Over $130K

Christie’s auction house has sold a digital portrait of the Bitcoin (BTC) code “Block 21” for over $130,000—marking the first time a non-fungible token (NFT) was auctioned at a major auction house.

The NFT art piece sold by Christie’s for over $130K was created by Ben Gentilli and is meant to represent Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision, “forged out of the very code that lies at the genesis of it all.”

According to a tweet by Christie’s auction house on Oct. 8, “Block 21” which is a combination of a physical piece of art and an NFT and represents Satoshi Nakamoto—sold for $131,250 on Oct. 7.

The bidding for Block 21 began at $22,000 and it was sold as part of Christie’s “Post-War and Contemporary Day Auction.”

The artwork is part of a series by the Robert Alice project called “Portraits of the Mind” and is one of 40 creations which show Bitcoin’s 12.3 million digits of code all engraved and painted onto 40 different circular panels which, in their entirety, stretch more than 50 meters in length.

Block 21 holds exactly 322,048 digits of Satoshi Nakamoto’s original Bitcoin code, and the name is a reference to Bitcoin’s limited supply of 21 million coins. The piece is the only one auctioned by Christie’s but there have been reports that Changpeng Zhao (CZ) of Binance and Matthew Rozsak of Bloq have purchased other pieces in the “Portraits of a Mind” series.

The Robert Alice website states:

“The work is a symbolic expression of Satoshi’s vision, forged out of the very code that lies at the genesis of it all […] Portraits of a Mind explores the multi-faceted identities of Satoshi Nakamoto, in turn reflecting on the nature of both identity and portraiture in a newly decentralized age.”

MoonPay Lands $750K World of Women NFT in Christie's Auction

Digital currency payments startup, MoonPay, has come off as the lucky winner of an auction for a World of Women (WoW) Non-Fungible Token (NFT).

Reportedly, acting on behalf of a client, the WoW NFT #5672 was snapped up for £567,000 ($754,340) at the auction conducted at Christie’s London Evening Sale announced on Tuesday.

The WoW NFT is a collection of 10,000 unique digital drawings of women with various traits. The collection sought to celebrate women ad its community is dedicated to celebrating representation, inclusivity, and an equal opportunity for all. Based on the ideals that the WoW NFT stands for, the collection has been attracting high-profile sales in recent times.

As reported earlier by Blockchain.News, financial advisory services firm KPMG in Canada was amongst the prominent buyers that snapped up the WoW NFT in the past week. In justifying its reasons, the company said the values represented by the WoW NFT collection resonate with its broad tenets.

The floor price of the WoW NFT is currently pegged at 8.74ETH, with a total of over 54,000 ETH in volume sold thus far. The #5672 is one of the NFTs that has a rare trait, described as having a night goddess skin tone and a tuxedo with full black hair and a conspicuous reddish lip.

While it is unclear who the buyer MoonPay purchased for, the service rendered compliments its tailored services which it floated last year and described as a “White glove service for high net worth individuals who want to purchase NFTs most simply without all the hassle of setting up a wallet, buying crypto, using that crypto to purchase an NFT, and then taking custody of it.”

The recent purchase by MoonPay generally echoes the building hype around NFTs, and apparently, more corporate investors are becoming more interested in becoming proud owners of a rare collectable.

Noah Davis Quits Christie's To Join Rival NFT Marketplace Yuga Labs

Noah Davis, the AVP Specialist and Head of Digital Sales, Contemporary Art at UK auction firm Christie’s International PLC, has quit the British auction house three months after Yuga Labs bought the coveted CryptoPunks non-fungible token (NFT) project from the auction house back in March.

Davis, who has been a key part of the NFT team at auction house Christie’s, announced on Sunday via Twitter that he is now joining Yuga Labs in July to be the project’s brand lead.

While he will resume the new position at Yuga Labs next month, he will also be the leader of the Howlerz NFT project, which he will continue to lead.

Yuga Labs is a US blockchain technology firm that develops and sells NFTs and digital collectables.

In March this year, Yuga Labs, the company behind Bored Ape Yacht Club, bought the popular CryptoPunks NFT project, therefore putting the two popular NFT projects under the same management. Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and CryptoPunks, the two major NFT Profile for Picture projects, have long been fighting for market monopoly.

On social media, Davis announced: “If you’re a Punk holder and you care about the legacy/future of the brand I wanna talk one on one. I’ll be at the Punks Brunch during NFT NYC and will begin scheduling sit-downs immediately. Wherever Punks go, the community will help guide us.”

In March last year, Christie’s auction house grabbed the attention of the art and cryptocurrency worlds by selling an NFT artwork for $69 million. The digital piece from artist Beeple — a collage of his first 5,000 days of work — was the first auction of an NFT at Christie’s.

Davis leads up NFTs for Christie’s Auction House and was involved in Beeple’s $69 million NFT sales in March of the previous year. The NFT was the most expensive work of digital art sold and marked Christie’s first-ever sale of non-physical art.

The sale created a lot of buzz and spotlight regarding NFTs. It was validation that digital art could be bought and sold at high valuations from respected auction houses that deal with world-class art and luxury products for high-end clientele. With the success of its first NFT sale, Christie’s decided to auction more digital tokens afterwards.

Christie's Launches Venture Capital Arm to Support LayerZero for Art Trading

London-based British auction house Christie’s has announced its undisclosed investment in LayerZero, the first ever commitment it will be made through its new investment arm- Christie’s Ventures.

As revealed by the company, Christie’s Ventures will deploy funds to back emerging tech startups and financial innovations that are relevant to the art market.

“As a global leader in the art market, Christie’s has both an incentive and a responsibility to further innovation and deepen experiences for our clients,” said Ben Gore, Christie’s Chief Operating Officer, adding that “the intersections of technology and financial products are increasingly relevant and prevalent, and we believe strongly in the opportunities ahead. For the companies we select to work with, as well as for our clients, the Christie’s Ventures value proposition combines the power of our brand and capital together with our network and expertise; it is another example of the formidable Christie’s Advantage.”

The new Christie’s Ventures offshoot will be led by Devang Thakkar, who said the investment arm will “focus on products and services which can solve real business challenges, improve client experiences, and expand growth opportunities, both across the art market directly and for interactions with it.”

Christie’s has always been setting the pace when it comes to embracing digital innovations. The company signalled its full backing for the digital currency ecosystem and Non-Fungible Token (NFT) offshoot when it helped auction Mike Winkelmann’s record-breaking NFT collage dubbed Everydays: The First 5000 Days.

The NFT was later revealed to be acquired for $69.3 million by Metakovan. Per the ultimate goal of Christie’s Ventures, any startup with the promise of advancing arts reach will be getting financial and professional support.

More major industry players across both Web2.0 and Web3.0 are floating funds through which they plan to invest heavily in Web3 initiatives. With the investment into LayerZero, Christie’s has revealed how willing it is to deepen its ties in the nascent blockchain world.