Christie’s has shut down his digital art department, ending a short -term but influential experiment that did not see fungal tokens (Nfts) Has a place with paintings, sculptures and other works in the auction house’s art sales, according to a report from Now Media.
Two employees were released in late August, including Vice President of Digital Art Nicole Sales Giles, while specialist Sebastian Sanchez stays in New York.
Giles played a prominent role in Christie’s Art+Tech summit in Hong Kong last year, running with Hong Kong Fintech Week.
Giles had been a prominent face of Christie’s digital push, especially at the Art+Tech summit in Hong Kong last year, running with Hong Kong Fintech Week.
There, she argued that Christie has brought the same valuation discipline to NFTs as it did with paintings or sculptures, but with a critical difference.
“What is unique with digital art is the community engagement aspect that definitely comes into play in a way it never has with traditional art,” she said at the time.
Others at the summit acknowledged that the category was still far from mature.
“I do not believe in this very moment that we have a very standardized understanding of [digital art’s] Value, “said Angelle Siyang-Le, director of Art Basel Hong Kong last year.” That’s why you see a lot of it suddenly coming out and obviously created this tension. This excitement created this attention. And now from the next phase … How do we adapt such standards for values? “
A year later, the number shows how fragile this foundation was.
The NFT trading volume dropped 45% last quarter to $ 867 million, even when sales counts rose 78% to 12.5 million, according to dppradar.
Floor prices for Blue Chip NFT collections are slid well below their highest level: Cryptopunks Trade around 46.6 ETH ($ 210,000)At Bored monkeys hovering at 9.1 ETH ($ 41,000)and Moonbirds Sit at 2.8 ETH ($ 12,600). In contrast, Ethereum has in itself a total of 76% in the last three months to $ 4,509, which surpasses the NFT market.
At X, some observers claimed that Christie’s decision reflects simple economy rather than capitulation, noting that NFTs are increasingly absorbed in mainstream contemporary sales rather than treated as a separate “collectibles” category.
This retreat of Christies suggests that without firmer valuations and clearer standards, NFTS risks remaining an addition to contemporary art instead of maintaining its own market.
