December 23, 2022
By Murtuza Merchant
Despite having a record-breaking year elsewhere in its art business, Christie’s, a leading international art auction house, saw a sharp decline in NFT sales in 2018 compared to 2021.
For a total of $5.9 million, Christie’s sold 87 NFTs in 2022. Over 100 NFTs valued over $150 million were sold by the art auction house in 2021, including Beeple’s “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” NFT for $69.4 million. Sales of Christie’s NFTs decreased by 96% between 2021 and 2022.
Christie’s advanced their web3 and NFTs vertical significantly in 2022 despite the reduced NFT volume.
It created a venture fund, and on July 18, it made its first investment in blockchain interoperability startup LayerZero. Christie’s also offered works made by Diana Sinclair, an NFT artist who is 18 years old and created the media for a $1 million NFT sale of an unreleased Whitney Houston song.
Later, Sinclair joined United Talent Agency, a well-known talent agency.
In 2022, fewer NFT trades were made overall as a result of the weak market. The week of May 1, according to The Block’s Data Dashboard, saw the biggest NFT trading volume of all time, clocking in at $1.2 billion.
About the author
Murtuza Merchant is a senior journalist and an avid follower of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
