Sotheby’s and CoinBase together to sell Banksy in cryptocurrencies

For the first time, Bitcoin and Ether cryptocurrencies are accepted for payment for a physical work of art at the auction house.

Sotheby’s, thanks to an agreement with Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchange platforms in the world, announces the new cryptocurrency payment option for one of the works of the most revolutionary artist of our days: Banksy.

“Love is in The Air” by the mysterious street artist will be shown on May 12 in New York during the Contemporary Art Evening Auction with an estimate between 3 and 5 million dollars.
The bids by collectors will be in dollars as usual, but whoever wins the work will have the opportunity to pay in cryptocurrencies.

Currently, the large auction houses are dealing with the crypto world, which opens up a large market, unprecedented sales methods and new passionate collectors. The first months of 2021 focused on crypto mania, with many artists and collectors ready to discover the possibilities offered.

The choice of Sotheby’s and the agreement with Coinbase opens a new path for the art market, and follows the success of the latest auctions from February to today in the major auction houses in the world.Christie’s was the first to open its doors to crypto artists with the now famous $ 69 million sale for Beeple’s work “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” on March 11, 2021.

In April, its historic “rival” Sotheby’s grossed nearly $ 17 million for artist Pak’s NFT collection, which was sold with support from Nifty Gateway.

And now with the decision to accept cryptocurrencies as payment for a physical work, Sotheby’s takes an important step, never taken before, addressing new collectors with a different, inclusive approach.The work in question “Love is in The Air” is one of Banksy’s best known works, which has become an icon of protest that sees as the subject a boy in the typical position that refers to civic disorder, throwing a bouquet of flowers, thus eliminating the violent note.

The subject appeared as graffiti for the first time in 2003 in Bethlehem, on the 760 km long West Bank wall that separates Palestine from Israel.
And you, are you ready to find out if it will be a crypto collector to win Banksy?