How cryptoassets are merging with the art world

Art works by Andy Warhol are being sold as NFTs, during the Art Basel Miami Beach fair this week. It’s the latest merger of crypto and art. Dealers, artists, and collectors aim to monetize and trade works with blockchain technology.

NFTs are digital collectibles that can be traded like other cryptocurrencies. They confer some ownership rights to a work—whether it’s a song, video clip, tweet, piece of art, or gaming token. NFTs can also be auctioned and traded on blockchain-based platforms like OpenSea or Solana, using various cryptos as the currency.

Trading volume and prices for some NFTs have soared. The Bored Ape and CyberPunk digital art works are fetching more than $400,000 each. They are two of the most popular and highest priced NFTs. Some NFTs have sold for millions of dollars, including a record $69 million paid for a work by the artist Beeple in May 2021.

Warhol, of course, was a pioneer in transforming commercial icons like Campbell’s soup cans into art. He reproduces hundreds of pieces in a studio known as “The Factory”. That his works are now being tokenized is only fitting, given that crypto is turning into a new medium for commercializing and trading art.

Source: Barrons.com

If you have any questions about crypto or NFT, please do not hesitate to contact us.