Christie's announces first NFT auction in Asia

佳士得宣佈在亞洲舉行首場 NFT 拍賣

Christie’s Hong Kong hopes to reach new audience


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Christie's Hong Kong will next month be presenting the first non-fungible token (NFT) auction in Asia.

The upcoming crypto art auction titled “No Time Like Present” will feature a group of exceptionally rare NFTs launched by Larva Labs, such as “CryptoPunks,” as well as Yuga Labs' “Bored Ape Yacht Club.” NFTs are stored on blockchain and can be traded, since the digital ledger certifies their ownership.

Founded by technologists Matt Hall and John Watkinson, Larva Labs is famous for its large-scale, blockchain art projects. "CryptoPunks," the duo's signature creation, is 10,000 units of 24x24 pixel heads created with an algorithm.

Nine selected punks from the artwork were auctioned off as a pack at the price of US$16.9 million (NT$470 million) in May at Christie's New York. The nine punks had been expected to sell for US$7 million.

A landmark NFT auction occurred earlier this year in March, when digital artist Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple, had his work “Everydays” sell at Christie’s for US$69 million, setting the record for the most expensive work sold online.

Following the proven success of NFT auctions elsewhere, Christie's Hong Kong has announced the first NFT auction in Asia, for which it hopes to attract a young audience.

Other highlights of the auction will include Larva Labs' latest creation "Meebits" as well as Yuga Labs' "Bored Ape Yacht Club," with 20,000 and 10,000 units to be auctioned, respectively. Additionally, the auction will mark the first time the two pieces will be offered outside of any NFT trading platform.

Laura Shao, a Christie's associated specialist, praised the Larva Labs team for the 3D figure “Meebits,” which she said shows the team’s ambition of pushing boundaries when turning graphic works into sculpture.

Jacky Ho, Christie’s vice president and head of evening sales, said the auction house is serving as a center between physical and crypto art and that virtual currencies and NFTs will change the art and the business, though he said it’s soon to tell how, despite COVID speeding the process up.

The Ethereum-friendly sale will be open for bidding from Sept. 17-28. For more information, please visit the website.