Chris Burns - May 13, 2021, 11:52am CDT
A battle between four bidders ended with a $12.9 million hammer price for the Banksy artwork ‘Love is in the Air’. This is the first piece of art sold in a Sotheby’s auction where cryptocurrency was accepted as a payment option for a physical artwork. It’s likely this practice will continue with other major sales in the near future.
The painting sold at Sotheby’s was the first to see Sotheby’s work with Coinbase Commerce. The winner of the auction has the option to “pay the hammer price in either bitcoin or ethereum should they choose.” If the bidder does choose to pay with cryptocurrency, they will need to send funds from an approved wallet or exchange. Exchanges pre-approved for this auction include Coinbase, Fidelity Digital Assets Services, Coinbase Custody Trust, Paxos, and Gemini.