Banksy's "Love Is In the Air", a poem by Banksy, was featured on the cover to his 2005 book "Wall and Piece". Sotheby's
Sotheby's stated that it will use ether in its live auction for two Banksy artworks.
According to the 277-year old arts broker, it will be the first to use cryptocurrency in live bidding for physical artworks.
Sotheby's auctioned another version of "Love Is In the Air" in May and accepted crypto payments as payment.
Sotheby's will take bids in Ethereum in a live auction of two pieces by Banksy. The broker said that this will be the first time that a cryptocurrency will be used for real-time bidding for physical artworks.
"Trolley Hunters", and "Love Is In The Air," will be featured at a Sotheby's auction in New York on November 18, with increments for each piece being announced in ether.
Auction winners have the option of paying with fiat currency such as the US dollar or ether.
Sotheby's estimates of the "Trolley Hunters", value between $5 million- $7 million, and "Love Is In The Air", value between $4 million and $6 million by Sotheby.
Banksy's upcoming bids will propel the 277-year old arts broker into digital assets. It held its first NFT auction in April. The artist Pak generated $16.8million in sales. NFTs are digital representations or collectibles that are stored on a blockchain ledger.
Sotheby's was the first auction house in May to accept cryptocurrency as payment for artwork.
"Together these landmark offerings not only highlight the artist's place as the leading disruptor in the art world whose works resonate with the boundary-pushing spirit of the crypto community but also demonstrate the innovative spirit with which Sotheby's continues experiment with and expands the possibilities of auction format," Sotheby's stated in a Thursday statement.
It stated that ether is a preferred cryptocurrency in the digital art and NFTs worlds. Furthermore, the ethereum blockchain is where NFTs and transactions are registered.
According to CoinGecko Ether hit a record of $4,878.26 this week and is now the second most traded cryptocurrency. Its market value of $545 billion is only half that of bitcoin's $1.21 Trillion market capitalization.
