KEY POINTS
Christie’s recently wrapped up its inaugural Bitcoin-based non-fungible token (NFT) auction — “Ordinal Maxi Biz (OMB)” — raking in a total of $730,800.
Running from April 9 to April 16, the auction featured four lots of artworks curated by ZK Shark, including pieces inscribed onto the oldest circulating Bitcoin Satoshis by artists Tony Tafuro and berkin bags, with contributions from developer Nullish.
The first lot, featuring unique hand-drawn sketch PFPs distinguished by varying eye colors, fetched $441,000, slightly shy of the anticipated $450,000.
Similarly, the second, third, and fourth lots sold for $88,200, $75,600, and $126,000, respectively, all falling slightly short of their estimates.
This event marks another stride for Christie’s in the Web3 space. The auction house first signaled its interest in this domain back in 2022 with the launch of “Christie’s 3.0” — a platform dedicated to fully on-chain NFT auctions. At the end of 2022, Christie’s reported selling 87 NFT lots across all platforms for a total of $5.9 million from artists such as Diana Sinclair, Mad Dog Jones, and Fewocious.
The OMB auction joins a series of successful Bitcoin-based NFT auctions witnessed throughout the past year and in 2024. Sotheby’s “BitcoinShrooms” NFT auction in December exceeded expectations, amassing $450,850, with individual NFTs selling 5-8 times higher than estimated prices. In January, Sotheby’s concluded its “Natively Digital” Bitcoin NFT sale, featuring artworks by various artists, which garnered over $1 million.
Since their inception in January 2023, Bitcoin NFTs have garnered significant attention, fueled by events like the upcoming halving and the rising value of Bitcoin. Bitcoin NFT sales reached record-breaking heights in 2023, surpassing $881 million, and March of the current year saw sales exceeding $500 million, outpacing competitors Ethereum and Solana.
