Sotheby’s Metaverse, the Web3 branch of the renowned British auction house Sotheby’s, is expanding its non-fungible token (NFT) platform offerings by integrating a new crypto wallet — Kresus.
Starting today, users can buy digital artworks via the Sotheby’s Metaverse platform and securely store them using the Kresus mobile application.
Kresus, designed for mobile phones, emphasizes security and user control, eliminating the need for cumbersome seed phrases or passwords. It incorporates a technology that enables users to recover assets even if they lose access to their email, enhancing the safety of NFT storage.
Currently supporting Ethereum, Solana, Bitcoin, Polygon, and ERC-20 tokens, Kresus joins other crypto wallets already compatible with Sotheby’s Metaverse, such as MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, and Ledger.
In response to the growing interest in digital art, Sotheby’s launched Sotheby’s Metaverse in 2021, providing a dedicated online hub for rare NFTs. Since then, it has conducted many successful NFT auctions, such as the sale of digital artworks from the bankrupt hedge fund 3AC’s collection, which fetched nearly $11 million last year.
As another example, the “BitcoinShrooms” NFT auction in December 2023 surpassed expectations, reaching a total of $450,850, and individual NFTs sold for 5-8 times higher than the estimated prices.
The end of 2023 saw Sotheby’s reporting $35 million in digital art sales, highlighting the success of NFT triumphs and record-setting auctions. The positive trend persists into 2024, as evidenced by last month’s “Natively Digital” Bitcoin NFT sale, which featured artworks by various artists and generated over $1 million in sales.
