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Banksy Paintings Sell for 3,093 ETH in Auction House First

Banksy Paintings Sell for 3,093 ETH in Auction House First

Banksy Paintings Sell for 3,093 ETH in Auction House First

Two paintings from contemporary artist Banksy sold for over $12 million in the first Sotheby’s sale denominated in ETH.

Two paintings from contemporary artist Banksy sold for over $12 million in the first Sotheby’s sale denominated in ETH.

Two paintings from contemporary artist Banksy sold for over $12 million in the first Sotheby’s sale denominated in ETH.

AccessTimeIconNov 19, 2021, 12:15 AM
Updated May 11, 2023, 7:05 PM
Sotheby's auction of Bansky art (Eli Tan/CoinDesk)

A pair of paintings from contemporary artist Banksy have sold for a combined 3,093 ETH in an auction at Sotheby’s on Thursday night.

As CoinDesk previously reported, the sale is the first time the auction house has denominated a sale in cryptocurrency. The pieces, “Trolley Hunters” and “Love Is In The Air” (2006) were estimated to sell for $5 million-$7 million and $4 million-$6 million respectively, and both largely met expectations with sales worth $6,698,400 and $8,077,200 – a combined 3,093 ETH.

Accepting bids in crypto is part of a larger cryptocurrency-focused push from the auctioneers. In October, Sotheby’s launched “Sotheby’s Metaverse,” a virtual gallery for the live auction event.

Crypto fans are now closely watching an auction scheduled for later in the night: the sale of one of 13 remaining copies of the United States Constitution, which will include bidding from a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).

A DAO is a group of people on the internet using various tools to exercise governance decisions relating to blockchain protocols, pooled investments or any number of other experiments.

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CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

Andrew Thurman was a tech reporter at CoinDesk with a focus on DeFi.


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