258-year-old auction house closes digital art division and lays off employees
Source: CoinWorld
Time: 2025-09-12 07:45:16
Although Christie's promises to continue offering NFTs at future auctions, as a strategic decision, Christie's has closed its independent NFT division and laid off employees, including the vice president of digital arts. Previously, NFT trading volume plummeted 93%, from US$2.9 billion in 2021 to only US$23.8 million in the first quarter of 2025, and the number of active traders also plummeted from more than 500,000 to less than 20,000. Consultants blamed the layoffs on economic reality, noting that auction houses have struggled to justify setting up a dedicated digital arts division in amid shrinking revenues. Former Sotheby's CEO Ted Smith called it a "graduation moment" rather than the demise of digital art, and predicted that NFTs would be integrated into contemporary art auctions like other media.