The rate at which several sectors adopt cryptocurrency as a means of payment is encouraging. The market is competitive, especially with many people coming into entrepreneurship by the hour. From online markets to offline markets, there is really no business that cannot be improved by the ease digital currencies provide. The offer of cross-border payment infers that people in Europe can buy from Asia or America, and vice versa without having devalued currencies or going through strenuous processes.
A prominent auction house in Britain, Sotheby’s, has recently announced the sales of a black diamond called “Enigma.” The most exciting part of this news is that people can place money on the diamond through Ethereum, Bitcoin, USDC, or stablecoin. This pulled a considerable interest from the public since crypto payment is one of the strategies used by most sectors to attract sales.
Increasing Use of Crypto Coins in Auction Houses.
Auctions are a game of interest and money. It is where people love to spend their money. In most cases, a jewelry value is denoted by how much people are willing to bet on it. Sometimes, it is a show of power and influence, while other times, the sales can only be complete because of the item’s high value. Auctioneers should take some credit for this because they understand their audience. They need the right strategy that triggers people to always go beyond.
Apart from auction houses, other big companies also invest in cryptocurrency transactions. Companies like Tesla, MicroStrategy, and Square, influenced the popularity of Bitcoin. As a result, the cryptocurrency community elaborates as developers create a smart chain. Examples of auction houses that recently used cryptocurrency payments include Christie’s and Phillips.
They both sold digital artwork in exchange for some Ether coins. It is also much easier because some of these artists are crypto enthusiasts, so they understand the market perfectly.
It is believed that activating crypto payments in auction houses is attractive to collectors and makes the auction appear more innovative. The best time to place an auction is when people have recently enjoyed a bullish market.
They have enjoyed the increase in digital assets and are willing to get some jewelry in exchange for coins. When the market volatility favors crypto traders, their spending mood is heightened. You don’t need to argue on the best crypto exchange to buy the jewelry from as sales will not be done via exchanges.
Auction houses are not directly influenced by cryptocurrency volatility. It only affects their market sales while auctioneers consider other payment alternatives that interest potential customers. At the same time, many of them do not expect crypto prices to be down for a long time, so they may hold and sell when the market is more favorable. Meanwhile, non-fungible tokens like NFTs are a platform to display available items until the house gets the best buyer.
Participation of Sotheby’s in the Cryptocurrency Community
Sotheby’s has long existed in the cryptocurrency community, as it is not the first time trades of digital assets. This auction house owns the biggest luxury sales across the world. In 2021, the auction house sold a huge NFTs of about $65 million. Since NFT had only been a widespread trade in the market last year, and Sotheby’s made a considerable return already, it can be denoted that this British auction house has many crypto enthusiasts.
Apart from Sotheby’s, some other top companies owned NFTs sales. Some include Creative Artists Agency, Future Perfect Ventures, and NEA’s Connect Ventures. While these ventures focus on cryptocurrency investment, the auction house perfectly existed in the same space.
Interestingly, Sotheby’s owners must have noticed their high chances of earning more money from the diamond auction after selling the NFTs. Many of the buyers were yet to patronize the house, yet the wealthy crypto owners among them bought befitting items on the NFTs list. People only needed something to associate with, and the large base of the cryptocurrency community that wanted to trade with the house was alarming.
This British auction house is as old as 277-year-old, and it is only interesting that crypto earned higher profits than most private sales it must have done in the past. Not only that, the house sold a 101.38-carat diamond for an enormous amount of $12.3 million in July in Hong Kong. Currently, the black diamond is the most expensive object that can be bought with cryptocurrency. The owners reported it is a product of earth collision with some asteroid, making it unique. With the past sales being in the house’s favor, the diamond auction is highly likely to succeed.
The potential customers for the rare gem are vast, including museum arts. Hence, it’s an art that serves as a display of beauty.
Conclusion
Sotheby’s is a jewelry specialist who looks forward to profiting. Most of these events are also targeted towards kicking competitors out of the market. Although this cannot be achieved, they can stay at the top of the competitive game. It is a digital age, and both online and onsite businesses thrive through the internet space.
The trading method is unique via cryptocurrency, but the black diamond is also rare jewelry in the house. Sotheby’s confirmed that the crypto payment will not be processed by crypto exchanges like binance or redot.com, but by Coinbase Commerce, featured in Los Angeles, Dubai, and London. It will not be surprising if most customers are located in these areas.
