Christie’s closes digital art department:
end of NFT era at traditional auction houses Automatic translate

British auction house Christie’s has decided to close its dedicated digital art department, integrating NFT sales into the broader category of 20th and 21st century art. This decision marks the symbolic end of an era that began just four years ago with the record-breaking sale of Beeple’s digital artwork.

Changes to the company’s structure affected key department staff. Nicole Sales Giles, who held the position of Vice President of Digital Art, left the company at the end of August 2025. A Christie’s representative described this as a "strategic decision to reformulate digital art sales." The auction house will continue to work with digital works, but they will now be included in its general contemporary art sales.

The NFT Boom and Historic Triumph

The NFT market’s surge reached its peak on March 11, 2021, when Christie’s auctioned a work by artist Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple. The piece, "Everydays: The First 5000 Days," was a digital collage of 5,000 images created daily by the artist over a period of nearly 14 years.

The opening bid was just $100. Over two weeks of bidding, the price rose rapidly, reaching $1 million, then $9 million. In the final two minutes of the auction, bids spiked in increments of $10 million and $15 million. The final price was $69.3 million, making Beeple the third-highest-selling living artist at auction, behind David Hockney and Jeff Koons.

This sale set several world records. It became the most expensive digital artwork ever sold, the highest price ever achieved for an item at an online auction, and the largest online sale in history. The auction attracted 33 active bidders, 91% of whom had never done business with Christie’s before. For the first time in the auction house’s history, the winning bidder was able to pay for the purchase in cryptocurrency.

Development of the Christie’s 3.0 platform

Inspired by the success of its first NFT auctions, Christie’s launched its own blockchain platform, Christie’s 3.0, in September 2022. The new system enabled fully on-chain sales based on the Ethereum blockchain, automatically recording all transactions. Development was conducted in collaboration with leading Web3 companies Manifold, Chainalysis, and Spatial.

Nicole Sales Giles, head of digital art, highlighted the advantages of the new platform. Christie’s 3.0 included compliance, anti-money laundering, and tax tools, making it the first system of its kind. The platform provided the highest level of curation in the NFT art market, providing collectors with a secure transaction environment.

The platform’s launch came just days after Ethereum successfully transitioned to a new consensus mechanism, reducing blockchain energy consumption by more than 99%. The first sale at Christie’s 3.0 included nine NFTs by young artist Diana Sinclair. The platform has been actively used at major art events, including Art Basel Miami and Frieze Seoul.

Catastrophic market collapse

The euphoria of 2021 quickly gave way to a harsh sobriety. In the first quarter of 2022 alone, the NFT market saw a 47% decline, with a total volume of $8 billion. In the second quarter, the decline intensified to 77%, with the market posting its first-ever quarterly loss of $450 million.

NFT sales at major auction houses have plummeted. Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Phillips, and Bonhams sold just $9.41 million worth of NFTs in 2022, down from $153.5 million the year before. For Christie’s, the decline was particularly dramatic: NFT sales fell from their 2021 peak to $5.9 million in 2022, a 96% decline.

The market capitalization of all NFT collections peaked at $35 billion in March 2022, after which it fell by 40% to $21 billion. By December 2022, the total NFT market capitalization had fallen below $1 billion, down from an impressive $12 billion at the beginning of the year. The number of active NFT wallets fell sharply, leading to a decline in trading volumes on leading exchanges.

2024 Failure Statistics

The situation continued to worsen in 2024. The NFT market experienced a decline in trading volumes for the fifth consecutive quarter, recording a 19% drop in overall trading activity. This made 2024 the worst year on record for NFT traders.

A study by NFTEvening and the agency Storible, which analyzed 29,079 new NFT collections launched between January and August 2024, revealed shocking data. Nearly 98% of 2024 projects were effectively "dead," demonstrating no trading activity since September. The high failure rate indicated market saturation, with most new projects losing relevance immediately after launch.

Only 0.2% of NFT projects in 2024 generated profits for investors. Even among "live" NFTs that retained some trading activity, only 11.9% were profitable. A report from August 2024 showed that 95% of NFTs were effectively "dead," with the average holder losing 44.5% of their initial investment.

Investors shifted their focus to other asset classes, primarily cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Growing institutional interest in these digital assets diverted capital from NFTs, exacerbating the decline in trading volumes. Regulatory uncertainty surrounding NFTs also played a role, as many investors feared the potential risks associated with this emerging asset class.

Massive layoffs in the industry

The NFT market’s challenges have forced Christie’s competitors to rethink their strategies as well. Sotheby’s, the world’s second-largest auction house, began a wave of layoffs in September 2024, culminating in mass layoffs at the end of the year. Although Sotheby’s officially reported more than 100 layoffs, sources claimed this was a conservative estimate.

The cuts affected major departments, including the Impressionist, Modern, and Contemporary Art departments, where significant positions, including senior ones, were eliminated. Junior specialists were also affected. Regional offices around the world were closed, including representative offices in Bangkok and several European cities.

In May 2024, Sotheby’s carried out its first round of layoffs, affecting around 50 employees in London. At least four specialists working with NFT sales also left. Only a few key employees remain, including Michael Bowen, President of Digital Art and NFTs, Coordinator Davis Brown, and one other specialist.

Sources reported that Sotheby’s was aiming to cut costs by $100 million. A representative of the auction house did not confirm this figure, stating only: "Given the challenges the market has faced this year, we have carefully reviewed our business and staffing levels to ensure efficient operations and future growth."

The general decline of the art market

Christie’s decision to downsize its digital art department comes amid a two-year contraction in the overall art market. In the first half of 2025, Christie’s earned nearly $1.5 billion from fine art sales, a 1.9% decrease compared to the same period in 2024. Compared to the first half of 2023, sales fell by almost 25%.

Global art sales fell by 12% in 2024, reaching $57 billion. This overall decline in art market activity has increased pressure on auction houses, forcing them to streamline operations and cut specialized departments.

Despite the overall challenges, Christie’s attempted to diversify its digital asset portfolio. In March 2025, the auction house held a landmark auction of AI-generated art, which raised $728,784. The event attracted a new audience: 48% of bidders were millennials and members of Generation Z, and 37% of buyers were new to Christie’s.

The auction’s highlight was Refik Anadol’s "Machine Hallucinations – ISS Dreams – A," which sold for $277,200, significantly exceeding its pre-sale estimate of $150,000 – $200,000. However, even this success could not offset the overall losses: 14 lots failed to find buyers or sold below expectations, highlighting the volatility of the AI-generated art market.

Historical context of Christie’s

To understand the scale of this event, it’s important to consider the history of Christie’s. The auction house was founded in 1766 by James Christie in London, becoming one of the oldest and most prestigious auction houses in the world. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Christie’s expanded beyond London, opening salesrooms in major cities around the world.

The firm established a presence in Rome in 1958, Geneva in 1968, and Tokyo in 1969, becoming a global brand. Further growth in New York, Paris, and Hong Kong cemented its role as a dominant force in the international art market. Christie’s consistently set auction records, defining new benchmarks in the art world.

In 2018, Christie’s held a record-breaking sale of the Rockefeller collection, which fetched $832.6 million, becoming the most valuable auction of a private collection in history. The auction house has continually adapted to new technologies and market trends. In 2006, it introduced "Christie’s LIVE," an online bidding platform that allowed buyers from around the world to participate.

In 2011, Christie’s became the first to hold an online sale, when Elizabeth Taylor’s collection fetched $9.5 million. The 2021 sale of Beeple’s NFTs is a logical continuation of this tradition of innovation, marking a significant shift in the art market and demonstrating the institution’s willingness to embrace digital assets.

The fate of blockchain platforms

The department’s closure raises questions about the future of Christie’s 3.0, which launched in September 2022. This platform has been a cornerstone of Christie’s digital strategy, supporting exhibitions and collaborations during major art events such as Art Basel Miami and Frieze Seoul.

However, with the digital art sector facing challenges, marked by the closure of platforms like MakersPlace, KnownOrigin, and Async Art, Christie’s appears to be moving away from standalone NFT initiatives. The company is focusing on integrating digital art into its broader auction offerings. This move suggests a reduced emphasis on NFT-specific innovations and a more traditional approach to digital art sales.

A Christie’s representative emphasized that the company will continue to sell digital art, including NFTs, within the broader category of 20th and 21st century art. One digital art specialist will remain on staff in New York. This indicates an intention to maintain a presence in the sector, but without a dedicated department or extensive infrastructure.

Transition to new management

The restructuring took place under the leadership of Christie’s new CEO, Bonnie Brennan, who took office in February 2025. The decision to reformat the digital art department reflected a broader reassessment of strategic priorities in the face of changed market realities.

The changes at Christie’s occurred amidst general volatility in the digital asset market. Despite initial enthusiasm and significant sales in the NFT space, the market experienced declining trading volumes and diminishing interest in digital collectibles. This shift demonstrated how traditional art institutions were adapting to the evolving NFT market conditions.

Christie’s restructuring coincided with Sotheby’s $1 billion deal with Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund ADQ in November 2024. A significant portion of this investment was used to pay down a portion of the $1.65 billion in fixed debt associated with Sotheby’s auction business. Franco-Israeli telecommunications magnate Patrick Drahi acquired Sotheby’s for $3.7 billion in 2019, bringing the total debt of his company, Altice, to approximately $60 billion.

Market Trend Analysis

A study conducted in 2023 analyzed NFT trading at major auction houses over a period of over two years, identifying three phases in the market’s development. Spring 2021 saw an initial surge of interest, which quickly escalated into a speculative frenzy. The second phase was characterized by attempts to institutionalize the market with the launch of specialized platforms. The third phase, beginning in 2022, represented a prolonged decline and reassessment.

Although extensive research has been conducted on NFT trading on the blockchain, little work has been done on NFT trading in public auction houses. The success of Christie’s historic auction was unique in that the auction house’s online platform was not hosted on the blockchain, unlike NFT platforms like OpenSea or Nifty Gateway. This created a paradoxical situation, where a traditional institution was selling exclusively digital assets using traditional auction mechanisms.

The collapse of the NFT market had consequences not only for the sector itself but also for the broader cryptocurrency market. The decline in trading volumes led to a decrease in overall market activity, resulting in decreased liquidity. This made it difficult for investors to buy and sell NFTs and other digital assets.

Prospects and Challenges

The closure of Christie’s digital art department doesn’t necessarily mean the end of blockchain art, but it does highlight the challenges of sustaining a market built on hype rather than sustainable cultural value. Many in the art world are asking broader questions: can digital art thrive beyond speculation, or will it remain a footnote in the history of art commerce — a brief, feverish experiment at the intersection of technology and desire.

Despite these challenges, the NFT market still offers opportunities for growth and innovation. The blockchain technology underlying NFTs has the potential to revolutionize a wide range of industries, from art and music to real estate and finance. As the technology evolves, new use cases for NFTs are likely to emerge, driving demand and increasing trading volumes.

The regulatory environment for NFTs is expected to become clearer in the coming years, as governments around the world work to establish guidelines for this emerging asset class. This increased clarity could help bolster investor confidence and spur growth in the NFT market.

Christie’s decision to integrate digital art into its traditional categories reflects a more pragmatic approach to the evolving market. Rather than maintaining a separate, resource-intensive structure for a niche segment, the auction house has adopted a strategy that allows it to continue working with digital assets while minimizing operating costs.

The rise and fall of Christie’s NFT department serves as a reminder of the cyclical nature of art markets and the dangers of overexcitement around new technologies. What began as a revolutionary movement promising to democratize the art world and empower artists ultimately collided with the realities of the market economy and the fickleness of consumer interest.