"The reason Sotheby's has been around for 277 years is that we have a history that embraces innovation. So it's no different for NFTs," he said in an interview with AFP. on the sidelines of the Mobile World Fair in Barcelona.

NFTs are unique certified digital objects, thanks to "blockchain" technology, also used for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.

“The audience and the interest are absolutely huge. We are seeing a new, younger generation (…) who are interested in this new art form. That is why we are devoting time and resources” to NFTs, specifies the boss of the New York-based house, bought in 2019 by the Franco-Israeli telecom magnate Patrick Drahi.

NFTs made a remarkable entry into the art market in 2021, like the computer program at the origin of the web, sold for $5.4 million last July at Sotheby's.

The use of the "blockchain", a huge public ledger reputed to be tamper-proof, makes NFTs theoretically inviolable.

Something to reassure collectors against the risk of copying.

After a year 2020 marked by the pandemic, Sotheby's reached in 2021 the highest sales figure in its history, at 7.3 billion dollars, thanks in particular to a new audience and to Asian buyers.

In this assessment, the share of NFTs is still modest (100 million), but the auction house is advancing its digital pawns.

As a sign of her strong interest, she launched her dedicated platform called "Sotheby's Metaverse", named after the virtual universe announced as the next age of the internet.

New buyer profiles

Beyond a new source of income or the conquest of a wider audience, the interest of immersing yourself in the universe of cryptoassets also lies in the mutual enrichment between the old and the new worlds of the art, says Charles Stewart.

Sotheby's boss Charles Stewart attends the Mobile World Show in Barcelona, ​​Spain, on March 2, 2022 Josep LAGO AFP

"The mainstream art world hears a lot about NFTs. Many don't understand it. Some have embraced it. But there's a curiosity," says the former Altice USA CFO.

“The same is true the other way around. (For) many young tech investors – especially entrepreneurs – NFTs have been a gateway to the broader art market,” he adds. -he.

Symbol of the new profile of collectors, "Le Nez" by Alberto Giacometti was bought for $78.4 million by the founder of the Tron cryptocurrency platform, the Chinese-American entrepreneur Justin Sun, 31.

The NFT market, in art but also in other cultural sectors such as video games, soared in 2021 with exchanges representing 44.2 billion dollars worldwide, according to data from the firm Chainalysis .

"It wasn't until a year ago that NFTs burst into our collective consciousness, and we've seen an explosion of interest since then," Charles Stewart points out.

"Whether prices are going up or down, if the interest is there, if the engagement is there, if new creators are connecting with audiences through NFTs and cryptocurrencies, that's an important trend we're going to invest in." , he adds.

© 2022 AFP