Sotheby's Enters NFT Space With Digital Artist Pak: Is It The Next Beeple?

Since 1744, auction house Sotheby’s has been known as a seller of famous artwork and luxury items. The company is dipping its toes in the NFT space with a well-known digital artist.

What Happened: Sotheby’s announced a collaboration with leading digital artist Pak. Well-known as a designer and developer, Pak is an anonymous top name in the NFT space.

Pak has produced digital art for decades and could rise to be a top name in the NFT space with the experience and anonymity creating some suspense from collectors.

Sotheby’s will sell several versions of the Pak NFTs including a one of one edition that's limited to one copy and open editions that allow many people to buy tokens of the same work.

In December, Pak became the first crypto artist to make over $1 million for their work. This will mark the biggest showcase for Pak so far and could help the anonymous artist rival Beeple, one of the biggest names in NFTs.

An auction from Sotheby’s rival Christie’s saw a record $69 million paid for a NFT collage from Beeple that made the NFT creator one of the top three most valuable living artists.

The Sotheby’s collaboration with Pak is expected to launch next month.

Why It’s Important: The sale by Sotheby’s of the Pak NFTs will be the company’s first sale of non-fungible tokens.

“It’s more exciting when everyone is excited about it, without knowing much, and when they learn it will be because this particular drop is different,” Pak told Decrypt.

A collaboration with a fast-rising digital artist name like Pak could help Sotheby’s become a big player in record-breaking NFT pieces.

“We’ve been following the NFT space for some time,” Sotheby’s CEO Charles Stewart told CNBC.

The deal from Sotheby’s also continues to showcase that NFTs might not be a quick-lived trend and are creating some record- breaking valuations.

“There’s a lot here that’s really exciting and we think has staying power.”