Sotheby’s, the 279-year-old British auction house, is expected to close the sale of an EtherRock (EthRock) non-fungible token (NFT) on Wednesday, in a sealed bid auction.

The decentralized prediction market website Polymarket reflects that there is a 57% chance that the EtherRock NFT will sell for over $600,000 at the Sotheby’s auction. On February, 12, EtherRock number 46 sold for $496,658.

For those unfamiliar with the term ‘sealed-bid auction’ this is a type of auction in which bids are not viewed until the actual auction date and this instance Wednesday. The bids are sealed physically in an envelope, and will all be opened at once.

EtherRock NFTs are digital collectables representing ownership of virtual rocks on the Ethereum blockchain. Each EtherRock is a unique token, with ownership recorded on the blockchain, giving buyers the ability to buy, sell, and trade these digital rocks as they would physical collectables. They gained attention for their simplicity and scarcity, as only 100 EtherRocks exist, making them highly sought after by collectors in the NFT space.

Sotheby’s Achieved $30M in NFT Sales 2023

In terms of total sales in 2023, Sotheby’s has achieved more than $30 million in total digital art or NFT sales, which marked about a 50% increase year on year, a spokesperson told Cryptonews.com.

“There were many highlights in our sales in 2023. Namely, we held multiple sales from the Three Arrows Capital (3AC) collection, including a dedicated live auction in June that totalled more than $11 million. The highlight of that sale was a work by Dmitri Cherniak, called The Goose, which sold for $6.2 million,” said a Sotheby’s spokesperson.

NFTs have gained huge popularity in 2021, generating over $23 billion in trading volume, reports Rachel Wolfson from Cryptonews. In 2022, the NFT industry saw a major decline following the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX and a major market downturn.  Wolfson reports that organizations want to help implement regulatory frameworks for NFTs, but confusion around these digital assets persists.

Sotheby’s Breakdown of Digital Art Sales

The GRAILS: Starry Night collection sold in the January auction for a total of $1,046,099. The pre-sale estimate for this lot was between $339,500 – and $480,700 and the final sale total more than doubled. According to Sothbey, 55% of bidders were under 40 and an estimated 40% of buyers were under the age of 40. The auction house said 53% of buyers were new to Sotheby’s

Natively Digital: An Ordinals Curated Sale also sold in the January auction and 19 lots sold for a total of $1,097,534. This was more than twice the low estimate for the sale originally as $412,000. Sotheby’s said there were a total of 641 bids, 78% of buyers were new to Sotheby’s and more than 50% of bidders were under 40.

BitcoinShrooms: An Ordinals Auction took place in December and all three lots were sold for a total: of $450,850. This total was five times the high estimate (combined estimate for the three lots: $60,000 – $90,000) This sale marked the first-ever Ordinals sale at Sotheby’s.

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