Christie’s shuts down NFT department amid art market slump
Christie’s is closing its NFT unit and merging digital art with traditional auctions. Art sales are falling, and the NFT market remains unstable.
The 258-year-old auction house Christie’s is shutting down its dedicated NFT division, marking a significant retreat from the digital art market that once generated headlines and record sales. Digital art auctions will now be integrated into the broader “20th–21st Century Art” category.
The reorganization has resulted in staff cuts, with Christie's dismissing its vice president of digital art and another team member. However, one NFT specialist will remain with the company to handle digital art within the consolidated department.
Christie’s was an early pioneer in digital art. In 2021, the auction house sold Mike “Beeple” Winkelmann’s Everydays: The First 5000 Days for a record $69.3M. Building on that success, Christie's launched its own NFT platform in 2022 and established a specialized team for cryptocurrency real estate transactions in 2023. These moves positioned the auction house as a leader in bridging traditional and digital art markets.
But waning demand in the art market has weighed on digital ventures. According to the Art Basel & UBS report, global art sales fell 12% in 2024 to $57B, while auction house revenue dropped 20% to $23B. Consultant Fanny Lakoubay argued that Christie’s simply cannot afford to maintain a department generating less income than traditional divisions.
Some in the industry see Christie’s move as a “Kodak moment.” NFT collector Benji said the issue is not digital art itself but the business model: Christie’s charges commissions of 25–30%, while online competitors like Gondi charge nothing.
The NFT market remains volatile: in August its market cap topped $9.3B, only to fall back to $5.97B in September. While collections such as Bored Ape Yacht Club and Pudgy Penguins still generate millions in trading volume, many investors are taking losses. For example, collector Ryder Ripps recently sold his BAYC NFT for $37,000 – nearly $388,000 less than he paid.
