UK auction giant Christie’s is reportedly closing its department that handles non-fungible token sales, putting it under a broader department amid a global decline in the art market.
The “strategic decision” will see the 258-year-old British auction house continue to sell digital art such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), but now within the larger 20th and 21st-century art category, according to a report on Monday from Now Media that cited a statement from a Christie’s spokesperson.
At the same time, Now Media reported the auction giant laid off two employees, including its vice president of digital art, but at least one digital art specialist will be kept on staff.
Christie’s has had a huge presence in the NFT space, selling multiple artworks, including Mike “Beeple” Winkelmann’s Everydays: The First 5000 Days, which closed at auction in March 2021 with a bid of $69.3 million.
Digital artist Laura El sold one of her digital artworks, known as Lonely Island at Christie’s in 2023. Source: Laura El
The auction house had also been a supporter of the Web3 space, launching an NFT auction platform in September 2022 and a crypto-only real estate team in July.
Market conditions could have spurred shift
Fanny Lakoubay, a digital art adviser, curator and collector, said in an X post on Monday that she suspects Christie’s move could be tied to the “current art market contraction.”
The wider art market has been declining, with global sales down 12% in 2024 to $57 billion, along with combined public and private sales by auction houses dropping by 20% to $23 billion, according to the Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report 2025 released in April.
“Auction houses can’t justify a whole department when it brings in less revenue than the others, even with some recent successful sales,” Lakoubay said.
“It’s definitely not a great public signal, but we should also remember: auction houses only focus on secondary sales of already well-known artists and brands. It’s still too early for that model to really…
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