Christie’s, the UK-based auction powerhouse, is reportedly shutting down its standalone NFT division, folding it into its broader 20th and 21st-century art category amid a slowdown in the global art market.
According to a Monday report from Now Media citing a Christie’s spokesperson, the move is described as a “strategic decision.” While the 256-year-old auction house will continue offering digital art, including NFTs, those sales will no longer be run through a dedicated department.
Alongside the restructuring, Now Media reported that Christie’s laid off two staff members, among them its vice president of digital art, though at least one digital art specialist will remain with the company.
Christie’s has played a major role in bringing NFTs into the mainstream art world, most notably with its 2021 sale of Beeple’s Everydays: The First 5000 Days, which fetched $69.3 million at auction.
The auction house had also shown strong support for the Web3 sector, rolling out its own NFT marketplace in September 2022 and later introducing a crypto-only real estate team in July.
Market downturn likely a factor
Digital art adviser, curator, and collector Fanny Lakoubay suggested in an X post on Monday that Christie’s restructuring may be linked to the ongoing “art market contraction.”
Industry data supports this view: the global art market fell 12% in 2024 to $57 billion, while auction houses saw their combined public and private sales plunge 20% to $23 billion, according to the Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report 2025 published in April.
“Auction houses can’t maintain an entire department if it generates less revenue than others, even with a few recent successful sales,” Lakoubay said.
She added, “It’s not the best signal to the public, but we should keep in mind that auction houses primarily deal in secondary sales of established artists and brands. That model is still too early to effectively scale with digital art.”
Lakoubay suggested that the shift could present an opportunity to focus on developing the primary market and introducing traditional collectors to emerging digital artists.
Christie’s faces a “Kodak moment”
Meanwhile, an NFT collector and member of Doomed DOA, posting under the handle Benji, argued that Christie’s closure of its digital art department doesn’t signal a drop in demand for digital art or that “institutions are no longer coming for our jpegs.”
He believes the real issue lies in the business model, which he calls “flawed and unsustainable,” suggesting Christie’s move could be its “Kodak moment.”
“How can you charge a 25-30% commission on something that doesn’t need authentication, storage, insurance, or shipping, when online competitors like Gondi charge zero commission for the same sale?” Benji said.
He added, “I hate to see good people lose their jobs, but Christie’s exit is a net positive—one less value extractor means more value for collectors and artists alike.”
NFT market shows mixed performance
The NFT market has experienced a turbulent few years. Last year marked the sector’s weakest trading volume and sales since 2020, driven in part by volatility and rising token prices.
However, 2025 has brought signs of recovery. In August, the NFT market surged to a capitalization of over $9.3 billion—a 40% increase from July—boosted by rising prices in Ethereum-based collections and Ether.
Recent weeks have seen some cooling, but the market’s current capitalization remains at $5.97 billion, up 2% in the past 24 hours.
Several of the largest NFT collections by market value have also posted gains. CryptoPunks is up 1.9% in the last 24 hours, with a trading volume of $208,319 across three sales. Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club rose 3.7%, recording more than $1.2 million in trading volume from 30 sales, while Pudgy Penguins increased 2%, with $905,526 in trading volume across 20 sales.
