Sotheby's to accept cryptocurrency as payment in Banksy auction

Artist's Love Is In The Air has a guide price of $3m-$5m for auction set to take place on May 12

Sotheby's will accept cryptocurrency as payment for Banksy's Love is in the Air, which will be auctioned at a contemporary art event on May 12. Image courtesy of Sotheby's

Auction house Sotheby’s is collaborating with Coinbase to accept cryptocurrencies as a payment method for a physical work of art.

The company said it will accept Bitcoin and Ether as payment when it auctions the Banksy painting, Love Is In The Air, later this month.

"This is the first time that cryptocurrency will be accepted as payment for physical artwork and we are really excited to make this happen. It's something we've been thinking about for quite some time," Sotheby's chief executive Charles Stewart told CNBC's Squawk Box.

"Banksy has been, as you might be well aware, a very popular artist at auction and there is a lot of interest in his work paying with physical money as well. But what better combination to introduce crypto than with an iconic Banksy painting?"

Sotheby's said the decision to accept cryptocurrency for physical payment followed on from the recent success of 'The Fungible' Collection – the sale of non-fungible tokens bestowing ownership of digital artworks from designer Pak, which saw bids from more than 3,000 collectors, most of whom were first-time buyers with the auction house.

Its decision to accept cryptocurrency via Coinbase Commerce, a method for businesses to handle crypto payments, "marks an important next step", the auction house said in a statement.

The Banksy painting has an estimate of $3 million-$5m for the auction, which is due to take place next Wednesday, May 12. Bidders can also pay in cash, Mr Stewart said.

It will be up to the owner of the painting whether or not to keep the cryptocurrency or immediately convert it to US dollars, he added.

"I definitely think we will expand the audience by doing this and it's something that we'll explore going forward, although of course we're very curious to see how this first step in that direction goes," Mr Stewart said.

Bitcoin was trading 3.04 per cent lower at $55,975 on the Coinbase exchange at 5.30pm UAE time on Tuesday. Ether was up 13 per cent at $3,515.39.

“Coinbase is proud to provide Sotheby’s with a sophisticated payment solution, backed by our deep liquidity, and expertise with trading and hedging cryptocurrencies," Sanchan Saxena, Coinbase’s vice president of product and ecosystem, said.

"This is an example of an enterprise that is evolving with their client base to cater to crypto-forward consumers.”

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Banksy's art work

People take pictures of a new Banksy artwork in Islington, London, in March 2024. Getty Images

A work by Banksy is removed in Peckham, south-east London, in December 2023. Getty Images

Graffiti created by British artist Banksy under a protective screen on the damaged wall of a residential building in Irpin, Ukraine in April 2023. Getty Images

An artwork painted on the side of a property in Herne Bay, Kent in March 2023. PA

The artwork by street artist Banksy, titled 'Valentine's Day Mascara' on the side of a building in Margate, Kent in February 2023. PA

A Reveller walks by a graffiti attributed to Banksy as he arrives at Worthy Farm in Somerset during the Glastonbury Festival in June 2022. Reuters

A Banksy artwork in Nottingham in October 2020. Reuters

Show me the Monet by Banksy at Sotheby's Galleries in London in October 2020. AFP

Banksy's Sunflowers From Petrol Station, inspired by Vincent van Gogh. PA

Banksy captioned the photo of this work Game Changer. Photo: Instagram

A customised stab-proof vest by street artist Banksy at the Design Museum in London. EPA

A Banksy stencil posted on Instagram in June 2020, with a caption asking 'What should we do with the empty plinth in the middle of Bristol?' Photo: Instagram

A Banksy piece inspired by the death of George Floyd and subsequent Black Lives Matter protests. Photo: Instagram

Girl with a Pierced Eardrum, in Bristol. Getty

Banksy released a new piece in his bathroom as he worked from home during the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. Photo: Instagram

A Valentine's Day piece by Banksy appeared in Bristol in February 2020. Reuters

A Christmas mural by Banksy in Birmingham, December 2019. The piece made a statement about homelessness. Reuters

Banksy's pop-up shop called Gross Domestic Product in Croydon, London in 2019. AFP

A view of Banksy's migrant child mural, half-submerged in high water in Venice, November 2019. EPA

Devolved Parliament at Sotheby's auction house in London, featuring chimpanzees as MPs in the House of Commons. EPA

A Banksy artwork in Marble Arch, London, at the site of an Extinction Rebellion protest camp. EPA

Love is in the Bin at the Frieder Burda Museum in Baden-Baden, Germany. EPA

There is Always Hope. EPA

Season's Greetings (2018) was painted on a garage in Port Talbot, Wales. Getty

Part of the unauthorised exhibition entitled Banksy, Genius or Vandal? in Madrid, December 2018. EPA

A piece by Banksy, acquired by actor Robin Williams, was among auction items on display in Los Angeles, September 2018. EPA

A Brexit-inspired mural by Banksy in Dover, south-east England. EPA

A veiled woman in mourning beside the Bataclan concert venue in Paris where 90 people where killed by terrorists in November 2015. EPA

An artwork attributed to Banksy showing Napoleon's horse rearing, in Paris, June 2018. EPA

A mural depicting a rat on a popped champagne cork, in Paris, June 2018. EPA

A rat in the inner portion of a clock in New York City, March 2018. EPA

A Banksy mural highlights the imprisonment of Turkish artist and journalist Zehra Dogan, on the Bowery, New York City in February 2019. EPA

A Banksy painting appeared on the first day of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. EPA

Flying Copper on display in Berlin. EPA

The Bridge Farm Primary School where a new mural appeared during half term in Withchurch, England. The mural was a thanks to the school for naming a school wing after Banksy. EPA

The Son of a Migrant from Syria depicting Apple's Steve Jobs in the refugee camp called The Jungle in Calais, France. EPA

Dismaland, a temporary exhibition that opened at a derelict seafront lido in Weston-Super-Mare, England in 2015. Getty

Bomb Hugger after it was defaced in Hamburg, February 2015. EPA

Banksy appeared to comment on methods used by Britain's intelligence services with this piece in Cheltenham. EPA

The Twin Towers in Tribeca appeared in New York in 2013. EPA

A mural by Banksy in Queens, New York. EPA

Three years after Hurricane Katrina wrought havoc in the Gulf of Mexico, Banksy created some commemorative pieces in New Orleans, Louisiana. EPA

Another mural by Banksy in New Orleans. EPA

A Banksy in London, May 2008. EPA

A piece to mark Queen Elizabeth II's golden jubilee appeared on Clink Street, near London Bridge, in May 2002. EPA