Christie's auction house is closing its cutting-edge digital art division, which has operated since 2022. The decision is part of a review of its overall sales strategy amid a significant downturn in the NFT market. However, digital art will continue to be sold within the broader category of 20th and 21st century art, The Art Newspaper reports.
The division, founded alongside the launch of Christie's 3.0 platform for selling NFTs, was one of the first to help make digital art and blockchain works more widely recognized. Christie's has organized landmark auctions, including the sale of a portrait of Le Comte de Belamy in 2018 for $432,500 and the record-breaking sale of NFT artist Beeple's Everydays: The First 5000 Days for $69.3 million in March 2021, which contributed to the explosion of NFT popularity.
However, due to declining interest in NFTs and a significant decline in digital art trading volumes, the auction house closed a specialized division and laid off two key employees, including vice president of digital art sales Nicole Sayles Giles.
By the way, NFT trading volumes have been declining for the fifth consecutive quarter: in the second quarter of 2025, sales volume fell to $823 million, which is four times lower than in the same period last year. Although the number of NFT transactions increased by 78%, which shows greater interest in cheaper assets, the average price of one NFT fell significantly. The reasons are cited as a decrease in interest from ordinary investors, problems with high fees on Ethereum, as well as less media attention and doubts about the long-term value of NFTs.
Christie's will now include digital art in its sales alongside 20th and 21st century works to bridge the traditional and digital art markets. Similar changes have been made by Christie's competitor Sotheby's, which last year cut its NFT division.