Sotheby's first sale of NFT from Three Arrows Capital's collection brought in $2.4 million, wiping out estimates

At a time when the prime art auction market seems to be sober up Somewhat after years of beating estimates, an NFT sale at Sotheby’s New York showed that the appetite for high-end, on-chain digital assets remains strong.

In the first of a series of sales organized by Sotheby’s to sell the hundreds of NFTs collected by a bankrupt crypto hedge fund Capital of the Three Arrowsthe auction house sold seven NFTs for over $2.4 million.

The sale took place on May 19 as part of Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Day Auction all seven lots far exceeding their high pre-sale estimates. The title of the sale “grails‘, which in NFT verbiage refers to historical NFTs believed to have lasting value, has been proven true with work by Tyler Hobbs, Larva Labs, Dmitri Cherniak and 0xDEAFBEEF, all now a strong asked.

Tyler Hobbs, Fidenza #725 (2021). Courtesy of Sotheby's.

Tyler Hobbs, #725 (2021). Courtesy of Sotheby’s.

One of the highlights was that of Tyler Hobbs #725, one of his many generative colored flow fields, which sold for over $1 million, well above its estimate of $120,000 to $180,000. Another was Larva Labs Autoglyph #187a Sol LeWitt-inspired series that is considered the first generative work to be minted on the blockchain, which sold for $571,500 off a pre-sale estimate of $120,000-180,000.

“The depth of bidding and the strong results for the first group of seven works in the Three Arrows collection clearly indicate that the market remains active and that collectors are willing to seek out the highest quality works,” said Michael Bouhanna, responsible for Sotheby’s. Digital art and NFT, told Artnet News.

Dmitri Cherniak, Ringtones #194 (2021). Courtesy of Sotheby’s.

Capital of the Three Arrows, which was founded by Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, went bankrupt in July 2022 following the collapse of Luna and TerraUSD, two cryptocurrencies that the Singapore-based hedge fund had been heavily backing. Alongside its crypto business, Three Arrows Capital was striving to create an unparalleled NFT collection in part through collaboration with a renowned NFT connoisseur Vincent Van Dough.

After its collapse, consulting firm Teneo became the liquidator of the fund and set about trying to recover the money. In February 2023, Teneo published a notice listing Three Arrows Capital NFTs which included 30 Hobbs Fidenzas, 17 Cherniak Ringers and 11 CryptoPunks. In addition to the NFTs seized by Teneo, there is a separate collection – the so-called Starry Night Collection – which Teneo is still trying to obtain.

Teneo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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