In addition to losing billions of dollars and arguably sparking a crypto winter, cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital also backed a lavish portfolio of NFTs, a portfolio that founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies thought had the quite enlightened air projected in the gallery of their proposal. $50 million superyacht.
Following the bankruptcy of the Singapore-based fund in July 2022, consulting firm Teneo, liquidator of Three Arrows Capital, was tasked with recovering funds through the sale of NFTs owned by the company.
On April 19, Sotheby’s announced that it would host the first part of the process with “Grails”, an auction of nine top-notch generative digital works that will form part of the auction house’s Contemporary and Modern Art sale. at auction from May 6 to 20.
Dmitri Cherniak, Ringtones #879 (2021). Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s
“We chose to partner with Sotheby’s digital art team because we believe they bring a best-in-class approach that will ultimately maximize the value of these assets on behalf of all creditors,” Teneo said in a statement to Artnet News. The collapsed crypto fund still owes around $3.5 billion to its creditors.
Founded in 2012, Three Arrows Capital has backed a number of high-profile projects, including BlockFi and Polkadot, with its founders portraying themselves as brilliant maverick investors. As Zhu and Davies became celebrities in crypto Twitter, they set about amassing an NFT collection worthy of their high status. Part of that endeavor was partnering with famed NFT collector Vincent Van Dough to launch the Starry Night Capital fund, which promised to raise “the finest collection of Crypto Art in the world.”
Although NFTs from the so-called Starry Night Wallet will not be on the auction block given ongoing complications surrounding their ownershipthe works for sale at Sotheby’s are indeed works worthy of the show’s title ‘Grails’, which in NFT parlance refers to works of historical significance that will have value.
larval laboratories, CryptoPunk #6649 (2020). Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s.
There is Ringtones #879 Since by Dmitry Chernyak series in which the artist has designed 1,000 works that capture the endless ways a rope can move around pegs, varying the number of pegs, size, winding pattern, and colors. There is a pair of fidenza works from Tyler Hobbs‘ randomly generated stream fields that are composed of twisted rectangles. There’s a trio inspired by Sol LeWittt Autoglyphs works from Larva Labs, with the zombie-like CryptoPunk #6649 thrown in for good measure.
“This extensive collection marks an important moment in the rise of generative art on the blockchain in 2021,” said Michael Bouhanna, Head of Digital Art and NFTs at Sotheby’s. “Since that watershed moment, when digital art and NFTs became a true pop culture phenomenon, generative art has continued to capture the attention of a growing audience”
While neither Sotheby’s nor Teneo were willing to offer a sale estimate, the timing of the sale, as well as the rarity of the works on offer, have the potential to raise millions of dollars.
In February 2023, Teneo posted a review listing the company’s NFTs. Over 300 NFTs have been marked green as likely to be sold, including 30 from Hobbs Fidenzas17 of Chernyak Ringtonesand 11 CryptoPunks. Expect a series of sales throughout the summer.
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