Sotheby’s live auction for 104 CryptoPunks ended with no sale after bids were withdrawn by Seller.
As per the Sotheby official’s statements, CryptoPunks were withdrawn prior to the sale after following “discussions with the consignor.”
The unknown consignor of the auction tweeted that “nvm, decided to hodl,”
23 minutes after the auction started, the withdrawal announcement came into the room. However, the Sotheby officials insisted on crowd the track by DJ Seed Phrase.
Two witnesses from the auction room have revealed that there were not enough bidders presented in the auction, which have changed auctioneers’ mind. However, Sotheby denied speaking on the cause of the auction withdrawal.
CryptoPunks is one of the leading and oldest NFT collections curated by Larva Labs in 2017 that holds a $177,663-floor price.
Michael Bouhanna, co-head of digital art at Sotheby’s, had earlier stated that the sale is a “first-of-its-kind” due to its CryptoPunks involvement.
“CryptoPunks are the original PFP [profile picture] series that created the template for other NFT projects that have followed, and which helped propel NFTs to the global stage as one of the most recognizable visual styles that have become synonymous with the digital art movement,” Bouhanna said in a statement.
Last year, Sotheby introduced its NFT marketplace “Sotheby’s Metaverse” and sold around $100 million worth of blockchain-based digital collectibles.
At the beginning of this month, Sotheby’s came with the largest NFT auction of 104 CryptoPunks. Many experts at that time envisaged that the sale would accumulate between $20 million to $30 million based on the collection’s floor price.
