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Pursuits

NFT Frenzy Shows Staying Power With $16.8 Million Sotheby's Sale

The multipart auction and collaboration between the artist Pak, Sotheby’s, and online marketplace Nifty Gateway reveals some deep truths about what makes the market tick.

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NFTs Are Here to Stay, Mike Novogratz Says
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In an NFT auction that was devoid of drama until its final hour, two artworks by the anonymous digital artist Pak sold for $2.8 million on Wednesday on the online marketplace Nifty Gateway. The works were part of a multifaceted sale in partnership with the auction house Sotheby’s, which drew $16.8 million in total.

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are commonly described as smart contracts and are built on blockchain technology to serve as a digital form of authentication. A digital artwork can be replicated an infinite number of times; an NFT attached to one means there’s an official version, and everything else is a copy.