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How a Big NFT Auction at Sotheby’s Ended in Mystery

A collection of 104 CryptoPunks was hastily pulled off the auction block when bidders were already in the room. What could it mean for the industry?

A good crowd turned up for last Wednesday’s NFT auction at Sotheby’s in New York.

A good crowd turned up for last Wednesday’s NFT auction at Sotheby’s in New York.

Photographer: Dolly Faibyshev for Bloomberg Markets
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It was supposed to be a triumph. 

Sotheby’s first ever standalone live, in-person auction last week devoted to NFTs—104 of the famous CryptoPunk series, grouped into a single lot that carried an estimate of $20 million to $30 million—was trumpeted to be historic. It was enough to get an expectant crowd  to trek to Sotheby’s York Avenue salesroom on Manhattan’s far East Side to bear witness to an auction that might last just minutes.