Christie’s, the world’s leading art auction house, has shut down its digital art department, ending a chapter that once placed the firm at the centre of the NFT boom.
Nicole Sales Giles, vice president of digital, has left the company, as confirmed by Now Media.
A Christie’s spokesperson explained that the decision reflects “a strategic decision to reformat digital art sales,” adding that the auction house will continue selling digital works within the 20th and 21st Century Art category.
The closure comes just over four years after Christie’s made history by selling Beeple’s Everydays: The First 5000 Days for $69.3 million, the highest price ever achieved for a digital artwork.
That sale also marked Christie’s first NFT auction and is widely credited with sparking the 2021–22 NFT frenzy.
Christie’s even launched its on-chain platform Christie’s 3.0 to support the growing market.
Despite these early successes, the NFT sector has struggled to maintain momentum.
Christie’s reported NFT sales of $5.9 million in 2022, a steep 96 percent drop from 2021.
By August 2024, reports suggested that 95 percent of NFTs were effectively “dead,” with owners facing an average 44.5 percent loss on their investments.
While NFTs continue to see trading activity—top collections’ volumes reportedly rose by nearly 90 percent in the last 24 hours—their status as an art form has waned.
Christie’s move mirrors similar decisions across the sector, including layoffs at Sotheby’s Metaverse and NFT divisions, leaving only a handful of staff overseeing digital art projects.
The decision also follows the appointment of Christie’s new CEO Bonnie Brennan in February, coinciding with a broader slowdown in the digital art market.
Bonnie Brennan is an American auction-house executive who was appointed CEO of Christie's in February 2025 after having served as president of Christie's Americas since 2021.
The spokesperson noted,
“The company will continue to sell digital art within the larger 20th and 21st Century Art category.”
This signals a shift away from treating NFTs as a standalone segment.
Christie’s once positioned itself at the forefront of the NFT market, with its $69 million Beeple sale capturing global attention and helping establish NFTs as a legitimate form of digital art.
This milestone encouraged many established artists to explore NFTs as a new creative medium and drew mainstream interest to the sector.
Four years later, however, that initial confidence appears to have faded.
The closure of Christie’s dedicated digital art department and the departure of key NFT executives indicate that the auction house no longer sees the format as central to its operations.
While NFTs continue to trade in certain markets, the retreat of one of the art world’s most prominent advocates raises questions about their long-term cultural and financial significance.
Christie’s shift signals a major recalibration in how digital works are valued and sold at the highest levels of global art auctions.
Despite occasional spikes in trading volume, NFTs are increasingly viewed as peripheral by the traditional art market.
Christie’s exit from a dedicated NFT division highlights how the sector’s earliest supporters are stepping back, leaving uncertainty about whether digital collectibles can maintain relevance beyond niche circles.
The decision carries weight given Christie’s historical role in legitimising digital art.
As the auction house moves digital works into broader 20th and 21st Century categories, the art world is closely watching whether NFTs can sustain their place or retreat into a specialised, collector-focused market.
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