Christie’s Scales Back NFT Operations Amid Global Art Market Slump

[cryptohog]

Christie’s, the 258-year-old UK auction giant, is shutting down its dedicated NFT department and folding digital art sales into its broader 20th and 21st-century art category, according to a report from Now Media on Monday.

The move comes with staff cuts — two employees, including Christie’s vice president of digital art, have been laid off. At least one digital art specialist will remain to oversee sales.

Christie’s clarified that the “strategic decision” doesn’t mean an exit from NFTs. The house will continue to auction digital works but no longer as a standalone division.

Market conditions drive change

Global art sales fell 12% in 2024 to $57B, while auction sales dropped 20% to $23B, per the Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report 2025.

Digital art adviser Fanny Lakoubay suggested that Christie’s move reflects the broader contraction: “Auction houses can’t justify a whole department when it brings in less revenue than the others, even with some recent successful sales.”

️ Sustainability vs. business model

NFT collector Benji, a member of the Doomed DAO, argued that Christie’s decision is less about digital art demand and more about flawed economics.
“How can you charge 25–30% commission on something that doesn’t need to be authenticated, stored, insured or shipped, when online competitors charge zero?” he wrote, calling it Christie’s potential “Kodak moment.”

The NFT market today

After a rough 2024 — its worst year since 2020 — the NFT market rebounded in August 2025 to a $9.3B market cap (up 40% month-on-month).

Current market cap sits at $5.97B, up 2% in 24 hours.

Collections trending:

CryptoPunks: +1.9% (3 sales, $208K volume)

Bored Ape Yacht Club: +3.7% ($1.2M volume, 30 sales)

Pudgy Penguins: +2% ($905K volume, 20 sales)

Christie’s was one of the earliest major players to embrace digital art, famously selling Beeple’s “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” for $69.3M in 2021. The latest restructuring signals that while digital art remains part of the future, its role within traditional institutions may be shifting.