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The 277-year-old British auction house will accept bitcoin and ether for a rare 101.38-carat diamond that could fetch more than $ 15 million at auction.
The auction house said the exceptionally rare rock will be sold in an upcoming single lot sale to be held in Hong Kong on July 9. The acceptance of cryptocurrency as a supported payment option is a first.
If purchased with crypto, the transaction will be processed by Coinbase Commerce, Sothebys said.
It is a truly symbolic moment. The oldest and most iconic denominator of value can now, for the first time, be purchased using humanity’s last universal currency, said Patti Wong, President of Sothebys Asia.
Sothebys said the 100-carat diamonds have reached mythical status and the pear-shaped cut echoes that of Cullinan I currently residing in the Tower of London and mounted in Britain’s Imperial Scepter.
Rare diamonds and their perceived value are due to astute marketing which, in the mid-20th century, created the almost universal expectation in Western countries that an engagement should be marked by a diamond ring as a symbol of engagement. eternal, reports The Street Wall Journal.
In 2020, a flawless 14.83-carat Russian pink diamond was sold by Sotheby’s in Geneva, Switzerland for a staggering $ 26.6 million. Oppenheimer Blue holds the highest auction record for a diamond and sold for $ 50.6 million in May 2016. The 14.62-carat gem was sold by auction house Christie’s in Geneva.
In May, Sothebys announced that it had started accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment for works of art. He also looked into the NFT market, making it easier to sell works by artist Pak for $ 16.8 million in April.
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