Only last month, for the first time, 277-year-old British auction house Sotheby announced the acceptance of cryptocurrency as a supported payment option. The historic moment arrives less than a month later as the auction house just set the world record for the most expensive piece of jewelry ever sold for cryptocurrency by auctioning off a 101.38-carat diamond for $12.3 million of either Bitcoin or Ether on Friday. The diamond was the most expensive physical object ever publicly offered for purchase with cryptocurrency.
Wenhao Yu, Deputy Chairman of Sotheby’s Jewellery in Asia, said about the sale, “Diamonds are keys to understanding the history of the Earth, reminding us of our human condition and the transcendental power of beauty. With the name ‘The Key 10138,’ we wanted to celebrate this enlightening virtue while also alluding to the crucial function of digital keys in the world of NFTs and cryptocurrency.”
The Key 10138′ is among just ten diamonds of more than 100 carats to come to auction, one of the Earth’s rarest and greatest treasures sold through such type of payment. The pear-shaped diamond was sold to an unidentified private collector on Friday. Back in May, Sotheby’s also accepted the two cryptocurrencies as payment for a physical piece of art as part of a collaboration between Sotheby’s and Coinbase. Sotheby’s sold Banksy’s iconic protest painting, Love is in the Air, for $12.9 million at its contemporary art evening auction in New York.
[Via: Fox Business]
