Christie’s Goes Full Crypto: $1B Real Estate Division Shakes Up Market (NYT)

Traditional auction houses just got a blockchain facelift. Christie’s—yes, the 258-year-old fine art juggernaut—is diving headfirst into crypto real estate with a $1 billion war chest.

From Gilded Frames to Digital Deeds

Forget whispered bids on Monet’s water lilies. The new division will tokenize high-value properties, letting crypto whales trade mansions like bored apes swap JPEGs. (Finally, a use case beyond laundering money and dodging capital gains.)

Why This Matters

Institutional adoption isn’t coming—it’s bulldozing the gates. When legacy players like Christie’s bet billions on blockchain infrastructure, even your Boomer uncle’s REIT portfolio might need a MetaMask wallet soon.

One question remains: Will Sotheby’s counter with a Dogecoin-themed subdivision? The art world’s nouveau riche clearly prefer volatility to Van Goghs these days.