International auction house Sotheby’s will accept payment in Bitcoin and Ether for the sale of 101.38 Carat diamond.
Sotheby’s announced a rare pear-shaped diamond’s auction. Its pre-auction price is around $15 million. Buyers can pay at the auction using cryptocurrencies. It is the most expensive public offering of a physical object with cryptocurrency as a mode of payment.
The auction house said it is an exceptionally rare rock. They will sell it in an upcoming single lot sale happening in Hong Kong on July 9. It would be the first diamond of such size on public sale where the mode of payment is in cryptocurrencies.
The intention behind the name of the diamond -The Key 10138- is to reflect the integral role that keys occupy in the world of cryptocurrencies. It is one of ten diamonds weighing more than 100 carats that ever came for auction. Only two of them have a pear shape.
“This is a truly symbolic moment. The most ancient and emblematic denominator of value can now, for the first time, be purchased using humanity’s newest universal currency,” Patti Wong, Chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, said.
Josh Pullan, Managing Director of Sotheby’s global luxury division, said the growing demand for precious gems, increasingly from the “younger, digital native generation, many of whom are in Asia.”Auction houses are increasingly accepting cryptocurrencies for payment, with Phillips offering pieces from street artist Banksy last month for Ether. Christie’s also allowed payment in cryptocurrency for a set of digital artworks. Sotheby’s also sold the physical art work of Banksy’s for $12.9 million.