In 2018, Christie’s New York became the first auction house to make a sale on a blockchain platform, selling the Barney A. Ebsworth collection of more than 90 artworks for US$318 million with all of its transactions recorded entirely via the blockchain-secured registry, Artory. This new technology allowed potential buyers to view a complete transaction history of the works in the auction before bidding, while collectors who registered their artworks could do so anonymously without storing their information on the database.

However, it wasn’t until March 2021 when blockchain really blew up, thanks to Beeple’s record-breaking US$69.3 million (£50 million) NFT sale of Everydays: the First 5000 Days in a Christie’s auction. Suddenly, everyone was buzzing about blockchain, NFTs and crypto art.

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2. Keeping it (virtually) real

Blockchain today has many applications in the art world, a key one of which is verifying the authenticity and provenance of artworks. According to a 2014 report by The Fine Arts Expert Institute (FAEI) in Geneva, more than half of the artworks it examined were either forged or not attributed to the correct artist.

By registering art on the blockchain through companies like Artory, Codex or Verisart, data such as artwork details, records of past sales, repairs, transport, exhibition history, appraisals and image hashes are preserved on a single “block” that is secure and shareable. This way, buyers and sellers can track an artwork throughout its entire life cycle with its authenticity, origin and history verified.

3. Art-focused platforms

New blockchain-based platforms have also emerged to give artists more control over their artworks. Last November, Art Basel and MCH Group announced the launch of Arcual, a new blockchain ecosystem co-founded with Luma Foundation, a Swiss non-profit that supports independent contemporary artists.

With a mission to “put artists at the centre of the art ecosystem”, Arcual provides smart contract solutions for creators and gallery royalties, custom payment terms, sales agreements, verified provenance and digital certificates of authenticity.

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“Arcual was sparked by a conversation between Art Basel and [Swiss art impresario] Maja Hoffmann in late 2018, way before the term NFT blew up,” says Bernadine Bröcker Wieder, CEO of Arcual. “Back then, it was just called art on the blockchain.”

What’s unique about Arcual is that it was built from the ground up as its own blockchain specifically for the art world, whereas other companies utilise existing blockchains specialised for cryptocurrencies. The company is also starting off with the primary art market and requires two-party verification – usually the artist and the gallery – to create the contract and a certificate of authenticity, making things even more secure.

“We’re making sure that what’s going into the blockchain is really true,” says Bröcker Wieder, who has hopes of Arcual becoming a truly decentralised ecosystem in the future. “We currently have nodes operated by MCH Group, Luma and Boston Consulting Group, and we are going to slowly invite other art world entities to operate in our network.”

Currently offered in a beta phase to galleries, this year’s Art Basel Hong Kong will see several galleries with Arcual-certified artworks including Galerie Mitterrand, Sabrina Amrani, In Lieu, Commonwealth and Council and Nathalie Obadia.

4. The art of blockchain

The new technology continues to inspire new and innovative art forms, such as Henry Chu’s Blockchain Piano exhibited by Ora-Ora gallery at this year’s Art Basel Hong Kong. A digital art installation that blends cryptocurrency with music, each key pressed simultaneously buys cryptocurrency while turning the real-time market price into a musical note. The resulting melody represents market volatility, turning investment behaviour into art.

“As a gallery of over 10 years, we want to continue to reach out to younger people and I feel that NFTs could break down some barriers,” said Ora-Ora’s founder, Henrietta Tsui-Leung. “NFTs are just one form of blockchain though, and we are still looking into all kinds of technology such as the creative side of Web3 and AI.”

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Back in 2021, Ora-Ora became the first gallery to exhibit NFT artworks at an Art Basel fair, but Tsui-Leung believes that there is still a ways to go before blockchain-based art overtakes traditional and contemporary art forms.

“Blockchain cannot replace the traditional art market as it’s a very different market,” she said, citing the difference in collector profiles. “The NFT collector is definitely younger and likely in tech, but we are very excited to see that these young people are very open to looking at traditional art as well.”

Despite its many direct applications, perhaps blockchain’s biggest impact on art is in bringing more eyeballs and attention to it, in all its forms.