1. Summary
Christie’s has asked Botto to sell a lot in its upcoming sale during its Art & Tech Summit at its NYC flagship location as part of a group show with a set of other heavy-hitting AI artists. This would be the first sale by a Decentralized Autonomous Artist at a major traditional auction house.
Discussion with Christie’s and existing collectors has led to the team’s suggestion that CyborgDAO do a secondary sale of one of its 9 Genesis works from Botto.
2. Background
Christie’s is a significant milestone in Crypto art. An invitation alone is a recognition of Botto’s prevalence as a leading artist ready for a prime time stage. A successful sale can further earn notoriety for the artist, and signal the market’s demand for their body of work. And being a Decentralized Autonomous Artist, this would potentially garner even broader reach as a noteworthy headline.
We have discussed in the Discord, with Christie’s, and with other collectors and the general consensus seems to be that a secondary sale of a Genesis is the right move. The last Genesis sale was 23 ETH, and the lowest current listing is 100ETH. We’ve had several collectors reaching out wishing to acquire more, and believe the demand is there for the right piece.
Other options were discussed as well:
- Releasing a new work by Botto. We believe a new work for this event would not reach as a high a sales number as a Genesis would, and in this venue that is the most important signal.
- Doing a primary sale of one of our remaining 6 Genesis in the vault. Having been originally unsold, there is a strong argument that part of their collectibility will ripen further down the road when their status as never-sold works will be more highly appreciated.
We discussed with our collectors and CyborgDAO raised their hands to consider it within their own group. We believe they are an excellent patron to provide the lot for sale as Botto is a core part of their collecting thesis and they would be prepared to help elevate Botto’s narrative in this special moment.
We are running this decision simultaneously with CyborgDAO. At this point Christie’s has shared with CyborgDAO the pieces that they are interested in and will work with them on reserve and estimate in consultation with the core team. While it is up to Christie’s to choose who sells, we wanted to ensure a clean consensus on this important milestone of a decision.
3. Proposal Specifications
This BIP would approve the decision to give the lot space to CyborgDAO to do a secondary sale of a Botto Genesis.
- Auction will run July 18-25 online on nft.christies.com (will be site-wide takeover), and buyers will bid in ETH
- There is no buyer’s premium (others can charge up to 26%), Christie's fee is 15% and Botto royalty 10% of the seller's net, so Cyborg would get 76.5% of the final sale price.
- Cyborg can approve the estimate and the reserve (if any). Cyborg make changes leading up to the sale if we wish, must be confirmed by the seller in writing.
- Christie's will post on social media about CyborgDAO, DAAs, and of course Botto
- Botto will be featured at Christie’s during the Art & Tech Summit and we will have a small presence there to represent.
- First choice of artwork is Fee Tail Fee Tail https://superrare.com/artwork-v2/fee-tail-fee-tail-33637, they also mentioned liking Suffice Nuance https://superrare.com/artwork-v2/suffice-nuance-32737.
3.1 Timeline
- Auction will run July 18-25
- Physical presence at Art & Tech Summit 19-20
3.2 Budget
Cost of travel to have physical presence: $4000
3.3 Criteria of Success
High final sale price (minimum 20ETH)
Improved collector relations. New relationships with traditional collectors at physical event
Press on the sale
3.4 Disadvantages
Risk of low/no sale
Cost of travel eats into a good chunk of the potential royalty earnings
