Christie’s Shuts Down Digital Art Department as NFT Market Struggles

Christie’s has closed its digital art department, ending a short but notable push into the NFT market. According to Now Media, two staffers were let go at the end of August, including Nicole Sales Giles, vice president of digital art. Specialist Sebastian Sanchez will remain in New York.

Giles was a leading figure in Christie’s NFT strategy and played a major role at the Art+Tech Summit in Hong Kong last year, held alongside Hong Kong Fintech Week. She emphasized that Christie’s applied the same valuation standards to NFTs as traditional art but noted digital art’s unique strength—community engagement. At the time, industry leaders admitted the NFT space lacked standardized valuation, raising questions about its long-term stability.

That concern appears validated. Recent data from DappRadar shows NFT trading volume dropped 45% last quarter to $867 million, even as transactions rose 78% to 12.5 million. Prices for top NFT collections remain far below their peaks: CryptoPunks trade around 46.6 ETH ($210,000), Bored Apes at 9.1 ETH ($41,000), and Moonbirds at 2.8 ETH ($12,600). Meanwhile, Ethereum itself has rallied 76% over the past three months, highlighting NFTs’ underperformance compared to the broader crypto market.

Some analysts argue Christie’s retreat reflects simple economics rather than a full rejection of NFTs. Instead of being positioned as a standalone category, NFTs are increasingly integrated into mainstream contemporary art sales. Still, the closure signals the challenges facing digital art without stronger valuation frameworks and clearer market standards.

Christie’s exit underscores how fragile the NFT boom remains. Without more stability, NFTs risk becoming a niche extension of the art market rather than a sustainable category of their own.