Crypto hardware wallet maker Ledger has signed an ‘exclusive’ partnership with century-old auction house Sotheby’s to offer wallets to Sotheby’s top digital art, or NFT, collectors. As part of the deal, winners of Sotheby’s NFT auctions will receive a limited edition, co-branded Ledger x Sotheby’s Nano X wallet, with plans to expand the offering to include Ledger Stax in the future, Ledger said Tuesday.
Ledger will cover the cost of the wallets for a limited period of one year, Ian Rogers, chief experience officer at Ledger, told The Block. Ledger Nano
Ledger will also provide onboarding services to Sotheby’s clients to help them understand the self-custody aspects of digital assets. It will also offer a range of educational content through the Ledger Academy, which will be published on Sotheby’s Metaverse to help collectors better understand web3 concepts.
‘Unique’ partnership
While Ledger has collaborated with several companies — including Nike’s virtual sneaker maker RTFKT and luxury fashion house Fendi — this appears to be the first time Ledger has offered free wallets to Sotheby customers. Ledger could not immediately confirm the detailed structure of his previous partnerships, e.gut Rogers said in a statement that the partnership with Sotheby’s is “unique.”
Sotheby’s has auctioned millions of dollars worth of NFTs, including most recently from the collection of failed hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. In 2021, Sotheby’s reported $100 million in sales outside its NFT category. However, NFT sales have declined over the past year and a half, thanks to the bearish crypto market. According to The Block’s Data Dashboard, NFT trading volume on blockchains has declined in the recent past.