Just in Time for the Holidays, 6 Companies Jumping on the NFT Boom

Art + AuctionsJust in Time for the Holidays, 6 Companies Jumping on the NFT Boom With massive shipping delays, the recently flourishing digital art movement is the way to go for seasonal gifts

By Jessica Cherner

December 9, 2021

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Blankos Block Party, a computer game from California-based Mythical Games, is chock-full of vinyl toy-inspired NFTs designed by renowned artists and big-name fashion houses. They’re coveted collectibles. Photo: Mythical Games

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When 19th-century English poet Lady Mary Montgomerie Currie suggested, “Good things come to those who wait,” she never specified for how long impatient people would need to stand by before growing increasingly frustrated. For the last several months, millions of people worldwide have been forced to sit back and be patient while waiting for products—clothing, books, and furniture, among other things—they ordered months ago. After all, not too long ago, anyone could buy a made-to-order sofa online and fall asleep on it a mere six weeks later. But now, almost two years into the pandemic, waiting has become a regular feature of everyone’s daily routine, which is less than ideal when shopping for holiday gifts. That’s where NFTs, a potential savior to the massively delayed global supply chain, come in handy.

NFTs, non-fungible tokens, are essentially one-of-a-kind trading cards that are utterly unique, meaning you can’t trade an NFT for an NFT of the same value. Similar to when Jack traded his cow for three magic beans, people offer money—usually in the form of cryptocurrency—for a digital product, such as a drawing or video. 

NFTs have become quite legitimate art forms in recent years. At this year’s Art Basel in Miami, 42-year old Armenian artist Narine Arakelian displayed her first NFT as a painting dubbed “Live.” The NFT comes with an embedded contract promising one of her eggs to whoever buys her work. Whether or not the world is on board, NFTs are a thing, and unlike the vintage poster shipping from a small shop in Paris or the new sectional coming from a warehouse in Asia, NFTs are immediately transferable. They’re offering a solution to the massive shipping delays just in time for gift-giving season.

So, if you’re looking for a holiday gift, but don’t want to wait for it to arrive, here are five companies that are making the jump to NFTs.

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Martha Stewart

One notable name who’s capitalized on the value of NFTs is Martha Stewart. She debuted her NFT-specific online boutique, Fresh Mint, the week before Halloween. She released another holiday-specific drop of digital collectibles, which included famous images from the Thanksgiving issues of Martha Stewart Living, including an ornately decorated berry pie with a slice cut out, a towering sandwich comprising Thanksgiving leftovers, and never-published vintage photos of Stewart herself.

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Blankos Block Party

One tried-and-true strategy that keeps big name brands relevant is when two giants in their respective industries join forces. Case in point: British fashion house Burberry and next-gen gaming company Mythical Games. In August, Mythical Games’ internationally played computer game, Blankos Block Party, released a limited-edition Blanko—the NFT vinyl toy-inspired avatars that gamers can collect, upgrade, and sell—designed by Burberry.

Blankos Block Party may be a computer game, but the Kaws-looking digital Blankos are as much supremely coveted art-centric collectibles as they are mere characters in a digital sci-fi universe. In fact, Burberry is hardly the first brand with which Mythical Games has partnered. Some of the colorful—and often cheeky—Blankos were designed by the likes of Jon-Paul Kaiser, Tara McPherson, and Michael Lau. And in 2022, NFT-specific artist Hackatau will be joining the ranks.

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Christie’s

Christie’s is no stranger to headlines. Back in 2017, the auction house was on nearly every front page for its monumental sale—$450.3 million for Leonardo da Vinci’s rediscovered Salvator Mundi. As of March of this year, Christie’s was back in the spotlight with another enormous sale: Mike Winkelmann, a digital artist who goes by Beeple, sold an NFT through Christie’s for nearly $70 million. The NFT, a collection of almost 14 years worth of his daily digital pictures, which Winkelmann calls everydays, was a pretty successful first foray into uncharted territory for the auction house. With such an impressive sale, Christie’s isn’t backing away from digital art. On the first of December, Christie’s curated an on-chain auction to be hosted on Open Sea’s platform, where serious art collectors can purchase NFTs on Ethereum’s blockchain.

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Sotheby’s

Christie’s may have beat them to it, but Sotheby’s—the world’s largest art and luxury auction house—is jumping on the NFT proverbial bandwagon: It’s joining a $20-million seed round investment in a crypto company, Mojito. It all started with the $17-million sale with digital creator Pak last April, and now Sotheby’s is essentially going all-in on NFTs. The enormous investment in the start-up that made such a sale on Sotheby’s platform possible is Sotheby’s way of informing its loyal collectors that NFTs are gaining momentum among the art-centric crowd. And the company now has an NFT-only marketplace featuring a carefully curated collection of digital art.

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Metagolden

Founded by former Paper City editor Francine Ballard, Metagolden is taking NFTs to a whole new level. As its name subtly implies, there’s a fine jewelry component to Ballard’s company, which she established earlier this year, but there’s also a highly coveted digital element that makes Metagolden somewhat of a stylish enigma. “I sell digital art tokenized by fine gold jewelry,” she explains. In addition to a digital work of art in NFT form, you purchase a piece of fine jewelry—of Ballard’s design—whose specific style corresponds to the NFT. In Ballard’s opinion, NFTs and fine jewelry make for the perfect marriage. 

“No matter how you look at it, there’s a completely new standard of value and social currency when it comes to art. And the digital world is just so much more fluid for transferring assets,” Ballard says. Not to mention that Metagolden is currently working alongside and collaborating with some of the biggest digital (and traditional) artists and galleries in the U.S., including Kelli Vance and Acquavella.

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DMINTI

DMINTI, which just debuted in November, is a new player on the crypto art stage, but the cultural agency—whose five founders range from tech entrepreneurs to museum presidents—established itself on the digital art map in a big way: with an opening piece by painter David Salle, who garnered quite a bit of fame on the radical 1980s New York art scene. Last month, Salle created A Well-Leafed Tree, a colorful animation complete with original music. Not to mention, all of the intricate elements dance and slink throughout the piece’s borders, resulting in a witty, visually dynamic 30-second narrative.