Two luxurious art galleries - Dadiani Fine Art and Maecenas - are taking a blockchain and cryptocurrency approach, Bitcoin Magazine reports.
In July 2017, the Dadiani modern fine art gallery became the first in the U.K. to accept seven different cryptocurrencies as payment: Bitcoin (Bitcoin), Ethereum (ETH/USD), Ethereum classic (ETC/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD), Ripple, Dash and NEM.
"Introducing cryptocurrency will broaden the market, bringing a new type of buyer to art and luxury," Eleesa Dadiani, founder and owner of Dadiani Fine Art in Mayfair, London, told Bitcoin Magazine.
Since introducing the acceptance of digital currencies the art gallery has sold a number of pieces. Dadiani says that the artists are onboard and keen for their pieces to be sold this way.
Named after Gaius Maecenas, an ancient Roman patron of the arts, Maecenas, in turn, uses a blockchain-driven platform to divide artwork ownership into fragments and connects art owners with investors where shares are bought and sold.
"By turning masterpieces into tokenized tradable assets, Maecenas democratizes access to fine art by letting a much wider audience invest in multi-million dollar artworks which would otherwise be out of reach," Marcelo Garcia Casil is the co-founder and CEO of Maecenas told “Bitcoin Magazine.”
Maecenas' ART utility token functions as a clearing and settlement mechanism for all transactions of artwork on the Maecenas ecosystem. Participating in Dutch auctions, leasing artwork or performing any other sensitive platform operation is handled via smart contracts that require ART tokens to operate.