For the first time ever, Maecenas has successfully tokenised a multi-million dollar artwork, a painting by Andy Warhol named "14 Small Electric Chairs (1980)".
The beta auction raised US$1.7m for 31.5% of the artwork at a valuation of US$5.6m.
100 participants were hand-picked to participate in the auction out of more than 800+ sign-ups from 56 countries. Mostly based in Asia and Europe.
Criteria to pick participants was to have a representation from different geographies and investor profiles. The main goal of this private beta was to validate the end-to-end process of the Dutch auction and artwork tokenisation using blockchain technology. Not only did we achieve this, we successfully reached the funding target for the auction.
During the auction period, 36 bids were received, out of which, 34 were successful being highest bid of $6.5M. 2 bids were unsuccessful as they were below the reserve price.
During the 4 weeks of the auction, 6+ million ART tokens were utilised.
Marcelo García Casil, CEO of Maecenas, said:
"This is a historical moment, for us and for the blockchain community. We have achieved a significant milestone that marks the beginning of a new era. Tokenisation of assets is the most prominent and exciting use case of blockchain technology, and we're proud to be pioneers in this space. This Warhol painting is the first of many more to come and we are looking forward to seeing and leading the financial revolution for the art market."
Eleesa Dadiani, founder of Dadiani Syndicate, added:
"This auction was unchartered territory; a new model in an age-old market. The unprecedented demand, and speed with which the first fraction has been sold,has gone a long way to validating our vision of a more democratic and open art investment market."
We have tokenised the artwork by converting it into tamper-proof digital certificates or"fractions" based on the Ethereum network. Buyers then purchased fractions of 14 Small Electric Chairs with Bitcoin, Ethereum or the ART token. The auction was run entirely by a smart contract.
The Maecenas blockchain gives buyers access to artworks that have been verified and are stored securely. Both the sale and subsequent trading of these certificates are tracked on a blockchain. Owners of the artwork fractions can sell their certificates to other buyers at any time via the Maecenas marketplace. The success of this auction makes a new progress from banks to cryptocurrencies that will lead a new way to invest in artwork, as Maecenas pursues its goal to democratise access to fine art.
14 Small Electric Chairs is part of Warhol's 1980 Reversal series - a postmodern reworking of his iconic 1960s Death and Disaster Series. The artwork is certificated from the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board in New York.
The auction of the artwork started on Wednesday, 25 July 2018, and closed after four weeks, which was two weeks ahead of schedule. The final price for the piece was determined by a smart contract run on Ethereum, which is acclaimed as the fairest and most transparent pricing mechanism to date on the blockchain.
About Maecenas
Maecenas is an art blockchain platform enabling fractional ownership of artworks. Maecenas leverages blockchain technology to create tamper-proof verifiable provenance and to enable real-time digital settlement of transactions.
Maecenas lets buyers and sellers of art create and manage their own liquid fine art portfolios. Through its platform, art galleries and art collectors can evaluate the value of their existing artworks.
With almost two thousand members, Maecenas has an active community on Telegram.
About Dadiani Syndicate
Dadiani Syndicate is the UK's first luxury marketplace to offer exclusive assets from hyper-cars to crown estate properties that can be bought with cryptocurrency.
The platform operates as a conduit between foreign investors and an extended network of high-value asset classes and high yield investment funds, stimulating foreign investment into the UK using the blockchain. Investors can undertake transactions through a range of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin.
Founded by cryptocurrency economist Eleesa Dadiani, Dadiani Syndicate forms part of the Dadiani portfolio which includes Dadiani Fine Art - a Mayfair fine art gallery that in 2017 became the first art gallery in the UK to accept cryptocurrency in payment.