<strong>Christie's NFT Art Curation Marketplace, Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky Resigns, Pantera To Raise $1.25B For Blockchain Fund</strong>

Christie's NFT Art Curation Marketplace

Christie’s, The New York-based auction house, is debuting Christie’s 3.0, an Ethereum-based NFT marketplace with the launch of an exclusive collection from leading Web 3.0 visual artist Diana Sinclair. The 256-year-old fine art auction house has made waves in the space, most notably by auctioning Beeple’s “Everyday: The First 5,000 Days” artwork for US$69.3 million in March 2021. 

“The launch of Christie’s 3.0 signifies an institutional expansion of the regulated market for digital assets, which both validates NFTs as an art form and provides incredible benefits for digital artists,” said co-founder of Manifold, Eric Diep. 

Previous NFT sales, on the other hand, were not frequently performed on-chain. The Christie's 3.0 marketplace, announced earlier this week, is designed such that the complete transaction of artwork is recorded in full on the Ethereum blockchain. According to the auction house, the platform will include first-of-their-kind anti-money laundering, compliance, and taxes solutions.

Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky Resigns

Celsius CEO, Alex Mashinsky, resigns in the middle of bankruptcy proceedings. Mashinsky submitted a letter of resignation Tuesday, months after the crypto company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

“I regret that my continued role as CEO has become an increasing distraction. And I am very sorry about the difficult financial circumstances members of our community are facing. Since the pause, I have worked tirelessly to help the company. Its advisors put forward a viable plan to return coins to creditors most fairly and efficiently,” Mashinsky wrote in the letter. 

Mashinsky's departure is effective immediately, although he stated in a release that he might continue to assist the firm in providing the best solution to creditors. According to CoinMarketCap, the value of the company's cryptocurrency, the CEL token, fell by more than 7% after the news.

Pantera To Raise $1.25B For Blockchain Fund

Pantera Capital's founder and CEO, Dan Morehead, allegedly stated that the hedge fund plans to raise $1.25 billion. The funds will be used for a second blockchain fund. Morehead told Bloomberg that Pantera hoped to conclude the blockchain fund by May 2023. The fund would purportedly invest in digital tokens and stocks to attract institutional investors.

“We want to provide liquidity for people who are kind of giving up. We’re still very bullish for the next 10 or 20 years,” said Morehead.