Ledger to provide free wallets to Sotheby's top NFT collectors

Crypto hardware wallet maker Ledger has signed an "exclusive" partnership with centuries-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 wallets, with plans to expand the offering to include Ledger Stax in the future, Ledger said Tuesday.

Ledger will cover the costs of the wallets for a limited period of one year, Ian Rogers, chief experience officer at Ledger, told The Block. Ledger Nano X is currently priced at $149 a piece and Ledger Stax at $279 a piece, excluding taxes, according to Ledger's website.

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 an educational content series through Ledger Academy, which will be published to Sotheby's Metaverse to give collectors further insight into web3 concepts.

'Unique' partnership

While Ledger has partnered with several firms — including Nike-owned virtual sneaker maker RTFKT and luxury fashion house Fendi — this appears to be the first time Ledger will offer free wallets to Sotheby's clients. Ledger couldn't immediately confirm the detailed structure of its previous partnerships, but Rogers said in a statement that the Sotheby's partnership is "unique."

Sotheby's has auctioned millions of dollars worth of NFTs, including recently from the collection of failed hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. In 2021, Sotheby's reported $100 million in sales off its NFT category. NFT sales over the past year and a half, however, have dwindled, thanks to the bearish crypto market. NFT trading volume across blockchains has declined in the recent past, according to The Block's Data Dashboard.