Sotheby’s Holds Crypto Auction for Rare Ferrari Supercar

Cryptocurrencies are seeping into every facet of human existence and have made a foray into the world of antique vehicles. The latest push from Sotheby’s was the sale of a rare racing vehicle using stablecoins despite the turbulence facing the market.

278-year-old auction house RM Sotheby’s hosted the auction of a rare 1989 Ferrari 640 for $3.6 million. The deal was completed using the Himalaya Dollar (HDO), a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar.

The antique vehicle commanded the valuation for its use by veteran Formula 1 racer Nigel Mansell in the 1989 season. The racing car tasted victory at the Brazilian and Hungarian Grands Prix and holds the record as being the first Ferrari F1 car to be equipped with a semi-automatic gearbox.

Mansell kept the vehicle in his personal collection and according to details of Sotheby’s listing, it had “allegedly not run since its last Grand Prix outing.” The listing on RM Sotheby’s notes that in the event the new owner needs to drive the car, they will have to fully recommission the vehicle. However, the winner of the auction opted to remain anonymous.

Sotheby’s signals stablecoin trust

The team behind Himalaya Dollar expressed delight that the buyer of the car opted to use their stablecoin to facilitate their transaction in the face of the turbulence that the sector currently faces.

“I am extremely pleased that the buyer decided to purchase this world-class car using HDO,” said William Je, founder of Himalaya Exchange. “Despite the cryptocurrency market’s recent dip, HDO has constantly remained stable with the US dollar 1:1 without fluctuation. Impressively, this makes HDO the only stablecoin in the world to maintain 100% during this time period of uncertainty.”

Bryon Madsen, President of RM Sotheby’s hailed the use of HDO in the auction process by stating that the cryptocurrency “gained the trust” of the auction house and that “the exchange of HDO into the relevant currency was seamless.” This is not the first time Sotheby’s is dipping into cryptocurrencies as back in 2021, it sold two Banksy paintings for ETH and had auctions for NFT collections like CryptoPunks.

Crypto and luxury go hand-in-hand

Apart from facilitating everyday transactions, cryptocurrencies have found increasing usage in luxury items. In May, the owner of a Connecticut mansion listed her 187-year-old property for $6.5 million in cryptocurrencies with similar listings permeating the space.

The Winklevoss twins reportedly paid 450 BTC each for seats in Virgin Galactic’s trip to space while luxury fashion brands like Gucci, Off-white, Hublot, Phillipp Plein, and Equinox accept crypto purchases for items.