Sotheby’s has announced that it would accept bitcoin, ether, and USDC in the auction of a rare diamond called The Enigma that is set to start on February 3.
The 555.55-carat gem is currently being displayed in Los Angeles, London, and Dubai on tour. The payments will be settled through Coinbase Commerce if it gets a crypto buyer.
The auction house says the decision to accept cryptocurrencies as payments in the sale is due to the success of a similar auction last year.
The diamond is believed to have been formed through a meteoric occurrence or originated from a diamond-bearing asteroid that hit the earth.
The British Auction house sold another diamond in July for $12.3 million in cryptocurrency as its doubles its market in the new segment.
The 101.38-carat diamond was dubbed ‘The Key 10138’ and was bought by an anonymous buyer in a single Hong Kong sale.
The highest diamond sale by Sotheby’s was the Pink Star that fetched $71 million in April 2017.
Source: Coindesk