Benzinga | Jun 7, 2021 09:44AM EDT

Auction House Phillips Will Accept Cryptocurrency For Banksy's Artwork

Phillips -- a 225-year-old auction house -- will accept cryptocurrency payments in an upcoming auction of artwork by a famous pseudonymous street artist, political activist, and film director Banksy.

What Happened: According to a Monday South China Morning Post report, Banksy's "Laugh Now Panel A" will be sold at an auction held at Phillips with the option to pay in Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH).

The bidding will be conducted in Hong Kong and HK dollars, the fiat currency that will be the third accepted means of payment for the artwork.

The artwork in question depicts a monkey wearing a sandwich board saying: "Laugh now, but one day we'll be in charge."

Chairman of Phillips Asia Jonathan Crockett said that the firm has been "inundated with questions" about whether crypto would be accepted.

"Over the past few years, many have made fortunes in cryptocurrency, and so it was only a matter of time before cryptocurrency starts to be used as a payment method for art and other collectibles," Crockett added.

Read also: Not Beeple High, But Good Enough: Nine CryptoPunk NFTs Sold For $17M At Christie's Auction House

The news follows early May reports that major auction house Sotheby's would also accept cryptocurrencies via United States crypto exchange Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN).

Image: yigruzeltil via Wikiart