HOFA Gallery to Allow Cryptocurrency Payments in Exhibitions in UK, US

HOFA, one of the leading players in the fine art sphere, will back cryptocurrency payments during two exhibitions in London and Los Angeles later this year after signing a deal with blockchain payment company Uphold, Forbes magazine reported on Thursday.

HOFA, or House of Fine Art, will allow virtual coin purchases after receiving demands from clients for more than a year. Art connoisseurs will be able to use the eight cryptocurrencies that Uphold currently supports: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Bitcoin Gold (BTG), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin(LTC), Dash (DAS), and Basic Attention Token (BAT).

“We had already experienced great demand for transactions to be made with bitcoin and wanted to expand on this […] At the moment, digital currencies are becoming commonplace among a wide array of savvy consumers, providing a seamless, and cost-effective method to exchange value globally,” HOFA spokesperson said as quoted by Forbes.

Using the blockchain, which is a distributed ledger technology (DLT), cryptocurrencies can lower the transaction fees, cut the time of deal-making and bring more security, a significant issue in the fine art industry.

HOFA collection has works of several contemporary and figurative artists like Hunt Slonem, Stefano Bombardieri, and Richard Orlinski. Gallery prices start at around $5,000 and can reach as high as $320,000 for one piece.

Headquartered in London, HOFA will debut crypto functions during the British capital innovative art event, Frieze 2018, in October. The gallery will also allow crypto purchases as part of the inaugural exhibition of its new Los Angeles branch from mid-October till mid-November. HOFA does not reveal any plans to use cryptos in its Cyprus gallery.

Earlier this year, Dadiani Syndicate held a blockchain-based auction for fractional ownership of a classic Andy Warhol piece of London gallery.