It pays to be part of the crypto world, especially if you see how leading auction house Sotheby’s generated $100 million in profits from NFT sales so far this year. A recent report by the firm outlines how it’s entry into the metaverse attracted several new buyers to the platform, most of them under the age of 40 – a very different set of potential customers than what it has typically seen.

What’s even more interesting is how for most of the users, this was a brand new space, just like it was for Sotheby’s, with 78% of bidders at its NFT platform being first-time users. Two of the most successful collections in its virtual gallery were Bored ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks.

To recap, Sotheby’s very first NFT auction was held in April this year, bringing 3,000 interested buyers into its platform and earning $16.8 million in sales. It’s debut collection featured NFTs created by leading digital artist Pak.

Other notable NFT sales the Sotheby’s NFT platform has seen so far include a $24.4 million Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT, another from the CryptoPunks collection valued at $11.8 million and even the original source code for the. World Wide Web for $5.3 million.

But it wasn’t just digital art that saw Sotheby’s generate revenue in cryptocurrencies. It also earned in crypto assets for physical artefacts this year, including a rare diamond and artworks from Banksy’s collection.

Sotheby’s NFT platform also generated considerable buzz recently when it conducted a highly publicised auction for the first edition of the US Constitution. The auction saw the creation of ConstitutionDAO, a decentralised community trying to bid for putting the constitution in the hands of the people.