The surge of digital coins and acceptance of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has overwhelmed the global market in 2021. No doubt, the hype continues. People's purchasing policies/practices continue to shift online and, in this aspect, London is seen to take the leading role.

The outburst of interest towards crypto assets is seen as one of the most intelligent disruptions in this pandemic. Today, a huge number of people are excited to adopt digital tokens on the blockchain. Crypto art has become popular not only as an asset class but also as a global cultural mania.

Last year, most of the large nations witnessed a boom in cryptocurrencies. Reverberation in the crypto space is still so strong that people are accepting the digital frame as their default experience. Non-fungible tokens are also known as NFTs. NFTs are the digital collectibles that have emerged due to this acceptance.

London has a history of rebutting from the British Money – Sterling. This can be said because recently, London had launched its activist-led Brixton Pound and East London Pound. These Pounds are examples of local currency marketed. Conceivably, the fact that London is ranked as the sixth top capital in the list of Bitcoin-friendly cities shouldn't appear shocking.

The world has already become digital and London has been at the forefront of digitization. New York or Silicon Valley stands as the base for maximum NFT marketplaces where exchange and trade occur. London takes the leading role in the mechanism of the cultural opus, validation, and innovation.

Recently, many giant economical techs announced the withdrawal of labor. Yet, London witnessed benefits from the wealth, worldwide correspondence, and absence of severe institutions inflaming its coexisting art, tech, and media panoramas for decades. A person with knowledge about cryptos will see crypto-assets more than a currency where transactions are recorded, certified, and encrypted by computers using an index system – Blockchain.
<h2>London Becoming a Crypto Art Capital </h2>
In June 2021, Robert Alice - an artist and curator from London collaborated with Sotheby. The collaboration was on the digital platform known as 'Natively Digital'. This collaboration constituted an auction of NFTs. Simon Denny and Anna Ridler were seen presenting scenes with emerging crypto artists such as Fvckrender and Mad Dog Jones. 
<blockquote>On this auction, Alice commented, "London has a history of immense support from curatorial artists. The city has also shown interest in institutional and grassroots digital arts programs."</blockquote>
Such spread of crypto among the popular London-based artists has led the way of London becoming the crypto art Capital. Having said that, eying on the expanding presence of mainstream crypto companies in London, several artists, collectors, and technologists show an interest in promoting crypto assets in London. This is also another reason why London stands at the forefront of crypto art.

Rebecca Edwards is a curator at Arebyte (a museum working in collaboration with charming installations in physical and digital spaces). 
<blockquote>She said, "Invention is thriving in the shadow of necessity." </blockquote>
She further added that digital spaces are flourishing because of the present-day cuts to art and culture.

According to Rebecca, young generation artists tend to shift their focus towards alternative ways of funding and selling their art. Unquestionably, these artists comprehend cryptocurrency, NFTs, and the blockchain to sell as well as fund their art.

Founder and creative director - Nimrod Vardi had served the London-based non-profit Arebyte over the past eight years. He had cultivated anxious eyesight for creative artists working with new technologies. As per him, London's emerging tech-art landscape is a great platform for small-scale organizations to respond with more fluidity &amp; quickly.

'Software for Less' is an exhibition with the prime motive of analyzing the cultural, social, and political impacts of software on contemporary society. This exhibition is led by US artist Ben Grosser. Ben Grosser's exhibition is stated at Arebyte working in collaboration with multimedia installations in physical and digital spaces.

London had bestowed a dedicated comfort with the eclectic mix of early supporters throughout the town. Some of them are the Annka Kultys Gallery in east London, Gazelli Art House in Mayfair &amp; Furtherfield in the north of the city.

London has always been a genius in managing the mania, with museums and auction houses across the city generating huge profits from digital art and NFTs. The auction house owned by Christie is contributing to the city's employment. It's offering 5 jobs to Nigerian artist Osinachi. Moreover, London-based Saatchi Gallery announced an enticing private view in January 2022. This followed up a successful auction.
<h2>The Decentralized Arts Lab – Popularly Known as Decal is Managed and Owned by Furtherfield</h2>
Decal is seen to be incarnating the success of beginners, community-facing organizations thereby promoting the blockchain as a growing ecosystem. Ruth Catlow – Decal's CEO is of the outlook that Furtherfield has provided a platform for critical and creative research with network technologies through its 2017 reporting. 
<blockquote>Artists Re here says, "Blockchain and other Decentralised Autonomous Organisation seeks to assemble a common for arts in the network age."

Bernadine Bröcker Wieder - founder and executive director of Vastari co-organised maiden Christie's Art+Tech Summit says, "The organization carries forward the developments in 2022. On the whole, these developments are meagred to the private sector. On the other hand, the Serpentine's R&amp;D Platform has been leading the role of leadership."</blockquote>
She also commented on the traditional museum institutions that haven't been active in the crypto art exchange. Since then, this condition has transformed largely. The British Museum is now trading NFTs of more than 200 works by Japanese artist Hokusai. 

Galleries and auction houses located in London have also witnessed the sagging market in the past. Presently, Christie's is providing five works by Nigerian artist Osinachi. These works are a mere collaboration with the 1-54 coeval African art fair.
<h2>Artists Popularizing the NFT Platform </h2>
Unit London – a London-based gallery has reported to instigate Institut - 'the first art-world-led NFT platform'. The primary goal of the institution is to overpass the bisection between crypto art and the provisional market. NFTism – the initial exhibition organized on behalf of Institut, is up with the main goal; i.e., 'No Fear in Trying'. Kenny Schachter had hosted this exhibition throughout the Unit's Covent Garden space and in the cyberspace of the Metaverse. NFTism highlighted the works by the highest auctioning NFT female artists - IX Shells.

A partnership had been established between the British Museum and the French startup LaCollection. This partnership is to sell off NFTs of more than 200 works by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. It will also be instigating digital bulletins with Hokusai's paintings.

Damien Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector located in London. He holds a name under 'Young British Artists' who influenced the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. In the year 2020, he had been reported to be the United Kingdom's richest living artist. Damien is soon to launch his series of 10,000 NFTs at an exhibition. The exhibition will be organized as part of 2022's Frieze London art fair.

Joe Kennedy – one of the institutional partners of 'Unit' commented about the NFTs. 
<blockquote>He said, "to convey works into the physical space of the gallery is the best path to clarify NFTs. It's high time we shift the discussion from sales and commerce to art."</blockquote>
The co-founder and CEO of the firm Verisart - Robert Norton considers London as a flourishing cultural capital. According to him, London is now ahead of the game and the city can potentially capitalize on the NFT theory. This capitalization can be achieved with proper collaboration between art and tech, fashion and music that's highly interested in NFTs.

Undoubtedly, London has been and will be witnessing the growing drive towards digital collectibles. Eying to the above-mentioned details, one can conclude how London became a crypto art capital.

How did London Become a Crypto Art Capital?

The surge of digital coins and acceptance of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has overwhelmed the global market in 2021.

Gitumani is a blockchain enthusiast as she keeps a tab on the recent happenings pertaining to the crypto industry. She aims to provide quality content in blockchain and crypto domain. She is a financial content writer too and has worked on several financial projects related to the stock market news, fundamental research, and technical analysis for several websites.

How did London Become a Crypto Art Capital?

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