A new platform called Freeport is offering tokenized shares of authentic Andy Warhol screen prints based on the Ethereum blockchain. You can now fulfill your desire to own a signed Andy Warhol screen print for as little as $20 per tokenized share. However, you need to purchase at least 10 shares to own a portion of the artwork.
Freeport, a platform and community gallery for tokenized fine art, has chosen the famous pop art figure as its first collection. They are currently auctioning off a set of four original Andy Warhol screen prints on their site. The price per share varies depending on the piece, ranging from approximately $20 to $78.
The available prints include signed screen prints of “Marilyn” (1967), “Double Mickey” (1981), “Mick Jagger” (1967), and “Rebel Without a Cause” (1985) by Andy Warhol. Each print is signed by Warhol himself, and the “Mick Jagger” sculpture also bears the signature of the legendary Rolling Stones frontman.
The landscape of fine art collecting is undergoing a shift, and now you have the opportunity to invest in shares backed by historic pieces like those by Andy Warhol. Each artwork is represented by 10,000 tokenized shares on the Ethereum blockchain, valuing each piece between approximately $199,000 and $782,000.
To invest in one of the four works, you must acquire a minimum of 10 NFT-based shares and can hold a maximum of 1,000 shares. Fractionalized shares allow up to one thousand individuals to own a single piece.
Fractionalization involves breaking up an object into smaller shares or pieces, whether they are physical or digital assets. This process makes something that was previously considered illiquid more liquid, enabling more people to invest in it. Fractionalization has been applied to real estate, physical art, and even digital art.
If Freeport eventually sells each original work, token holders will receive a share of the profits, and the tokens will be burned or destroyed. In the meantime, owners of tokenized shares can use Freeport’s app to view a digital version of each piece and showcase it. The company plans to provide token holders with additional functionalities in the future, including setting up a secondary market for shares to facilitate selling to other individuals while Freeport retains custody of the original artwork.
Freeport claims to be the first company to complete a Regulation A review with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to establish a blockchain platform for investment-grade art. This achievement may provide prospective collectors with reassurance given the SEC’s increased scrutiny of crypto companies and the lack of regulatory clarity regarding fractionalized NFTs.
Some original owners of Warhol prints, like fashion icon “Baby” Jane Holzer, have sold their works to Freeport for this tokenized sale. Holzer expressed enthusiasm for Freeport’s effort to democratize art ownership, describing it as a disruptive bridge between art appreciation and ownership for everyone.
This isn’t the first time Warhol’s artwork has been fractionalized and sold via blockchain. In 2018, Dadiani Syndicate, a subsidiary of Dadiani Fine Art, offered fractionalized Warhol works, including Warhol’s 1980 piece “14 Electric Chairs,” valued at $5.6 million at the time. In 2022, the Showpiece platform sold fractional shares of Warhol’s 1985 print “Reigning Queens,” dividing the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II into 3,500 shares priced at £100 each.