Founded by Art Basel‘s parent company MCH Group and the LUMA Foundation, Arcual is a new blockchain that puts artists at the center of the ecosystem.

The goal, as explained in the press release issued today, is to offer artists greater transparency and participation, addressing the unique needs of the art world, including artists, but also those of galleries, institutions, and of course, collectors. 

The problems of the traditional art world

As is well known, the traditional art world is not very inclusive or transparent. Galleries typically decide prices almost autonomously and retain high percentages that can go over 50%.

Indeed, Arcual was born out of a long-standing frustration related to the fact that, in the art world, artists often do not benefit from the growth of their market.

With blockchain and NFTs, these problems disappear. Artists can sell directly to collectors, and platforms retain low percentages (about 10% maximum).

Hence, the traditional art world now wants to enter the crypto world and leverage it to be part of the industry and not be sidelined.

Companies such as Art Basel, a leader in the art-driven events industry, have therefore decided to reclaim the market and help galleries and even institutional collectors who also want to enter it.

Art Basel: the birth of Arcual

This led to the creation of Arcual, which wants to create a space to share information and partnerships in the art world in a transparent way.

Arcual will thus provide smart contracts to manage artist and gallery royalties, customized payment terms, sales agreements, verified provenance, and digital certificates of authenticity through NFTs.

As a target, Arcual wants to help galleries eager to embrace a new way of doing business in the art world. 

By leveraging blockchain technology, Arcual therefore aims to remedy these imbalances in the art market by promoting greater fairness and transparency to support galleries in doing what they do best: nurturing and developing their artists.

Bernadine Bröcker Wieder, CEO of Arcual, said: 

“Arcual is well-positioned to solve longstanding challenges and create new opportunities across the entire art community – and we are the first blockchain ecosystem to be purpose-built with these use cases at its core. We want Arcual to be a trusted space for information, partnerships, and transactions, from which new forms of collaboration will be possible. We are excited to bring to life a longawaited solution for the art world.”

Art Basel in the NFT World

As early as September 2021, the event of the year for the art world had decided to exhibit NFT as well. Notably, a booth called “Crypto Kiosk” by Galerie Nagel Draxler had been set up in Basel, which attracted the attention of collectors and recorded sales of more than $100,000.

In its “Crypto Kiosk,” with walls and floors covered entirely by the distinctive inscription “NFTism,” physical works by artists such as Luke Willis Thompson, DotPigeon, Sarah Friend, Olive Allen, and Kevin Abosch were on display for the purpose of offering them for sale on the OpenSea platform.