NFT marketplace Particle makes bid to revolutionise ownership of fine art

NFT marketplace Particle is planning to change the way fine art is owned, collected and experienced through its new Avalanche-powered platform.

The platform enables fine art enthusiasts to own “some of the world’s greatest masterpieces” by collectively participating in the art market via the ‘Particalise’ process, which involves splitting art into 10,000 unique NFTs, or ‘Particles’.

The ‘Particalise’ process means that each piece has its title deeds stored on the Blockchain, with buyers receiving a digital certificate, or collector’s card, to represent their ownership of the painting.

Purchasers can then buy and sell their particle on secondary markets, trade or transfer them to anyone they wish.

The team behind Particle features a team of “leading figures and innovators in art, technology, and finance” including founders, Loïc Gouzer, Shingo Lavine and Adam Lavine, Oscar Salazar, and Philip Eytan, co-founder and chairman of Voyager.

To help bootstrap initial development of the platform, Particle received $15 million in seed funding from crypto wallet and broker Voyager Digital.

Particle’s first purchase – an iconic masterpiece that was acquired at auction earlier this year – will have its ownership transferred to a non-profit and subsequently ‘particalised’ into a fractionalised NFT.

“Up until now, fine art was only available to the select few,” said Oscar Salazar, Particle co-founder.

“With blockchain and NFT technology, and by leveraging the expertise of Particle’s founders, art ownership can become a reality for a greater number of people.

“While everybody is talking about the Metaverse we are creating the foundation of a Meta Museum — a platform powered by the Blockchain where people around the world can own art masterpieces and interact with them over the Internet and in the physical world.”