Blockchain and art market: resistance or adoption?

ABSTRACT Blockchain technology is currently stimulating a broader process of social and industrial transformation impacting several potential areas of adoption (e.g. transactions, tracking and tracing solutions, authenticity, etc …). The acceptance of this technology represents a major challenge for the art ecosystem. The literature around relations and applications of blockchain in the art market is fragmented and fails to provide an understanding of the current/potential opportunities of this application. This paper explores how blockchain is being adopted in the art sector. By using a perspective of mobilizing organizational and institutional field theory, this study performs an explorative qualitative analysis based on semi-structured interviews with 15 experts from the art market. The findings underline the complexity of effective implementation of this technology, the contradictory positions regarding the benefits and business opportunities it offers, as well as the market players’ resistance to change and trust. The theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.