Tad Smith, chairman of Doodles and former CEO of Sotheby’s, has agreed to buy most of the assets of digital collectibles platform Candy Digital.
He wrote on X that he’s “doubling down” on his “commitment to digital collectibles, adding that “when the transaction closes in a week or two, I will also serve as CEO.”
The acquisition comes at a pivotal moment for Candy Digital, which launched in 2021 amid heightened interest in NFTs and blockchain-based collectibles. Backed by investors including Michael Rubin, Mike Novogratz, and Gary Vaynerchuk, the platform quickly secured partnerships with major entertainment and sports entities, including Major League Baseball, DC Comics, and Netflix.
At its peak, Candy Digital reported around 1.5 million users. However, the NFT bubble burst in 2022, leading to operational changes, and the platform entered a maintenance phase in 2024, prompting speculation about its long-term viability. It’s therefore a bold move by Smith.
A 2023 report published by dappGambl, a blockchain and finance research community, revealed the extent of the NFT market’s collapse. After analyzing 73,257 collections, the team found that 95 percent, nearly 70,000, had a market value of zero Ether, meaning most NFTs today were essentially worthless. Once a $17 billion craze in 2021, these digital tokens now sit in the wallets of an estimated 23 million investors with little to no practical value.
Smith indicated that the acquisition is intended to build on the company’s existing infrastructure rather than replace it. In public remarks, he emphasized continuity for current users and licensors, alongside a renewed focus on user engagement and communication.
When ARTnews asked him for comment, he replied: “Nothing to say until the deal is closed.”
Candy Digital’s portfolio includes licensed digital collectibles tied to major sports organizations such as NASCAR and WWE, as well as digital editions of notable comic book properties. They include early issues featuring Superman and Batman through its agreement with DC Comics.
The deal signals continued institutional interest in digital collectibles despite the sustained contraction in NFT trading volumes since their 2021 peak. Smith previously oversaw Sotheby’s during its expansion into NFT sales, including high-profile auctions of digital artworks.
While leading Sotheby’s between 2015 and 2019, Smith oversaw efforts to modernize the company’s digital capabilities, including the 2018 purchase of Thread Genius, a firm specializing in image recognition and machine learning tools for artwork discovery. Beyond his current role, Smith serves as chairman of the supervisory board at the Fine Art Group and is a partner at 50T Holdings, a growth equity fund dedicated to investments in digital assets.
Speaking to the Art Newspaper at the end of last year, he was bullish on the future of blockchain art, like NFTs. “There’s no real way to have ownership unless you have some way to register ownership, because otherwise it’s just a JPEG that exists freely on the internet,” he said. “Blockchain creates the possibility for that ownership, and so the art can begin to have value.”
