Keywords: digital art innovation, NFT curation, art tokenization, blockchain art preservation, Web3 art economy, ASKNIGHTS, Sebastian Clej interview, NFT art marketplace, hybrid exhibitions, NFT art ecosystem.
In a time when art and technology are colliding faster than ever, few voices stand out with both vision and realism. Sebastian Clej, the Founder and Director of ASKNIGHTS, is one of them. From London to New York, Paris to Bucharest, his mission is clear: to build bridges between artists, collectors, and the future of the digital art economy.
Founded in September 2020 in London, ASKNIGHTS was born at the intersection of art, blockchain, and artificial intelligence — a hybrid ecosystem designed not just to trade art, but to protect, curate, and elevate it for generations to come.
“We’re not building hype,” says Clej. “We’re building a new and better ecosystem — cultural, technological and ethical. Art deserves sustainability, better preservation and longevity, not speculation.”
From Vision to Realism: The Evolution of a Web3 Curator
Before ASKNIGHTS, Clej worked in market research, a background that sharpened his analytical lens for understanding creative economies. The pivot came when he realized that digital art, despite its explosive rise, lacked the framework for high-end validation and long-term cultural preservation.
“At first, I was an idealist with futuristic concepts,” Clej recalls. “Today, I’m an optimistic realist — still visionary, but grounded in implementation and sustainability. No more wishful thinking.”
His journey quickly became global — with early collaborations from the UK, the USA, Sweden, Romania and France. From attending Paris Blockchain Week to NFT.NYC London, Clej has witnessed firsthand the transformation of NFT art from speculative frenzy to maturing discipline.
The Turning Point: From Marketplace to Movement
Initially, ASKNIGHTS experimented with building an NFT marketplace, but Clej and his team soon realized the industry didn’t need another marketplace, necessarily — it needed better curation and that can be done without a marketplace since one thing is the tool and another is the goal and mission. Now they first collect and then curate, changing how curation is done. Plus, artists are happier this way.
“We shifted from pre-collection curation to post-collection,” he explains. “That means supporting artists right after they mint a NFT artwork and without giving false promises about future sales. It’s faster, fairer, and gives artists more value pre & after curation.”
This pivot was crucial. By focusing on utility, stability, and preservation, ASKNIGHTS distinguishes itself from traditional NFT Art platforms. The startup is more of an artistic portal — a space where 1/1 blockchain-based artworks are validated, archived, and given new life through hybrid exhibitions, AI-driven curation, and Metaverse experiences.
Curating the Future: Where Technology Meets Authenticity
At the heart of ASKNIGHTS’ innovation lies careful curation powered by blockchain standards like ERC-721 and EIP-2981, ensuring copyrights, royalties, and provenance remain fully on-chain.
Their hybrid model — blending physical exhibitions with extended reality (XR) — offers a glimpse into how art galleries of the future might look. Imagine a collector viewing a Monet-inspired NFT installation in London, while its digital twin lives in a metaverse gallery accessible to anyone, anywhere.
“We’re bridging what was once separate: the traditional and the digital. Museums, galleries, and collectors are starting to see NFTs not as a bubble, but as an infrastructure for art preservation.”
Challenges, Cleanses, and Long-Term Vision
The NFT market’s early chaos didn’t intimidate Clej — it clarified his mission. He’s critical of the 2021–2022 speculative boom, calling it “a period of hype without enough substance and utility”.
“What happened wasn’t a collapse; it was a cleansing,” he says. “The serious players remain — those ready to build and make art history, not just flip JPEGs.”
By rejecting the short-term chase for hype, Clej built ASKNIGHTS into a company now valued at over £2 million — a minimum of 100x increase since launch, heading for another 100x with ambitions not based on vanity metrics but on how many artists and collectors can benefit sustainably.
Democratizing Art, One Curated Token at a Time
ASKNIGHTS’ philosophy is refreshingly humanist in a world often dominated by algorithms and speculation. Clej’s mission is to democratize access to art validation and growth, helping emerging artists gain exposure while also protecting their intellectual property.
“Art isn’t always meant to be sold. Sometimes it’s meant to be kept and preserved; think of bluechip art,” he notes. “We curate for longevity, not virality.”
This approach has attracted hundreds of artists and thousands of NFT works across Ethereum, Polygon, and Solana — over 5,000 digital pieces curated since inception. The feedback from global collaborators affirms that ASKNIGHTS isn’t merely promoting art; it’s preserving cultural heritage in a decentralized form.
What’s Next: NFTs as Infrastructure, Not Trend
Clej envisions a near future where NFTs underpin every aspect of art ownership, from licensing to museum integration.
“Speculation will fade,” he predicts. “The focus will be on authenticity, provenance, utility and cultural value. NFTs will be the invisible layer of art history — a new standard for trust.”
In this future, digital art will stand on equal footing with traditional art, and collectors will move fluidly between the physical and the metaverse. The role of ASKNIGHTS? To guide that transition with elegance, intelligence, and sustainability.
A Message to Artists and Collectors
As ASKNIGHTS continues to expand its global collaborations, Clej remains grounded in purpose.
“Every day, I ask: how can we make art freer, safer, and more meaningful? That’s the real innovation — not tech for tech’s sake, but tech that serves art.”
Whether you’re an artist seeking a new opportunity, a collector aiming for authentic and new value, or simply an admirer of the digital renaissance, ASKNIGHTS offers a vision that blends curation, technology and humanity into one coherent art ecosystem.
SUMMARY: Sebastian
Sebastian Clej is an entrepreneur, art curator, collector and founder of ASKNIGHTS, a company redefining art curation through blockchain, NFTs, XR, Metaverse and AI. With over 20,000 professional connections on LinkedIn, he’s a leading voice in Web3 art innovation and the future of decentralized curation.
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