Leveraging entrepreneurial identity and technology: legitimacy of art securitization platforms

The paper investigates how online platforms achieve legitimacy in the context of art securitization. Art securitization platforms are new ventures in the art market that leverage blockchain technology to enable fractional ownership of art, thereby increasing liquidity and accessibility for online investors. While traditional art market intermediaries, such as auction houses Sotheby’s and Christie’s, face legitimacy challenges like price-fixing issues, new intermediaries, such as art securitization platforms, require legitimacy with investors in order to secure a primary source of stability and survival in the art market. This study investigates how four leading art securitization platforms, Maecenas, Masterworks, Otis, and Artory achieve legitimacy with investors in the art market. We analyze both the art securitization platforms’ 6306 social media posts to decode their legitimacy-achieving approaches and draw on the positivity of 2510 post comments to measure how their legitimacy is perceived by investors. Our findings suggest that highlighting technological distinctiveness and entrepreneurial identity aids art platforms in achieving legitimacy, despite raising concerns among conservative investors. Positive legitimacy judgements are also awarded by investors to platforms that conform to stakeholders’ expected levels of return, transparency, and security.