The hottest Auctions Substack posts right now

Patents are meant to reward inventors, but they can lead to inefficiencies and high drug prices. Finding a balance is important to encourage innovation while ensuring access.
Kremer's idea of patent auctions could help by allowing the government to buy patents, making drugs cheaper and more available to everyone while still fairly compensating inventors.
Collusion among companies can be a concern in patent auctions, but even with this risk, the potential benefits of better research funding could outweigh the drawbacks of higher prices from collusion.

A hunger striker's medal awarded to a suffragette for her efforts in the campaign for women's right to vote
A Danish love token called a hovedvandsæg given by men to their beloveds in the 18th and 19th centuries
Hello Kitty jewelry collection created by Mikimoto and Sanrio, featuring pieces like a pearl necklace with a Hello Kitty face design

Land auctions could be a promising approach for accurate land valuation without the need for land assessors.
Through auctions, land values can be accurately determined by separating land and property sales.
The bargaining dynamics in post-auction home sales can impact prices but can be managed through tax rate adjustments.

A lot of blocks on Ethereum are being built in a centralized way, which raises concerns about fairness and efficiency. People enjoy the open nature of blockchains, but if they feel transactions could be ignored or censored, they might stop using them.
Some proposed solutions, like execution tickets, aim to mix fairness with efficiency when it comes to block-building. However, some argue that just focusing on the most efficient way to auction blocks won't account for user concerns about centralization.
The debate about how decentralized block-building should be is complex. Finding the right balance between efficiency and fairness may require long-term studies or prediction markets to get a clearer picture.

Having more bidders in an auction often leads to better outcomes. More bidders means a higher chance that someone will value the item enough to buy it.
In auctions, it's usually better to have more bidders than to have perfect control over the auction. More bidders can drive up the price and lead to better allocation of goods.
Collusion is less likely to happen when there are many bidders competing against each other. More competition means it's harder for bidders to secretly agree on lower prices.

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Auctions can be considered as a method for assessing land values without the need for state-run assessments, allowing the market to determine the value of land.
The use of auctions for land valuation can ensure transparency and fairness by providing everyone with the opportunity to bid on a piece of land publicly.
While auctions may introduce some complexities like bargaining over home prices, they can still lead to reasonably accurate land valuations and generate significant tax revenue.

Interest rates in lending protocols are usually quoted as annualized percentage rate (APR) or yield (APY).
Different pricing mechanisms in lending protocols include orderbook pricing, utilization-based pricing, auctions, and manual/governance-led pricing.
Protocols like Ajna and Tazz introduce innovative ways to set interest rates without relying on oracles, enabling unique functionalities.

Andy Dunn is raising money for RaisedBy.Us, a philanthropic organization.
Andy Dunn is auctioning off unique experiences like Cubs Baseball and Chess with a Grandmaster.
Andy Dunn is offering opportunities like Lunch in Brazil and Entrepreneur Coaching Sessions for fundraising.

Heritage Auctions is challenging the age-old auction duopoly of Sotheby's and Christie's with a focus on niche markets like rare coins.
Auction houses like Sotheby's and Christie's make money by taking commissions from both buyers and sellers and face challenges like collusion and price-fixing allegations.
Heritage Auctions' success lies in focusing on growing auction categories, being internet-native, and prioritizing transparency compared to the established duopoly.

Asia is likely to approve Bitcoin ETFs, with Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and UAE showing interest.
In 2023, $674 million of stolen crypto was recovered, showing a drop in losses due to scams.
Sotheby's auctioned off a poem as a Bitcoin Ordinals NFT, a unique step for the auction house.

There are different types of auctions like first price, second price, and ascending auctions. Each works a bit differently, but they all aim to find out who values an item the most.
In certain situations, second price auctions can encourage honest bidding because bidders don't need to worry about overbidding. This can lead to better outcomes for both the seller and the buyers.
Assumptions about what buyers and sellers know can change what type of auction works best. If buyers are unsure about their own values, for example, an ascending auction may be more beneficial.