In response to community feedback regarding a lack of diversity, Sotheby’s has announced that its upcoming digital art sale, “Glitch: Beyond Binary,” will place a focus on inclusivity. This comes after criticism of last month’s “Natively Digital: Glitch-ism” auction, which was temporarily paused due to the lack of diversity. Sotheby’s emphasizes that the sale will represent people from all backgrounds and identities, stating that it is committed to highlighting the diverse artist communities that make up Glitch Art.
On the other hand, a newcomer to the online game Illuvium: Beyond has made a staggering profit by finding the rarest character yet, the “Holo Blazing Rhamphyre.” The player found the character in a “D1SK,” a type of digital loot box containing random characters and accessories. The player purchased the loot box for only $32 and sold the character for $49,128.85, netting a profit of approximately 140,525%.
In other NFT news, the Ukrainian President has signed the country’s first NFT, a collection called “UACatsDivision,” featuring cats of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with all funds donated to the Ukrainian military services. At the time of writing, 3,026 NFT cats had already been purchased out of the 10,000 available.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin miners have made over $5 million from creating NFT inscriptions using the Ordinals protocol, according to Dune Analytics data. Transaction fees for Ordinals transactions exploded from $1.5 million on March 10 to $5.2 million by April 12. Nearly 1.1 million Ordinals had been inscribed on the Bitcoin network, consisting mainly of jpeg images and text but also PDFs, video, and audio formats.
However, an NFT collector made a costly mistake by bidding 100 Ether (ETH), worth around $192,000 at the time of writing, for an NFT from the Gemesis NFT collection, which was intended to be free to celebrate the launch of OpenSea Pro. Some community members believe the transaction was a wash trade, while others argue that the trader simply made a mistake bidding 100 ETH instead of $100. However, another community member argued against theories that it was a wash trade since it was too risky.
Overall, the world of NFTs continues to grow and evolve, with new developments and opportunities for profit emerging regularly.
The Avalanche Foundation has launched Avaissance, an initiative aimed at supporting digital artists and boosting the growth of the Avalanche NFT ecosystem. Avaissance includes two main components: the Artist in Resident program (AIR) for over 50 artists and the Mona Lisa Initiative (MLI) to curate digital art and expand the collections of art-focused DAOs. The AIR program will provide funding, mentorship, and virtual workshops for six months to artists of any skill level. Meanwhile, the MLI will collaborate with DAOs’ curatorial teams to promote emerging Avalanche NFT artists and establish an “Avalanche Permanent Collection.”
In other NFT news, Ticketmaster has announced a new feature called token-gated ticket sales, which allows artists to reward NFT holders with exclusive benefits such as special presales, prime seats, custom travel packages, and access to unique concert experiences. This functionality was developed after American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold (A7X) approached Ticketmaster and its Web3 team, Bitflips, for help implementing a service that would allow holders of its NFTs – Deathbats Club, a collection of 10,000 unique Deathbat NFTs – to unlock perks and access to events. The feature works with tokens minted on Ethereum and stored in decentralized application (DApp) wallets like MetaMask or Coinbase.
Patrick Amadon, a popular NFT artist, recently withdrew his work from a major auction house, Sotheby’s upcoming “Natively Digital: Glitch-ism” art sale, to protest a lack of female representation. He shared his decision with his 142,400 Twitter followers, and Sotheby’s responded the next day by announcing that it would pause the sale to “redress the imbalance in representation within the sale” and relaunch later with a “more equitable and diverse group of artists.”
Mike Winkelmann, also known as Beeple, recently shared a video with his Twitter followers, revealing his new 50,000-square-foot studio in South Carolina. According to Beeple’s website, he will use the space to create his artwork and host events to “showcase the very best art and communities.” The website stated that they are looking to partner with the most cutting-edge artists and communities to put on events that are not possible at any other venue.
On March 25, an NFT from the popular CryptoPunks collection valued at approximately $135,000 was accidentally burned by an investor attempting the process of NFT wrapping to potentially borrow liquidity from it. While the loss was unfortunate, it highlights the importance of proper education and caution when dealing with NFTs.
Digital artist Bleeple cemented his place in the history books with this one. Auction house Christie’s sold his human-size 3D video sculpture and NFT hybrid in their first live event since the pandemic. The piece exceeded expectations, the projections had “Human One” selling for $15M and it almost doubled that. Does this hybrid format open a new chapter for NFT art? We wouldn’t know, but Bleeple’s piece sold alongside works from Jean-Michel Basquiat, Banksy, and Peter Doig.
Related Reading | NFTs And Play-To-Earn Are The Future Of Gaming, States EA CEO
A better question might be, are NFT artists willing to put this much effort into their pieces?
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What Do We Know About “Human One” By Bleeple?
The real-life installation is almost 7 Ft. high and consists of four screens. It has a computer at the base. The environment the astronaut-like figure walks through is ever-changing. According to Christie’s “it’s drawn at random from a data pool of the artist’s visual creations that is accessed via the Ethereum blockchain.” Not only that,Barrons.com informs usthat “Beeple’s plan is to shift the generative art images over time “in response to current events,” Christie’s said. The result will be “an eternally contemporary work of art.”
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ https://t.co/5phhwNZaxV
— beeple (@beeple) November 10, 2021
But wait, why would they use the Ethereum blockchain where a normal database would suffice? We hope that the owner doesn’t have to pay gas fees for that. The clips are one minute long and the piece keeps changing 24 hours a day. In any case, Ethereum hosts the NFT attached to “Human One.” A crucial piece of the pie, since Bleeple is known for his record-breaking “Everydays – The First 5000 Days.” It was the first NFT Christie’s auctioned and it went for $69M.
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In any case, Mike Winkelmann AKA Bleeple described “Human One” as “the first portrait of a human born in the metaverse.” He told Christie’s, “I want to make something that people can continue to come back to and find new meaning in. And the meaning will continue to evolve. That to me is super-exciting. It feels like I now have this whole other canvas.”
ETH price chart for 11/10/2021 on Kraken | Source: ETH/USD on TradingView.com
What Do We Know About The Auction And The New Owner?
According toBarrons again, “the auction focused on art created since 1980.” The event was“live-streamed to the world with specialists in London and Hong Kong manning the phones and projected on video screens in New York.“ The following videos capture all the action. In the first one, Bleeple himself gives us a backstage tour to Christie’s headquarters. In the second one, a fan screen-captured the moment in which the auctioneer sells Bleeple’s piece.
pic.twitter.com/mrBrYZfXOM
— Alex Roman (@3rd7th) November 10, 2021
Related Reading | Why Chainlink Labs Is Collabing With Palm Network NFT Space’s Development
Why do they say $25M in the video butthe official Christie’s pagesays $28.9M? That information is above our paygrade. We did find who the lucky new owner is, though. Crypto-focused family office Dialectic’s Managing Director, Ryan Zurrer. A notorious NFT collector that used to be the Web3 Foundation’s director. In his announcement tweet, Zurrer thanked Bleeple “for the visionary innovation, amazing new energy and hilarious positive vibes that you’ve brought to both crypto and art.”
Secured the ONE. Thank you @beeple for the visionary innovation, amazing new energy and hilarious positive vibes that you’ve brought to both crypto and art. gn pic.twitter.com/XfhmxM9Luj
— Ryan Zurrer (@kukulabanze) November 10, 2021
Inhis response tweet, Bleeple said “INSANELY HONORED to be in this collection.”
That’s the “Human One” story so far.
Featured Image: "Human One" screenshot | Charts by TradingView
Leading contemporary artist Damien Hirst’s NFT drop dubbed “The Currency” has been oversubscribed by more than six times.
The Currency drop consists of 10,000 unique colorful dot pattern artworks with a corresponding NFT for each piece. Applications for the NFT drop closed on July 22, and Heni Group, who hosted the sale, revealed that 32,472 people applied for a total of 67,023 NFTs. That means that many applications will either be scaled back or unsuccessful given there are only 10,000 NFTs available.
Many collectors will now have to seek out the NFTs on secondary markets.
Applications have closed for @hirst_official’s The Currency. Thanks to all who applied. 32,472 people applied for a total of 67,023 NFTs. Due to the large number of applicants, allocations will take some time & applicants may not be notified until 28 July. Stay tuned for Phase 2! pic.twitter.com/BGDHTnPO2G
— HENI (@HENIGroup) July 21, 2021
The NFTs were priced at $2,000 each and the drop includes an interesting feature, as the artist is giving collectors one year to decide if they would like to burn the NFT in exchange for the original artwork, or keep the NFT and destroy the original artwork.
The world-renowned artist first entered the crypto space back in February this year after he started accepting payments in Bitcoin and Ethereum for artworks from a collection of cherry blossom-themed paintings.
In his new NFT venture, the artist is exploring the concept of value behind money and art, in which he asserts their value is determined by social phenomena such as faith and trust.
To loosely depict money in the artworks, there is a holographic image of Hirst in each piece, and a signature on the back, along with small individual messages to represent a serial number.
“I’ve never really understood money, it’s like you look at money, in its basic form […] all these things, art, money commerce, they’re all ethereal,” Hirst said in a video discussing the drop.
Check out this video of @stephenfry & I discussing ‘The Currency’: what is art, money, truth? how does it tie into belief? Maybe more importantly, what will people do with the Tenders? Nearing the end of the beginning. Applications close tomorrow 3pm BST. https://t.co/zync3gt29d pic.twitter.com/y9lnY1KY26
— Damien Hirst (@hirst_official) July 20, 2021
Related:Record network activity and a second NFT boom send WAX price higher
Each individual artwork is called a “Tender” and the artist recently told Cointelegraph that he would “love it” if a collector was able to use the artwork as actual currency due to its value as an NFT. However, he thinks that most people will choose to keep the artwork.
Speaking with CNBC’s Squawk Box on July 21, Hirst stated that he thinks digital art forms such as NFTs will outlive physical art galleries, as he noted that NFTs depicting “good artwork” can be easily experienced anywhere:
“I think that digital art is probably going to last a lot longer than galleries. I mean, you probably won’t be going into galleries. We’ll be sitting in bars showing each other what we’ve recently bought on our phones, and that’s kind of what we do now.”
dCanvas, the world’s largest collaborative art project, is set to make its limited edition non-fungible tokens (NFTs) accessible to the public. The company would release 256 limited edition non-fungible tokens (NFT) to in May 2021.
dCanvas Offers 256 NFTs for Sale
In collaboration with NFT marketplace site OpenSea, dCanvas is making it possible for the public to access its works. Each of the 256 NFTs consists of 16 pixels, which enables the owner to fill in with his artistic vision.
What makes these NFTs unique is that the owner of each NFT is the only person that can determine the colour of each of the 16 pixels, as they truly own the block and they can also reauction it at any time. According to an excerpt from dCanvaswhitepaper:
“Each individual NFT in the dCanvas contract represents a specific 4 x 4 pixel block on an overall 1024 x 1024 pixel canvas board. Ownership of a block allows you to set the color of each of the 16 pixels, using a 32-color palette that is available to everyone and set as metadata in the Solidity smart contract.”
Also, the NFT holders can access an independent DAO that enables the community govern the dCanvas art commissions. The limited allocation of the NFTs would commence on Thursday, May 6, 2021.
Furthermore, users can get the NFTs via the dCanvas app, while transactions would carried out using OpenSea. The partnership with OpenSea means gas fees would be reduced. Users who have previously accessed OpenSea would to only need to pay gas fee to buy the dCanvas NFT. Meanwhile, future bids, purchases, and offers would be conducted on OpenSea without paying for gas fees.
dCanvas has distributed NFTs worth $500,000 to early adopters, various investors, and brands. Some of the private investors include Kyle from NeptuneDAO, Queen Mei, Quidd’s number one NFT collector, Leia from Unic.ly, and Joyce of Global Coin Research.
NFT Fever Still High
This is not the first time that dCanvas is releasing its NFTs to the the public. The collaborative NFT art project earlier opened its NFT sale to the public, with 1024 NFTs. These were sold out under five days. With the company now allocating a smaller number of NFTs, the pieces might sell out quicker.
Individuals who have purchased the dCanvas NFTs can create a profile to showcase their ownership, while also communicating and collaborating with one another.
The NFT market has seen increased adoption in 2021. The first quarter of 2021 has been impressive for the sector, with over $2 billion spent on NFTs. AsreportedbyBTCManagerback in April, popular American rapper Eminem, launched his NFTs.
Even Mattel, parent company of popular toy brands Barbie and Hot Wheels, wascontemplatingjoining the NFT bandwagon. The Beeple NFT, which was sold for almost $70 million, remains the most expensive digital art piece sold till date. In late April, major crypto exchange Binance, announced that it wouldlaunchan NFT marketplace in June 2021.
StarColl, an NFT marketplace and collection exclusively dedicated to one of the largest private Star Wars memorabilia collections, is set to list digital twins of its catalog.
According to an announcement on Tuesday, early registration will begin on May 4 — “Star Wars Day.”
The Star Wars collection will feature over 800 limited edition collectibles from the iconic sci-fi movie franchise released as nonfungible tokens on the StarColl marketplace.
Each StarColl NFT is a digital twin of an actual physical item from the massive Star Wars collection. Owners of each NFT will also reportedly have the chance to include their names in the NFT metadata, which will appear in all future StarColl traveling exhibitions.
Ownership of NFTs from the listing will also grant free lifetime passes to the StarColl global traveling exhibition.
The announcement also revealed that all metadata and ownership information is secured on the QAN blockchain platform, a decentralized network that is reportedly resistant to quantum search algorithm attack vectors.
Commenting on the robust security of the StarColl NFT collection, Johann Polecsak, chief technology officer of QANplatform, said:
“NFT security is a neglected topic today. Nobody speaks about cybersecurity issues and pain points behind the NFT ecosystem. Source files of NFTs sold for thousands of dollars can be easily changed to memes by hackers. StarColl NFTs will be secured by the Quantum-resistant QAN blockchain, where metadata and ownership information is stored.”
NFTs based on pop culture references are quite common, with artists and creators minting digital twins based on popular movies, songs and other works of art.
Back in March, decentralized movie financing platform Mogul Productions announced plans to release NFTs in collaboration with comic book artist Rob Prior.
Celebrity NFTs are also becoming a regular occurrence at the intersection of blockchain art and pop culture. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, the likes of skateboarding legend Tony Hawk and rap-rock icon Mike Shinoda have also released their own NFTs.
Copyright infringement in the online world has been an issue ever since the internet entered our lives — with a copy-and-paste culture, it’s never been easier to pass off a funny tweet as one’s own, upload unauthorized versions of chart-topping songs, and repurpose jaw-dropping photographs and videos.
Now nonfungible tokens have entered into the arena, a whole host of new issues have emerged. Opportunists are now tokenizing artwork without consent — and in some cases, artists haven’t realized their pieces have been plagiarized until the NFTs have been bought and sold. One attorney recently told Vice that, while creators do have protection under U.S. copyright law if their work is tokenized without consent, getting compensation could be made harder by the fact that some NFT marketplaces are less transparent than others.
There are NFT platforms that have introduced mechanisms that allow pirated art to be removed. But according to experts, taking action once unprotected digital files have been copied or downloaded is “like trying to put toothpaste back into a tube.” And to compound the problem, certain precautions that can be taken to tackle copyright infringement can have unintended consequences — censoring small creators who may be unable to prove they created an artwork because they lack an established online presence.
None of this is to say that NFT technology is inherently flawed. These hurdles are common when new concepts suddenly go mainstream. As time goes on, the industry will get better at protecting talented individuals and their works. But there’s one thing that artists can do straight away: Take a few simple steps to protect themselves from copyright infringement.
Protecting work in a digital realm
According to Unique.One, a decentralized NFT marketplace, most of the copyright infringement issues that have been brought to its attention stem back to artwork that was unprotected in the first place. A number of artists share original works with their large followers on Instagram, but these files lack the digital protection that prevent them from being copied and used in infinite ways without consent.
A strongly worded copyright notice often isn’t enough to deter bad actors — nor prove that artwork is authentic if their claims are challenged. However, there are some simple steps that are worth taking when building an online presence, and it all begins when original files are being uploaded in the first place.
Adding a visible watermark to art before sharing digital images anywhere can prove worthwhile, irrespective of whether this is on Instagram, Facebook or on your own website. If you’re especially sophisticated, you may opt for an invisible watermark at the pixel level — something that can give you an upper hand in a dispute, especially among plagiarists who may not have noticed it.
It is also possible to mint NFTs with a watermark — and add unlockable content with a high-resolution, watermark-free copy that the buyer can receive upon purchasing a token. You can also set out licensing terms in the description for your nonfungible token. A good example of this was seen when The New York Times sold a tokenized version of an article written by one of its journalists — with the newspaper clearly specifying that this NFT doesn’t purchase the copyright for the feature in question.
Keeping a digital archive of original work, along with the date it was created, can also be a powerful way of proving ownership. And, if art is published for the first time in the form of an NFT, the blockchain itself can serve as an immutable record that offers protection.
A particularly vexing issue
Unique.One is a decentralized nonprofit platform that is owned and managed by a community of passionate digital artists. They said: “It’s a sad fact that the very freedom and flexibility provided to creators by decentralized, permissionless NFT platforms can also attract abuse by bad actors. But innovation also breeds solutions. Technology can be leveraged to help creators keep control of their work.”
They stress that NFTs can also help protect artwork — especially if pieces are minted on-chain before they are distributed through other online channels. Creating an archive of provenance is essential.
While Unique.One predicts that regulatory measures and licensing regimes will evolve as the NFT space grows and matures, the platform warns that this could introduce “additional barriers and censorship hurdles for creators” — and great care should be taken to ensure that the industry doesn’t lose the distinctive attributes that made it popular in the first place.
“As with all innovative technological breakthroughs, NFTs offer exciting opportunities for creators, but along with this freedom of opportunity comes the potential for abuse by malicious actors — it’s simply the world we live in,” the project’s founders said. “Unique.One hopes that artists lean into proactivity and take steps to address the challenges brought on by innovation while enjoying the opportunity it brings.”
Learn more about Unique.One
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In partnership with Ethernity Chain, James Heuser will be minting limited edition authenticated NFTs for his signature works “Welcome to the Internet,” the artist confirmed on Apr 7.
Authenticated NFTs on Ethernity Chain
To celebrate, he added, he will be launching the 3D edition of his popular work. Also, this will be the first launch of Ethernity Chain.
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Ethernity Chain is looking at how their authenticated NFT model will matter across multiple disciplines and sectors.
In their view, the internet is flawed.
It is designed more to help spread information and improve connectivity. However, beyond the internet being a publishing gem, it isn’t rewarding content creators, the true originators of all information.
Looking back, there are gifted artists like James, whose work has made them famous but with nothing big to show off.
In reality, while their gifts and expression talent is there for all to see, the current arrangement of internet monetization doesn’t recognize and reward them accordingly.
That’s why the merger between digital art and NFTs and creating an authenticated model right off custom art marketplace with NFT in mind right from the very beginning is a game-changer.
By partnering with James, Ethernity Chain is looking back to “right the wrong” and to “pave the way for our disruptive entrance to the NFT space.”
They explain:
“This is Web 3.0 truly realized, and this is why we’re launching with this meme meets NFT to look back at the past where things went wrong and pave the way for our disruptive entrance to the NFT space; space whose very creations are just beginning. Wait to see what we have in store for the future.”
How NFTs minting work in Ethernity Chain: ERN Staking and STONE Farming
Ethernity Chain’s solutions will directly benefit the artist. It would block off hallways through which precious digital art can be duplicated and stolen.
From the NFTs platform, an artist will produce his/her limited-edition work, which then gets authenticated using icons.
After that, work will be availed to an auction where winners get approval to mint these NFTs. Participants of these auctions must first stake ERN coins—Ethernity Chain’s native currency, subsequently farming STONE whenever they win and mint an NFT.
They can then put auction their work, flipping them for profits. However, Ethernity Chain clarifies that a small portion of the revenue generated from the auction and sales will be sent to charities.
A non-fungible token (NFT) based on artwork has been auctioned for approximately $69.3 million on Thursday by an unidentified collector.
The auction which took place at Christie’s auction house is the biggest for a digital-based artwork and had about 33 bidders, one of whom is Tron’s Founder, Justin Sun.
The auctioned NFT was an artwork by Mike Winkelmann popular known as Beeple. The artwork, called “The First 5,000 Days” takes its origin back to 2007 when Beeple discovered digital art and he set out to create a piece per day, an exercise he has never missed a day on since then. The collection of the first 5000 pieces of creations was collated and turned into the NFT that now ranks as the biggest sale to date.
NFTs are pulling mind-blowing numbers in terms of selling prices today. Prior to this current record-breaking sale, the highest-auctioned NFT was Beeple’s own work which with the parting sum coming in at $6.6 million.
“As soon as I saw it, I saw it as this massive, massive potential for this as a platform for digital ownership of a bunch of different things, not just art,” Beeple said of the burgeoning NFT marketplace. “Moving forward, I think this will be seen as an alternate form of asset class.”
NFTs despite the hype they are generating in terms of their selling figures, have real-world use cases as they can help to register the ownership of any item on the blockchain. With NFTs, works of art cannot be counterfeited, creative contents will no longer be pirated as all ownership and authentication processes take place on a public blockchain that can be verified by anyone, anywhere.
With the pace NFT has set since the beginning of the year, this year may eventually turn out to be for NFTs, what 2020 was for decentralized finance.
Crypto arthas seen explosive growth of late, with many content creators tapping into the space to get compensated for their creative work shared online.
The Growing Demand for Digital Art
Essentially, pieces of crypto art are sold vianon-fungible tokens(NFTs), which are distinctive digital tokens on a blockchain that can verify ownership of any collectible such as music, art or animation.
The rise of crypto art came from the need to make digital art, which is very easy to replicate, unique and verifiable on a public ledger. Transforming art into non-fungible digital tokens integrates more scarcity value into the piece while giving the artist creator greater autonomy and recognition.
NFT art also ensures that the creator receives their fair share of the value, as there is no scope to cheat the artist out of their rightful royalties on a publicly viewable and traceable blockchain.
These one-of-a-kind digital tokens have offered anew lifeline to digital artistsand creators by introducing a convincingly identifiable carrier of value for digital artwork.
Furthermore, Immutable digital artwork introduces a new model of interdependence for content creators by enabling them to control the distribution and sale of their work. Artists can also embed conditions of their work and practice into their work’s expression.
Therefore, NFTs have the potential to disrupt art marketplaces set by monopolizing big tech companies by giving the actual content creators control over their work and its distribution.
Heralding the Era of Fractional Ownership
Perhaps the biggest appeal of crypto art is the ability to facilitate content creators to program pre-determined ownership conditions into its very metadata.
The new form oftokenized artworkenables the content creator to broker their own smart contracts that determine how the crypto art is displayed, shared, editioned.
This feature promises to help artists carve out a new model of equity where they can sell out fractions of new and rare digital art to multiple art enthusiasts.
According toAmy Whitaker, a longtime blockchain researcher who has studied the proposition for NFTs artwork in equity ownership, fractional ownership of crypto art is a powerful tool.
“What’s beautiful about equity is that you’re designating a fraction as opposed to a dollar amount. That fraction can move. So if you own 10% of an artwork, and you sold it for a hundred dollars or a million dollars, you’re going to own something proportionately,” Amy explained.
Ramani Ramachandran, CEO of Router Protocol, sees NFT art as an investment where one buyer can resell their rare collectible for a profit. The original creator can also earn royalties on the resale as the unique artwork increases in value over time.
The Buzzing Crypto Art Market
According to the latest estimate fromNonfungible.com, the NFTs market has grown 705% in three years to hit $338M in value by the end of 2020.
Digital artists like Justin Roiland, co-creator of the popular Rick and Morty animated series, areflooding NFT marketplaceslike OpenSea with their creations, and fetching huge profits from their work.
As demand for digital collectibles continues to grow, the nascent digital art marketplace dynamics could explode in the coming months.
