on the crypto
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin dressed as a medieval harlequin leaning against a velvet chair stares at the viewer in the distance. A digital, programmable version of that image set a record last weekend when it sold for 260 ETH, or about $ 141.536,20.
A record-breaking NFT
A collaboration between crypto artists Jones and Alotta Money that produced the digital painting EthBoy, an ironic reference to Ethereum co-founder Buterin, uses a new programmable technology called "layering" to be reborn on a daily basis.
An innovation implanted by the blockchain-based art market and the Async Art platform, on which EthBoy was sold, allows digital works of art to reflect external data and stimuli.
EthBoy will change daily, "in response to external variables beyond our control or anyone else," reads the Jones website. "As the months and years go by, EthBoy on Async will become an artistic and visual representation of Ethereum (here the quotation in real time) in relation to factors such as price fluctuations, commission value, changes in one of Vitalik's wallet addresses and even annual changes triggered for example by Vitalik's birthday and the anniversaries of the Ethereum system ", he continues the site.
The painting is the first programmable art project of its kind published on Async. Launched last February, the site has seen over $ 600.000 in artist sales since then. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, owe their value to their uniqueness. The same concept that ensures that every bitcoin is one of a kind and cannot be spent twice can be applied to any digital item rendered as an NFT.
Not just a collector's item
Twitter user Maxstealth is now the owner of the painting, after a one-day auction. But EthBoy is more than a collector's item, as the painting's unique features will continue to generate revenue for the owner and creators.
Twice a year, for the next five years, the painting's mini-animations will be auctioned off as separate NFTs on the OpenSea crypto market. Each animation will consist of approximately 182 days of changes that will take place between July 30, the anniversary of the release of the Ethereum system and Vitalik Buterin's birthday, January 31.
The profit on the sale of each work will be split in three, between the two artists and the owner of the NFT EthBoy, with a "small amount" of the profit used to finance the further programmable development of the original, if necessary.
Jones year
Jones had already made headlines earlier this year for his record-breaking (at the time) release of Picasso's Bull. Last month, his Batman-themed Genesis on MakersPlace sold for 302 ETH. While EthBoy with 260 ETH is probably the highest paid digital painting from a price point of view.
“I think it's the largest NFT art sale to date,” Jones said. Meanwhile, co-creator Alotta Money tweeted: “I'm flabbergasted and happy, but flabbergasted. Happy though. But amazed. "
