BitDigest April 7 · Issue #631

• Digital currency prices continue the recent up trend, gaining 5,3% in total market capitalization over 24-hours
• The World Economic Forum sees blockchain technology as a feature to help alleviate risks with global supply chains
• PwC has released its 2nd Global Crypto M&A and Fundraising Report highlighting a decline in overall deal volume in 2019 and a shift in activity to Asia and the Middle East / Africa

The Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index representing market sentiment in unchanged on the week.

A Look at Crypto Art

A couple of years ago a friend called to ask me if CryptoKitties was a new digital currency because why else were people spending thousands of dollars buying them. CryptoKitties is a game, a Tamagotchi-like project, that allows players to collect and breed digital cats. What made this more interesting was the added feature allowing players to buy and sell their digital felines; developed under the ERC-721 non-fungible token (NFT) standard, ownership of the cats is organized under a smart contract allowing a unique (non-fungible) token to be managed, owned, and traded. In the case of a CryptoKitties, the one-of-a-kind digital cats traded for as much as 600 ETH ($170,000 at the time). 

While owning your own CryptoKittie may not be something you wish to consider, the concept of the NFT has expanded to new forms of unique, digital art with the art / asset itself providing a solution to one of the real challenges in the art world: it’s a blockchain-based, immutable record of ownership and authenticity. NFTs provide the true uncontestable provenance of the artwork.

Over the past 2 years, there has been great development in the digital art market. Artists originally began by creating tradition two-dimensional art works, but the techniques have quickly evolved. One of my favorite new artists is Josie Bellini. Josie is a so-called cryptocurrency artist because her designs has been inspired by the development of the digital currency ecosystem and have addressed subjects such as bitcoin, Ethereum, Ross Ulbricht, NFTs and the Cypherpunks.

Josie’s medium has evolved to include augmented reality (AR) allowing a viewer to see additional work when the art piece is viewed through the lens of a mobile phone.   “Tune In” shows a cosplay dressed woman in front of a block of television screens. When viewed in AR each of the different screens show a different image. Recently Josie worked with NFT creators and blockchain startups to add a treasure hunt to her work, “Yours Truly.” Solving the puzzle awarded the finder 10 ETH and over 30 specially created NFTs.

Her latest piece titled “Everything’s Fine” is a digital GIF showcasing the current situation at the Federal Reserve and providing a solution in the form of bitcoin. In the artwork the monkey, representing the Federal Reserve, is printing money while the politicians, bankers and media are repeating the mantra of “Everything’s Fine.” The $100 dollar bill flying over the Federal Reserve is meant to show who is in charge. However, as the skies begin to clear we see the foundation of a new system begin to form. Everything’s Fine was released last Thursday on Nifty Gateway, the NFT exchange recently purchased by Gemini. Within minutes the limited edition of 21 pieces (a reference to bitcoin’s fixed supply of 21 million coins) was sold-out.

The Headlines

Market Data

Exchange, Custody and Product News

Thoughts on the Ecosystem