Launch of the Versus Marketplace
Built on the Flow Blockchain, Versus is a serverless, on-chain centric marketplace which stores also the images on the Blockchain.
This abbreviated crypto art timeline is adapted from the work of artist Martin Lukas Ostachowski. For a more in-depth look please visit his website
- Credit:
- ostachowski.com
2021
Launch of the Truesy Marketplace
TRUESY is a curated NFT marketplace focused on personalities and brands and built on the Tezos Blockchain.
Group Exhibition: Breadcrumbs
Kenny Schachter curates this Ethereum-based crypto art exhibition for Galerie Nagel and Draxler in Cologne, Germany.
Mad Dog Jones’ Replicator NFT sets Record for Living Canadian Artist
Michah Dowbak’s conceptual artwork sells at the Philipps auction for $4.2m and will create 220 more versions of itself.
Pixelated Public Art Exhibition of Crypto Punks
SaveArtSpace presents Pixelated, a month-long, Miami-wide exhibition across billboards and bus shelters featuring 96 Crypto Punks.
The Non-Fungible Collection by Pak’s is auctioned in collaboration with Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s and Nifty Gateway collaborate on the auction of the anonymous artist Pak who conceptually explores and challenges scarcity.
Group Exhibition: CryptoArt
Curated by Daniel Heiss and Margit Rosen this crypto art group exhibition takes place at the ZKM Centre for Art and Media Karlsruhe in Germany.
Launch of the Chain/Saw NFT Gallery
The inaugural Iconography & The Internet exhibition featured the original Pepe the Frog from 2006 by Matt Furie among others.
Group Exhibition: Virtual Niche
This group exhibition hosted by BlockCreateArt (BCA) is the first institutional crypto art exhibition held at the UCCA Lab in Beijing, China.
Superchief Gallery Opens NFT Art Space in New York City
Superchief Gallery NFT opens with the “Season One Starter Pack,” an exhibition that will feature rotating NFT artwork from 300 multidisciplinary artists.
Solo Exhibition: High On Collage by Morgan Jesse Lappin
Artist Morgan Jesse Lappin’s first show with Trigonal Gallery combines collage and the new digital frontier of NFTs in Jersey City, NJ.
Launch of Fansforever Marketplace
Tron Blockchain-based social marketplace Fansforever connects creators and their fans through NFTs.
Group Exhibition: Chain Reactions
Atlanta-based ABV Gallery and Nifty Gateway showcase 20 international artists with their Chain Reactions NFT/Crypto Art group exhibition.
Launch of Feral Files Marketplace
Feral Files launches as a generative art marketplace on the Bitmark Blockchain and is founded by Casey Reas, the co-founder of Processing.
Group Exhibition: Venus Of The Metaverse
In this international collaboration, nine galleries across meta-verses will spotlight the digital artwork of over 130 women from across platforms.
Beeple Makes Historic Digital Art Sale at Christie’s and Makersplace
Beeple (Mike Winkelman) sells his “EVERYDAYS” at auction for US$ 69,346,250, the 3rd highest for a living artist at that time.
Christie’s Auctions first digital-only NFT in Standalone Lot
The auction house chose Beeple’s EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS, a vast collage of his daily artworks as its first digital art-only auction.
Launch of Charged Particles Marketplace
Merging digital art with DeFi, charged particles allow creators and collectors to charge their NFTs with interest-bearing ERC-20 tokens.
Launch of Kalamint Marketplace
Kalamint launches as the first user-curated marketplace based on the Tezos blockchain to create, sell and buy NFTs on the FA2 token standard.
Trash Art Week Commemorates the First Anniversary of the Trash Art Movement
Deplatformed Robness Cyberpop and Max Osiris on SuperRare launch the controversial trash art movement challenging copyrights.
Launch of Hic Et Nunc Marketplace
Initially, e-sports and crowdfunding-oriented, the community-driven platform minted its first OBJKT and operates on the Tezos Blockchain.
Group Exhibition: Abstract Art in the Age of New Media
This collaboration between MoCDA, University College London and Hobs3D, is both a virtual group exhibition and series of online experimental studies.
Bitski Wallet launches Storefronts and Marketplaces
Derived from a wallet, Bitski relaunches as a credit card based marketplace and individual storefront solution for digital assets.
Launch of VIV3 Marketplace
Launch of the first general marketplace on the Flow blockchain, conceived by Dapper Labs, the team behind CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot.
Launch of the B20 Token at Metapalooza
Metapurse’s B.20 token explores the intersection between social, utility tokens and a DAO backed by Beeple’s record-breaking 20 Collection.
Group Exhibition: CryptoArt Week Asia (CAWA)
CryptoArt Week Asia promotes under-represented Asian-based artists in Asia and abroad during events in Singapore and virtually.
Group Exhibition: Future Art
Curated by collector Sats Moon, Australia’s first immersive crypto art festival celebrates digital art, AR/VR and music at Paddington Town Hall in Sydney.
Group Exhibition: From Tulip to Crypto Daisy
Paris-based L’Avant Galerie Vossen explores digital values and brings together the works of traditional painters, new media and crypto artists.
Launch of the Ethblock.art Generative Platform
EthBlockArt lets people create deterministic blockchain artworks based on Ethereum blocks.
2020
Group Exhibition: Beyond Provenance: $Black Speculative Futures on the Blockchain
Virtual exhibition features 33 Black crypto artists from 8 different countries and rewrites the narrative of who benefits from the value of Black creativity.
Launch of Paras Digital Art Card Marketplace
The digital art card minting and trading platform is based on the NEAR blockchain. D0720
Launch of Artblocks.io Generative Art Platform
Artblocks is a generative design platform based created with the data and hosted on the Ethereum blockchain.
Artproject 2020 promotes Crypto Art during Vancouver Biennale
Under artist Jessica Angels’ guidance, Artproject connects the traditional art world with the creative Blockchain ecosystem.
Official launch of Ephimera
Canada-based Ephimera is an Etherum art marketplace specialized in fine art photography and video. N0520
Official Launch of Beyond NFT
Based on the Matic protocol, Beyond focuses on non-static which can evolve over time such as interactive and dynamic art.
Robert Alice’s Block 21 Painting and NFT Sell for $131,250
Async.art partners with Christie’s to lead this auction which exceeds 7 times its estimate.
Volatility.art a Visionary Patronage Makes Waves
Matt Kane enters with his Async project a 10-year collaboration for over $100,000 under the patronage of TokenAngels.
Elementum.art replaces Noow.art
Dloop rebrands Elementum as the successor of the app NOOW, which was running on Swisscom TV.
First Women of Crypto Art Group Exhibition
WOCA (Women of crypto art) held a CryptoVoxels group exhibition entitled She Art with artworks from over 30 crypto artists.
Trevor Jones’ Picasso’s Bull sets new Nifty Gateways Record
The original NFT animation of Trevor’s painting sells for $55,555 to Pablo Rodriguez-Fraile of the Museum of Crypto Art.
Alpha Launch of NFT Showroom on Hive Blockchain
NFT Showroom uses Hive-Engine’s layer 2 NFT smart contract platform to generate tokenized art.
Launch of Cryptograph
Cryptograph is a marketplace for NFTs made by celebrities and artists that generate funds for charities and good causes. J0720
Launch of Foundation App
Foundation launches as the first digital art marketplace to address fluctuation and pricing based on the stable-coin DAI.
Virtual Rare Art Festival RARE3F
The third edition of the iconic crypto art and collectibles festival launched a movement.
First Episode of Behind the Art with Josie Bellini
Artist Josie Bellini showcases and documents in her video livestreams the story of crypto artists and collectors.
Official launch of pixEOS Art Gallery
Public launch of the pixEOS Art Gallery based on the Eos blockchain focused on digital goods such as digital and physical artworks.
Official launch of Nifty Gateway
USD transaction-focused art platform based on the Ethereum blockchain. Nifty Gateway was acquired by the Winklevoss twins of Gemini.
Artist-driven initiative forms to advocate a 10% Royalty Across Platforms
Following SuperRare’s royalty reduction, a tweet by Matt Kane sparks an artist-led initiative that establishes a 10% royalty standard within a month. M0420
Official launch of Async Art
An experimental art platform for programmable digital art based on the Ethereum blockchain and located in San-Francisco, CA.
Official launch Nifties.com
Nifties promotes crypto art, games and collectibles as well as virtual reality projects.
Launch of the Museum of CryptoArt MOCA Collection
MOCA begins its rapidly growing crypto art collection which fuels crypto art creators and creations.
Group Exhibition: Cryptoqué?
An international crypto art group exhibition hosted at the MadeMotion space in Madrid, Spain.
2019
Uniqlo Tate Late
MOCDA hosts blockchain-related artworks, projects and panel discussions during the Nam Jun Paik exhibition at the Tate Modern.
Group Exhibition: CryptoArts: A New Medium
Crypto art group exhibition organized by Jake Johns at the Zhu Bing Ren Copper Gallery In Shanghai.
Group Exhibition: Crypto Art Show
Crypto art group exhibition organized by crypto artist Max Osiris at the Innerspace Gallery in Los Angeles, CA.
Official launch of Rarible
Ethereum-based tokenization platform for digital art and collectibles, the decentralized team is based in Moscow, LA and NY. O2419
Solo Exhibition: Tropopause Contemplation by Martin Lukas Ostachowski
The blockchain-centred exhibition is held at the Centre Culturel et Communautaire Françoise-Dunn in Sherbrooke, QC, Canada.
Official launch of Rendar
Rendar gallery and the Bristol, UK-based physical gallery Upfest specialize in onboarding street art and graffiti artists. A2819
Official launch of Mintbase
Ethereum-based tokenization platform for digital art, collectibles and other use cases such as tickets, located in Berlin, Germany. A0119
First Episode Airs of You Deserve A Drink
Initially highlighting Cent creators, this long-running podcast showcases crypto artists and projects, later rebranded as Matthew & Rizzle Show.
IDAF International Digital Art Festival
Digital and crypto art festival hosted by KnownOrigin in Manchester, England.
Solo Exhibition: ARTificial
Bard’s first solo exhibition explores AI, AR and cryptocurrency and blockchain art at the Bull Run Library in Manassas, VA.
Official launch of Noow.art
Digital art platform spun off from Swisscom offers tokenized art and digital art-streaming in Switzerland.
Rare Art Festival 2
The crypto art and collectibles scenes came together for the second edition of the RareAF in Brooklyn, NY.
Official launch of Makersplace
Platform for digital original artwork and limited editions, registered on the Ethereum blockchain based in San-Francisco, CA.
Official launch of Autoglyphs
Generative artwork tokens issued on the Ethereum blockchain by Larva Labs in support of charitable causes.
Official launch of Editional
Ethereum-powered mobile application to create digital collectibles, after 100,000 editions it ceases operations in October the same year.
Simon de la Rouviere Launches This Artwork is Always on Sale
This conceptual piece is always on sale and supports the artist by requiring the owner to pay a 5% pa patronage at the self-specified price.
Jennifer and Kevin McCoy’s Public Key/Private Key at the Whitney Museum
The conceptual artwork explores museums’ ownership of art, incorporates Monegraph and enables 50 people to become museum donors of this piece.
Official launch of Blockchain Art Exchange
London-based digital art platform on the Ethereum blockchain by art curator Sascha Bailey.
Buttchain by Red Paper Heart
Brooklyn experiential specialists Red Paper Heart created Buttchain to demystify blockchain tech and how it will eventually infiltrate your everyday life.
Pascal Boyart completes La Liberté guidant le peuple 2019 mural puzzle
Politically charged during the Yellow Vests protest, this Bitcoin puzzle mural will be removed.
2018
MoCA Museum of Crypto Art launches in CryptoVoxels
Paris-based artist Bnoiit.C starts creating the first virtual museum to commemorate the crypto art movement. D2218
Cryptograffiti breaks record with Black Swan for least expensive painting
Black Swan by Cryptograffiti becomes the least expensive painting ever sold for 1 millisatoshi or $0.000000037 at the time of auction.
Solo Exhibition: Fight Fear by Hackatao
Italian artist duo Hackatao showcases in their show crypto art and a selection of international crypto artists.
Group Exhibition: Blockchain Aesthetics
Blockchain-themed exhibition curated by Julian Stadon at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield, England.
Discussion Panel: Decentralizing Art
Blockstack hosted a panel entitled Decentralizing Art: The Hype and Hope of Blockchain at Foley Gallery on the Lower East Side of New York City.
Launch of Mintable Marketplace
Mintable is an open platform for ERC-721 tokens. In December 2020, the platform relaunched as an NFT-governed DAO. D0118
Group Exhibition { PERFECT & PRICELESS }
Blockchain-themed exhibition curated by Georg Bak at the Kate Vass Gallery in Zurich, Switzerland.
Panel Discussion: Intersections Vol. 9 Printemps Numérique
Montreal’s blockchain panel discussion with Crypto Art and Blockchain Experience zone at the Canadian Centre for Architecture.
Christie’s and Artory Record First Fine Art Auction on Blockchain
Christie’s documented and recorded the $323.1 million in sales of its Ebsworth auction with Artory on the Blockchain.
Snark.art launches with Eva Sussman’s 89 seconds Atomized
89 Seconds Atomized is not only an art installation but also an experiment in digital ownership and community.
NYC ArtTech + Blockchain with the Rarest Book Launch
New Art Academy hosted the NYC ArtTech + Blockchain Connect Kimmel at the Center for University Life during, also launch of the Rare Pepe book.
Group Exhibition: Bitcoin Art (r)evolution
On the occasion of Bitcoin’s 10th anniversary, this international group exhibition showcased physical blockchain- and bitcoin-related art.
Group Exhibition: Proof of Work
International blockchain-related group exhibition curated Simon Denny by at the Schinkel Pavillon in Berlin, Germany.
Anna Ridler presents AI-based Mosaic Virus
UK artist Anna Riedler was commissioned to create a Bitcoin price visualization based on her AI-generated tulip images.
CryptoArte Launch
CryptoArte creates generative tokens and paintings based on the hash values of Ethereum transaction blocks.
Terra0 launches Flower Tokens
Experimental project attempts at creating a combined crypto-collectible physical asset, it is archived in November. J2018
Art+Tech Summit: Exploring Blockchain
Auction house Christie’s hosted its first one-day art+tech conference entitled: Exploring Blockchain — Is the Art World Ready For Consensus?
Official Launch of Codex Protocol on Mainnet
After a controversial Initial Coin Offering, the Codex protocol launches as a provenance registry for art and collectibles.
Official launch of R.A.R.E
Platform for digital original artwork registered on the Ethereum blockchain by Rare Art Labs based in Richmond, VA.
Maecenas Auctions Fractional Ownership of Andy Warhol Artwork
Maecenas auctions Andy Warhol’s 14 Small Electric Chairs at UK-based Dadiani Fine Art gallery.
Art Basel Panel: Blockchain and the Art World
Artists, curators and visionaries come together to discuss the potential impact of blockchain on art.
Launch of CryptoVoxels Metaverse
New Zealand-based, this virtual reality world became one of the primary exhibition spaces for crypto art and digital collectibles.
Sale of Yellow Lambo
Kevin Abosch latest conceptual artwork is made up of 42 neon letters and numbers which represent a cryptocurrency contract.
Official Launch of Digirare
Digirare is a marketplace for crypto art and collectibles on the CounterParty Blockchain.
Solo Exhibition: Games of Decentralized Life by Simon Denny
Simon explores concepts of centralization decentralization through installations and modified board games at Galerie Buchholz in Cologne, Germany.
Official launch of KnownOrigin.io
Platform for digital original and editioned artwork registered on the Ethereum blockchain by Manchester-based BlockRocket.
Official launch of SuperRare.co
Platform for digital original artwork registered on the Ethereum blockchain by Brooklyn-based Pixura.
Launch of Kaleidoscope Marketplace
Kaleidoscope launches as a digital directory and marketplace for CounterParty-based crypto-collectibles and digital art. M2318
Solo Exhibition: New Money by Andy Bauch
Andy Bauch explores in his solo exhibition the value of art and money with lego-based paintings and bitcoin reward puzzles.
Jonas Lund launches the Jonas Lund Token
Token holders/shareholders participate in decisions on Jonas Lund’s artistic practice and life. M2118
Kevin Abosch sells his crypto artwork Forever Rose for US$ 1 million
In celebration of Valentine’s Day, Kevin Abosch created this fractionalized artwork with the gifting protocol GIFTO.io
Group Exhibition: New World Order at Drugo More
Travelling blockchain-themed group exhibition as part of the European collaboration project State Machines at Gallery Filodrammatica in Rijeka, Croatia.
Rare Art Festival and Auction of Rare Pepe
The sale of a Homer Pepe card at the emblematic Rare Digital Art Festival in New York City for the equivalent of $38,500 goes viral.
Group Exhibition: New World Order at Aksioma
Traveling blockchain-themed group exhibition as part of the European collaboration project State Machines at Aksioma, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
2017
Official Launch of OpenSea
OpenSea launches its Alpha of the first decentralized exchange and marketplace for digital collectibles.
Launch of the Slothicorn Crypto Art Collective
Artist Stellabelle’s first sizeable crypto artist communities educated about opportunities/ crypto projects and was based on the Steem blockchain.
Sarah Friend showcases Clickmine at the NEoN Digital Arts Festival
Winner of Furtherfield’s blockchain art commission, Clickmine is a hyperinflationary ERC-20 token minted by a clicking game.
Official launch of DADA
Founded in 2014, DADA launches with Creeps & Weirdos its first collection of Rare Digital Artworks, all artworks on DADA are created on the platform.
Exhibition: Open Codes
Technology-themed group exhibition featuring blockchain-related art and digital collectibles at the ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Germany.
Official launch of CryptoKitties
Digital collectible cats issued on the Ethereum blockchain by Dapper Labs, creating the ERC-721 NFT token standard..
Publication of Artists Re:Thinking the Blockchain
Edited by Ruth Catlow, Marc Garrett, Nathan Jones and Sam Skinner, this book features many blockchain art pioneers.
First Release of Bail Block Application
Bail Block is an app and website that addresses the broken justice system by raising money for bail funds by mining Monero cryptocurrency.
Official launch of ArtOlin
Artist Gus Grillasca launches a CounterParty blockchain-based digital art marketplace. A1117
Launch of MoonCatsRescue
This early ERC-20 crypto collectible lies dormant for many years. Rediscovered in March 2021, all 25,600 cats sell within hours.
Official launch of Crypto Punks
Limited to 10,000 digital collectibles, crypto punks were issued for free on the Ethereum blockchain by Larva Labs.
Group Exhibition: New World Order at Furtherfield
Travelling blockchain-themed group exhibition as part of the European collaboration project State Machines at Furtherfield, London.
Official launch of Curio Cards
Curio Card offers rare digital art cards and is the first Ethereum-based NFT art token marketplace.
Official launch of Spells of Genesis
A digital card game based on the CounterParty blockchain by the EverdreamSoft game studio.
Launch of CounterParty-based Memorychain
Memorychain was a community-driven initiative on CounterParty in Asia, similar to RarePepe. The cards were issued between April and August 2017.
First Episode of the AOTB Art On The Blockchain Podcast
DJ J-SCRILLA and professor/attorney Cynthia Gayton air the first of their 27 podcast episodes about digital tokens, art on the blockchain and its uses.
Solo Exhibition: Hammer Projects: Simon Denny
Simon Denny’s sculptural installations explore the potential applications of blockchain technology at the Hammer Museum.
2016
Launch of the Age Of Chains Trading Card Game
With the release of Woodcoin’s Guardian, the digital trading card game based in Berlin, Germany launches on the CounterParty blockchain.
Solo Exhibition: The Revolution Will Not Be Centralized by Cryptograffiti
Cryptograffiti showcases his Bitcoin-themed solo exhibition at the Digital Garage in San Francisco, CA. N0416
DJPEPE Rare Pepe First Audio NFT
The CounterParty-based Rare Pepe card by DJ J-SCRILLA is a NFT that unlocks through message signing access to his hidden Soundcloud account.
Launch of Book of Orbs Marketplace
Book of Orbs is a CounterParty exchange for game items that supports game-related currencies such as BitCrystals, WillCoins and PepeCash.
Launch of Rare Pepe Wallet and Marketplace
Derived from his BTCPAY Market, Joe Looney creates with Rare Pepe Wallet a dedicated place to collect, display and exchange Rare Pepes. S1416
First Rare Pepes
Release of the first User-/Artist-issued trading cards based on the CounterParty blockchain, arguably the first issuance of crypto art.
Group Exhibition: Proof Of Art
A blockchain-themed group exhibition hosted by Cryptograffiti and the San Francisco Bitcoin Meetup at Code & Canvas.
Elias Ahonen publishes his Physical Bitcoin and Crypto Encyclopedia
This Encyclopedia is the first physical book cataloging bitcoin and other cryptocurrency collectibles.
Group Exhibition: Furtherfield Showcase: Art and the Blockchain
Ruth Catlow curated Furtherfield Showcase which was exhibited at the Digital Catapult in London.
HODL by Cryptograffiti
Cryptograffiti created his HODL prints and sculptures in the style of pop art artist Robert Indiana. F1016
2015
Launch of the Left Gallery Marketplace
Artist Harm van den Dorpel and Paloma Rodríguez Carrington launch Left Gallery as a a digital art gallery based on the Ascribe platform.
Random Darknet Shopper by !Mediengruppe Bitnik
The artists showcase their shopping bot which uses Bitcoin to buy random items in the darknet at Horatio Junior Gallery in London.
Cryptograffiti raises 17.3 Bitcoin for Dorian Nakamoto
Created in 2014, this collage of destructed credit cards raises $5.5k in Nov 2015 (May 2020 $150k) for the benefit of Dorian Nakamoto.
Launch of the Ξtheria Decentralized Virtual World
Cyrus Adkisson presented and launched Ξtheria officially as the first decentralized virtual world at Devcon1 held in London.
Primavera De Filippi creates the First Spore of her Plantoid
The first spore of the autonomous blockchain-based lifeform is created during a workshop at the Stadtwerkstatt in Linz, Austria.
Official Launch of Verisart
Los Angeles-based Verisart is a platform to create digital certificates for art and collectibles backed by the blockchain.
MAK Vienna becomes first art museum to buy digital artwork with Bitcoin
Austrian Museum of Applied Arts became the first museum to buy a digital artwork using Bitcoin from Dutch artist Harm van den Dorpel.
Coin Artist releases Bitcoin Puzzle Painting
Coin Artist Marguerite Christin released her puzzle painting and raised attention for the 4.87 Bitcoin reward and the 3 years to solve it.
Official Launch of Scarab Experiment
Scarab is simultaneously an artist collective and a work of art itself based on the CounterParty blockchain.
First issued FDCARD
Digital trading cards issued on the CounterParty blockchain by the EverdreamSoft game studio, these cards become later the game Spells of Genesis.
Sarah Meyohas launches BitchCoin
BitchCoin is an artwork-backed currency by Sarah Meyohas in an effort to challenge the current economics of the art world.
2014
MYSOUL
Artist Rhea Myers tokenized her soul conceptually as an MYSOUL token on the DogeCoin and CounterParty blockchain.
Christopher Steininger creates The Slaying of BearWhale
Commemorating the 30,000 BTC ($9m) sale within 6 hours at a low market price, Christopher Steininger’s painting depicts this historic moment.
Matt Habel creates The Slaying of BearWhale
Habel and Steininger (entry above) win 5 BTC in ShapeShift’s competition for the BearWhale commemoration.
Eye Of God by Xania Dorfman sells at Conference in Israel
The artist was commissioned to paint this artwork for the Inside Bitcoins Conference and Expo in Israel, where it sold for 35 BTC (~ $13,000).
Group Exhibition: The Darknet
Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen showcases an interdisciplinary exhibition examining themes such as copyright, privacy, illegality and resistance.
Billy Mabrey creates BearWhale
Texas-based Billy Mabrey created this painting in Shapeshift’s open call for art depicting the trading chart and the first BearWhale.
Nili Lerner Announces her NILIcoins NFT art project
Utilizing Bitcoin Colour Coins, Nili issues her conceptual art coins as well as coins brand name assets such as ITWITTER, etc.
Rhea Myers launches Ethereum Art Market
On her website, Rhea Myers presents the first Ethereum art market smart contract through which digital artworks can be registered and sold.
Rhea Myers creates This Contract is Art
In this conceptual artwork, the smart contract can be set to nominate itself as art or not with a click of a mouse and the payment of the gas fee.
Youl creates Last (Bitcoin) Supper
French artist Youl created a commissioned artwork for the Bitcoin project, which sold on eBay for nearly $3,000.
Tatiana Moroz launches TatianaCoin
Singer and activist Tatiana Moroz issues a personal token based on the CounterParty blockchain to fund her third studio album.
Launch of Cointemporary Bitcoin Art Gallery
Austrian Cointemporary platform showcases temporary online exhibitions of Bitcoin art, available for Bitcoin only.
Nakamoto (The Proof) by Émilie Brout and Maxime Marion
The French artists use the dark-net and Bitcoin to acquire a scanned copy of Satoshi Nakamoto’s passport.
Launch of the Conceptual Currency LazyCoin
This physical “proof of non-work” currency LazyCoin is a store for “non-value”. It is produced and verified for doing nothing.
Official Launch of Monegraph
Monegraph is the first NFT platform on the NameCoin blockchain that allows people to certify images on the web, then tweet out public proof.
Seven on Seven Conference at New Museum
Paired by Rhizome, Kevin McCoy and Anil Dash build Monegraph within one day and create the first digital art token/NFT.
Cryptograffiti’s Street Art promotes Bitcoin with Guerrilla Marketing
The intricate pieces include destructed credit cards, modified bank logos, and Bitcoin ads attached to bank buildings and ATMs.
Dave Young Kim creates Free Lunch
Dave Young Kim paints Dorian Nakamoto as he attempts to evade the media after being identified by Newsweek.
Bitcoin Art Fair & Meetup at 20Mission
This group exhibition takes place during San Francisco’s Bitcoin meetup, reportedly at that time the largest in the world.
Group Exhibition: Computers and Capital: The Rise of Digital Currency
Bitcoin-themed group exhibition curated by Erik H Rzepka and Wesley Yuen for Coinfest 2014 in Vancouver, BC.
2013
Untitled Mining Installation by Peter Frölich
German artist Peter Frölich creates a conceptual artwork that consists of a working Bitcoin mining rig within a traditional antique gold painting frame.
Launch of Cryptographics
This cryptocurrency-inspired project by Stef Lewandowski and Liz Barile-Page visually encrypt secret messages as artworks, the project ended.
Bitcoin Roller Coaster by Brainless Tales
Brainless Tales posts his iconic comic to Reddit. Subsequently, it will be continuously modified and made into memes by fans.
Kevin Abosch Releases his Conceptual Book Entitled Bank
The artist collates 500 paired Bitcoin public and private keys in a limited edition book of 50 and declaring it a bank.
2012
Proposal of Coloured Coins
Yoni Assia’s Coloured Coins introduce the idea of cryptocurrency to represent other assets, which is arguably the beginning of non-fungible tokens.
2011
Launch of Casascius Coins
Mike Caldwell starts issuing Casascius Coins, which are physical metal-plated or pure gold Bitcoins including authenticity holograms with private keys.
First ASCII tribute/eulogy/image on the Bitcoin Blockchain
Often referred to as ASCII BERNANKE, Dan Kaminsky embeds the first tribute/eulogy and ASCII image in honour of cryptographer Len Sassaman.