Bitcoin-based artwork smashes records, sells for $100K

Many artists work their entire lives and never see their work sold for this kind of price tag.
Many artists work their entire lives and never see their work sold for this kind of price tag.

“Right Place & Right Time,” a digital art piece based on Bitcoin's (BTC) fluctuating price action, has sold for more than $100,000.

"The Master NFT of Right Place & Right Time was sold to TokenAngels for $101,593. — but happy to call it $100,000," Matt Kane, the artwork's creator, told Cointelegraph on Friday. 

NFT stands for nonfungible token — a unique digital asset that does not synonymously value others like it. NFTs have begun surfacing as artwork, giving the tokenholder ownership over the art. "Right Place & Right Time" is an NFT art piece showing a creatively designed image of Bitcoin's logo. The patterns and overall look, however, change along with Bitcoin's price action. 

Kane said he cannot remember when he actually began creating the art piece. "I've lost track of time in creating it," he said.

"My artwork always takes however much or little time that the work demands. The original digital painting was made last November and then I began preparing it to become a programmable artwork on Async Art in January. There's been countless tweaks and preparations to perfect it's homecoming to Volatility.art."

Many artists put their masterpieces on the blockchain via Async Art, while Volatility.art is a place viewers can see Bitcoin art formed from its daily price action.

"Right Place & Right Time" stands as a unique piece. The master NFT sold for $100,000. This master NFT, however, will create 210 different NFT artworks based on Bitcoin's price action and the subsequent patterns that pop up on the master art piece. 

"Each NFT will be created by the original master NFT," Kane explained. "The compositions are created using an algorithm I wrote which visualize a single day in Bitcoin price volatility," he noted. "I'll maintain some creative influence, altering colors and other design elements as the project matures over time," he said, adding: "And of course I curate which days are minted."

When each of the 210 pieces are purchased, the master NFT owner receives 21% of each sale, Kane explained. "The purchasers of these 210 will [also] have the option to buy a print counterpart of their NFT art," Kane added. 

The 210 and 21% numbers give tribute to the Bitcoin's maximum supply — 21 million coins. 

The crypto and blockchain space has seen its art scene rise as of late, as a number of various art-related initiatives have popped up across the industry. 

UPDATE Sept. 18, 18:10 UTC: This article has been updated.