History of Crypto Art - Blockchain-related Art and NFTs

In April 2020, I published the first edition of this historical overview. It includes milestones in the history of crypto art, crypto art galleries, physical blockchain-related artworks and events, blockchain technology in the traditional art world, and the first digital collectibles. The following selection is a work in progress, subjective and vast, yet doomed to be incomplete. 

As seen in

Referenced by

Milestones in the History of Crypto Art

2010
April 27, 2010 - Herbert R. Sim’s Satoshi Samurai Drawing
Entrepreneur and illustrator Herbert Sim published his creation of one of the first portraits of the anonymous Bitcoin founder as a Samurai entitled Satoshi Nakamoto: Masked Samurai Angel and the Bitcoin Daishō. (Related: Link / Twitter)
2011
April 21, 2011 - Launch of .bit Domains
Bit Domains launched on NameCoin, a Bitcoin fork intended as an open, decentralized and censorship-resistant Domain Name System. The first domain bitcoin.bit can be conceptually seen as one of the earliest non-fungible digital assets. (Related: Link / Twitter)
May 10, 2011 - First Punycode Domains
NameCoin lead developer Khalahan Henkh started using Punycode to experiment with creative domain names such as ASCII art, emoticons and emojis. Punycode is a representation of Unicode with the ASCII character subset. (Related: Link / Twitter)
July 30, 2011 - 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. (Related: Link)
October 26, 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. (Related: Link)
2012
March 28, 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. (Related: Link)
May 31, 2012 - First NameCoin Identities
NameCoin Identities were created as decentralized identities for domains and later integrated with i.e. the decentralized P2P communication protocol Bitmessage or through the NameID dApp the OpenID project. (Related: Link)
2013
January 16, 2013 - 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. (Related: Link)
April 14, 2013 - 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. (Related: Link)
July 28, 2013 - Launch of Cryptographics
This cryptocurrency-inspired project by Stef Lewandowski and Liz Barile-Page visually encrypts secret messages as artworks, the project ended. (Related: Link)
August 21, 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. (Related: Link)
September 14, 2013 - Kuno Goda creates his 200 Bitcoin Painting
Inspired by Warhol, this artwork is one of the first representational paintings and its undisclosed sale made international headlines in 2014. (Related: Link)
2014
February 1, 2014 - Launch of the Huntercoin Game and Currency
This early experimental decentralized peer-to-peer and play-to-earn game was also a currency forked from the Namecoin blockchain. (Related: Link)
February 15, 2014 - 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. (Related: Link)
March 6, 2014 - Dave Young Kim creates Free Lunch
Dave Young Kim paints Dorian Nakamoto as he attempts to evade the media after being identified by Newsweek. (Related: Link)
March 6, 2014 - 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. (Related: Link)
March 13, 2014 - 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. (Related: Link)
March 14, 2014 - Artist Pierre Bourque Initiates Bitcoin-themed Stamps
Although never circulated for sales, these legal stamps were made by Canada Post. The artist holds the originals. (Related: Link)
March 16, 2014 - Newsweek Bitcoin’s Face by Ben Wiseman
The American illustrator created this iconic cover of Newsweek which controversially claimed Dorian Nakamoto as the Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. Despite the false claim, the article made Dorian Nakamoto the face of Bitcoin in countless artworks and memes. (Related: Link / Twitter)
April 24, 2014 - Group Exhibition: Proof of Work
Willa Köerner and Jenny Sharaf curate Proof Of Work: a human approach to the convergence of art and technology at The Sub, San Francisco, CA. (Related: Link)
May 3, 2014 - 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. (Related: Link)
May 3, 2014 - 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. (Related: Link)
May 14, 2014 - 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. (Related: Link)
May 28, 2014 - 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. (Related: Link)
May 29, 2014 - Solo Exhibition: Monetary Series by Jenna Lash
Contemporary pointillist painter Lash exhibits her currency-themed pieces at the Bitcoin Center NYC. (Related: Link)
June 1, 2014 - Launch of Cointemporary Bitcoin Art Gallery
Austrian Cointemporary platform showcases temporary online exhibitions of Bitcoin art, available for Bitcoin only. (Related: Link)
June 3, 2014 - Tatiana Moroz launches TatianaCoin
Singer and activist Tatiana Moroz issues a personal token based on the CounterParty blockchain to fund her third studio album. (Related: Link)
June 12, 2014 - Tokenization of the OLGA NFT
JP Janssen tokenizes a sketch of his girlfriend and himself on-chain with the CounterParty blockchain. (Related: Link)
July 21, 2014 - Youl creates Last (Bitcoin) Supper
French artist Youl created a commissioned artwork for the Bitcoin project, which sold on eBay for nearly $3,000. (Related: Link)
July 22, 2014 - 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. (Related: Link)
July 24, 2014 - 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. (Related: Link)
July 27, 2014 - Tokenization of TwitterEggs
NameCoin users started tokenizing the popular TwitterEggs images using the OneCoin dApp, back then eggs were Twitter’s profile default images. A total of 277 were tokenized with 14 different background colours between 2014 and 2015. (Related: Link / Twitter / Note)
September 14, 2014 - 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. (Related: Link)
October 7, 2014 - 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. (Related: Link)
October 18, 2014 - Group Exhibition: The Darknet – From Memes to Onionland. An Exploration
Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen showcases an interdisciplinary exhibition examining themes such as copyright, privacy, illegality and resistance. (Related: Link)
October 27, 2014 - 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). (Related: Link)
November 3, 2014 - 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. (Related: Link)
November 3, 2014 - Matt Habel creates The Slaying of BearWhale
Habel and Steininger (entry above) win 5 BTC in ShapeShift’s competition for the BearWhale commemoration. (Related: Link)
November 21, 2014 - MYSOUL – A Tokenized Artwork by Rhea Myers
Artist Rhea Myers tokenized her soul conceptually as an MYSOUL token on the DogeCoin and CounterParty blockchain. (Related: Link)
2015
February 15, 2015 - 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. (Related: Link)
March 11, 2015 - 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. (Related: Link)
March 16, 2015 - Official Launch of Scarab Experiment
Scarab is simultaneously an artist collective and a work of art itself based on the CounterParty blockchain. (Related: Link)
April 9, 2015 - Coin Artist releases Bitcoin Puzzle Painting
Coin Artist Marguerite deCourcelle released her puzzle painting and raised attention for the 4.87 Bitcoin reward and the 3 years to solve it. (Related: Link)
April 24, 2015 - 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. (Related: Link)
July 7, 2015 - Official Launch of Verisart
Los Angeles-based Verisart is a platform to create digital certificates for art and collectibles backed by the blockchain. (Related: Link)
July 17, 2015 - 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. (Related: Link)
October 17, 2015 - Group Exhibition: The Human Face of Cryptoeconomies
Furtherfield Gallery presents artworks that reveal how we might produce, exchange and value things differently in the age of the blockchain. (Related: Link)
October 31, 2015 - 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. (Related: Link)
November 12, 2015 - 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. (Related: Link)
December 11, 2015 - 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. (Related: Link)
December 15, 2015 - Launch of the Left Gallery Marketplace
Artist Harm van den Dorpel and Paloma Rodríguez Carrington launched Left Gallery as a digital art gallery initially based on the Ascribe platform. (Related: Link / Twitter)
2016
February 11, 2016 - HODL by Cryptograffiti
Cryptograffiti created his HODL prints and sculptures in the style of pop art artist Robert Indiana. F1016 (Related: Link / Note)
March 28, 2016 - Group Exhibition: Furtherfield Showcase: Art and the Blockchain
Ruth Catlow curated Furtherfield Showcase which was exhibited at the Digital Catapult in London. (Related: Link)
April 15, 2016 - Elias Ahonen publishes his Physical Bitcoin and Crypto Encyclopedia
This Encyclopedia is the first physical book cataloging bitcoin and other cryptocurrency collectibles. (Related: Link)
May 25, 2016 - Group Exhibition: Proof Of Art – The Bitcoin Art Show
A blockchain-themed group exhibition hosted by Cryptograffiti and the San Francisco Bitcoin Meetup at Code & Canvas. (Related: Link)
September 8, 2016 - Release of Bittercoin – the Worst Miner Ever
Martín Nadal and César Escudero Andaluz hacked an old calculator machine to be used as a miner validating the pending bitcoin transactions. The first release was at Ars Electronica in 2016. (Related: Link / Twitter)
September 9, 2016 - First Rare Pepes
Release of the first User-/Artist-issued trading cards based on the CounterParty blockchain, arguably the first of crypto art community. (Related: Link)
September 14, 2016 - 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. (Related: Link / Note)
October 12, 2016 - 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. (Related: Link)
October 16, 2016 - 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. (Related: Link)
November 4, 2016 - 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. (Related: Link / Note)
November 18, 2016 - Launch of Pixel Maps
Pixel Map is a website project featuring 3,969 Ethereum-backed 16×16 px squares, which can be purchased and customized. (Related: Link)
November 25, 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. (Related: Link)
2017
January 21, 2017 - Solo Exhibition: Hammer Projects: Simon Denny
Simon Denny’s sculptural installations explore the potential applications of blockchain technology at the Hammer Museum. (Related: Link)
March 18, 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. (Related: Link)
April 8, 2017 - 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. (Related: Link)
April 20, 2017 - Official launch of Spells of Genesis
A digital card game based on the CounterParty blockchain by the EverdreamSoft game studio. (Related: Link)
May 4, 2017 - Launch of the ENS Naming Protocol
The widely integrated blockchain naming standard becomes a though-after collectible and Web3 user name. (Related: Link)
May 9, 2017 - Official launch of Curio Cards
Curio Card offers rare digital art cards and is one of the first Ethereum-based NFT art token marketplaces. (Related: Link)
May 20, 2017 - Group Exhibition: New World Order at Furtherfield
Travelling blockchain-themed group exhibition as part of the European collaboration project State Machines at Furtherfield, London. (Related: Link)
June 22, 2017 - Official launch of Crypto Punks
Limited to 10,000 digital collectibles, crypto punks were issued for free on the Ethereum blockchain by Larva Labs. (Related: Link)
July 13, 2017 - Christian Langalis shows Buy Bitcoin sign
Christian’s performance/intervention becomes one of Bitcoin’s most popular memes and earns him the nickname Bitcoin Sign Guy. (Related: Link)
July 21, 2017 - Launch of Oasis Mining
Oasis was a Japanese card project and fork of MemoryChain without the thematic and daily restrictions. (Related: Link)
August 9, 2017 - 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. (Related: Link)
August 12, 2017 - Launch of ArtOlin Marketplace
Artist Gus Grillasca launches a CounterParty blockchain-based digital art marketplace that expands later into Ethereum tokens. (Related: Link / Note)
August 16, 2017 - 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. (Related: Link)
August 30, 2017 - Mitchell F. Chan Releases Digital Zones of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility
This “invisible” conceptual piece digitalized Yves Klein’s Empty Spaces concept and features non-fungible attributes despite being an ERC-20 token. (Related: Link / Note)
September 12, 2017 - 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. (Related: Link)
September 24, 2017 - Julian Oliver Exhibits Harvest in the Skövde Art Museum
Commissioned by the Skövde art museum, Harvest uses wind energy to mine cryptocurrency which funds climate-change research. (Related: Link)
October 20, 2017 - Official launch of CryptoKitties
Digital collectible cats issued on the Ethereum blockchain by Dapper Labs, creating the ERC-721 NFT token standard.. (Related: Link)
October 20, 2017 - Launch of the Lunar Tokens
Following the popular expression “We’re going to the moon!”, this decentralized real estate project split the moon into 400 collectible plots. (Related: Link)
October 21, 2017 - Exhibition: Open Codes – The World as a Field of Data
Technology-themed group exhibition featuring blockchain-related art and digital collectibles at the ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Germany. (Related: Link)
October 28, 2017 - Max Dovey Showcases Breath (BRH) Respiratory Mining
This conceptual piece uses human respiration to mine the cryptocurrency Monero is shown at Generator Projects in Dundee, Scotland. (Related: Link)
November 1, 2017 - 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. (Related: Link)
November 10, 2017 - 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. (Related: Link)
November 12, 2017 - Launch of CryptoCats
This early Australian crypto collectible project issued a total of 625 8-bit cats in three releases and was rediscovered in 2021. (Related: Link)
November 16, 2017 - Launch of the Slothicorn Crypto Art Collective
Artist Stellabelle’s first sizeable crypto artist community educated about opportunities/ crypto projects and was based on the Steem blockchain. (Related: Link)
December 18, 2017 - Launch of the Etheremon Game
 Ethereum-based monster raising and battle game in which all monsters and many in-game assets are NFTs. (Related: Link)
December 23, 2017 - Launch of WeiCards
WeiCards is a decentralized website that features 100 cards, which can be customized and linked. The cards can be bought or rented. (Related: Link)
December 26, 2017 - Launch of EtherRocks Collectibles
EtherRocks are 100 digital pet rocks with an increasing minting price through a bonding curve. All rocks were minted by August 2021. (Related: Link)
December 29, 2017 - Official Launch of OpenSea
OpenSea launches its Alpha of the first decentralized exchange and marketplace for digital collectibles. (Related: Link)
2018
January 7, 2018 - Launch of CryptoCards
CryptoCards are digital collectible NFT cards documenting essential milestones in Bitcoin’s history. (Related: Link / Twitter)
January 8, 2018 - Kevin Abosch released IMACOIN
The project explored the commodification of humans in a combination of 10m ERC-20 tokens and 100 physical pieces created with the artist’s blood. (Related: Link / Contract / Twitter)
January 11, 2018 - 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. (Related: Link)
January 14, 2018 - 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 $38,500 goes viral. (Related: Link)
January 22, 2018 - Launch of EtherTulips
EtherTulips are Ethereum blockchain collectible. They can be securely bought, traded, and battled. (Related: Link / Twitter)
February 1, 2018 - Launch of Fishbank Alpha
Multiplayer battle game based on Ethereum smart contracts, which allow players to collect, grow and trade crypto fish tokens. (Related: Link)
February 1, 2018 - Launch of the Bitcorn Simulation Game
Based on CounterParty, Bitcorn players harvest farms or publish corn meme cards over the course of 4 years in pursuit of the Bragging token. (Related: Link)
February 2, 2018 - Launch of ETHMap
ETHMap is a project created by the developer of WeiCards and features 178 tradable zones/countries. (Related: Link)
February 11, 2018 - Group Exhibition: New World Order at Drugo More
Travelling blockchain-themed group exhibition as part of the European collaboration project State Machines at Gallery Filodrammatica in Rijeka, Croatia. (Related: Link)
February 15, 2018 - Kevin Abosch sells his crypto artwork Forever Rose for US$ 1 million
In celebration of Valentine’s Day, Kevin Abosch created this fractionalized artwork with the gifting protocol GIFTO.io (Related: Link)
February 18, 2018 - Launch of the Axie Infinity Game Presale
Axie Infinity is a digital pet universe where players can earn tokens through skilled gameplay and contributions to the ecosystem. (Related: Link)
March 5, 2018 - Launch of Etherlambos
These Lambo collectibles can be upgraded which result in change of design and parameters determined in the smart contract. (Related: Link)
March 22, 2018 - Jonas Lund launches the Jonas Lund Token
Token holders/shareholders participate in decisions on Jonas Lund’s artistic practice, such as new artworks or exhibition attendances. (Related: Link / Note)
March 23, 2018 - Launch of Kaleidoscope Marketplace
Kaleidoscope launches as a digital directory and marketplace for CounterParty-based crypto-collectibles and digital art. (Related: Link / Note)
March 24, 2018 - 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. (Related: Link)
March 24, 2018 - Launch of Etherwaifu
Etherwaifu is a collectible card game to collect craftable artworks by combining cards and crafting new ones.  (Related: Link)
April 3, 2018 - Launch of SuperRare Marketplace
Family-run Pixura launched the Ethereum-based marketplace SuperRare exclusively for 1/1 digital artworks. A little-known fact is that the marketplace ran its first year entirely free, and the team didn’t take any commission on sales. (Related: Link / Twitter)
April 6, 2018 - Launch of KnownOrigin Marketplace
Manchester-based BlockRocket launched its Ethereum platform KnownOriding for digital original and editioned artwork. The platform didn’t mint the tokens until they were sold, resulting in many unsold 2018 artworks being dated back to when the marketplace updated its smart contract in September of that year. (Related: Link / Twitter)
April 15, 2018 - 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. (Related: Link)
April 17, 2018 - Official Launch of Digirare
Digirare is a marketplace for crypto art and collectibles on the CounterParty Blockchain. (Related: Link)
April 28, 2018 - Gordon Berger’s Blockchain and Art TEDx Talk
Multi-disciplinary artist Gordon Berger held his TEDx Talk about the intersection of blockchain, crypto art and NFTs at the Museum of London. (Related: Link / Twitter)
May 7, 2018 - Sale of Yellow Lambo
Kevin Abosch latest conceptual artwork is made up of 42 neon letters and numbers which represent a cryptocurrency contract. (Related: Link)
May 11, 2018 - Launch of CryptoCrystals
CryptoCrystal is a Japanese NFT gaming and collectibles project. The assets became public domain in August 2021. (Related: Link)
May 22, 2018 - Launch of CryptoVoxels Metaverse
New Zealand-based, this virtual reality world became one of the primary exhibition spaces for crypto art and digital collectibles. (Related: Link)
May 25, 2018 - Group Exhibition: Innovation as Artistic Technique
The State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia hosted this group exhibition featuring Kevin Abosch’s Personal Effects. (Related: Link)
June 10, 2018 - Launch of CryptoStrikers
CryptoStrikers is are soccer card collectibles that can be bought in packs, comparable to the popular physical Panini stickers. (Related: Link)
June 14, 2018 - Art Basel Panel: Blockchain and the Art World
Artists, curators and visionaries come together to discuss the potential impact of blockchain on art. (Related: Link)
June 20, 2018 - Maecenas Auctions Fractional Ownership of Andy Warhol Artwork
Maecenas auctions Andy Warhol’s 14 Small Electric Chairs at UK-based Dadiani Fine Art gallery. (Related: Link)
June 26, 2018 - 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. (Related: Link)
July 8, 2018 - 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. (Related: Link)
July 11, 2018 - CryptoArte Launch
CryptoArte creates generative tokens and paintings based on the hash values of Ethereum transaction blocks. (Related: Link)
July 15, 2018 - Launch of the Astroledger Platform
Astroledger is a platform that raises funds with naming start to fund space grants. The named stars are issued as ETH-based trading cards. (Related: Link / Contract / Twitter)
July 18, 2018 - 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? (Related: Link)
July 20, 2018 - Terra0 launches Flower Tokens
Experimental project attempts at creating a combined crypto-collectible physical asset, it is archived in November. (Related: Link)
July 26, 2018 - Group Exhibition: Distributed Systems and Blockchain
During the Gray Area Festival in San Francisco, the group exhibition showcased blockchain artists exploring the possibility of technology to make space for free culture. (Related: Link / Twitter)
September 8, 2018 - Distributed Gallery Presents its Chaos Machine
The chaos machine by the French collective works as a crypto-jukebox that plays music whenever a banknote is burned. (Related: Link)
September 9, 2018 - Group Exhibition: Proof of Work
International blockchain-related group exhibition curated Simon Denny by at the Schinkel Pavillon in Berlin, Germany. (Related: Link)
September 17, 2018 - 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. (Related: Link)
September 29, 2018 - 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. (Related: Link)
October 8, 2018 - Official Launch of Cryptographics
The generative art platform creates unique mintable artworks based on graphical asset sets which can be created or purchased. (Related: Link)
October 10, 2018 - Launch of the Portion Marketplace
Portion launches as an Ethereum-based auction house which strives to blend physical and digital assets. (Related: Link)
October 12, 2018 - Non-Fungible Summit
The Non-Fungible Summit concluded the SF Blockchain Week in 2018 and focused on the design, use, applications and potential of nonfungible tokens for the Ethereum developer community. (Related: Link / Twitter)
October 21, 2018 - Solo Exhibition: Disruption – The Art of Blockchain
Scotland-based artist Trevor Jones’ exhibition is inspired by cryptocurrency culture and held at the Dundas Street Gallery in Edinburgh. (Related: Link)
October 25, 2018 - 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. (Related: Link)
November 8, 2018 - 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. (Related: Link)
November 12, 2018 - 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. (Related: Link)
November 12, 2018 - 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. (Related: Link)
November 17, 2018 - Group Exhibition { PERFECT & PRICELESS } – Value Systems on the Blockchain
Blockchain-themed exhibition curated by Georg Bak at the Kate Vass Gallery in Zurich, Switzerland. (Related: Link)
December 1, 2018 - Launch of Mintable Marketplace
Mintable is an open platform for ERC-721 tokens. In December 2020, the platform relaunched as an NFT-governed DAO. (Related: Link / Note)
December 2, 2018 - Launch of Radi.Cards
RadiCards are NFT crypto-ecards that support charities working to promote Internet freedom and environmental rights. (Related: Link)
December 11, 2018 - Group Exhibition: Blockchain Aesthetics
Blockchain-themed exhibition curated by Julian Stadon at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield, England. (Related: Link)
December 11, 2018 - 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. (Related: Link)
December 16, 2018 - Solo Exhibition: Fight Fear by Hackatao
Italian artist duo Hackatao showcases in their show crypto art and a selection of international crypto artists. (Related: Link)
December 20, 2018 - 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. (Related: Link)
December 23, 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 (Related: Link)
December 30, 2018 - Launch of the Artist Liberation Front (ALF) Smart Contract
Artist Liberation Front (ALF) is an open-source tool to mint ERC-721 tokens for artists created by artist Johnny Dollar and technologist Chris Lumpkin. (Related: Link)
2019
January 7, 2019 - Pascal Boyart completes La Liberté guidant le peuple
Politically charged during the Yellow Vests protest, this Bitcoin puzzle mural was removed shortly after. However, the artwork made its way into French school books. (Related: Link / Twitter)
February 2, 2019 - 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. (Related: Link)
February 13, 2019 - Official launch of Blockchain Art Exchange
London-based digital art platform on the Ethereum blockchain by art curator Sascha Bailey. (Related: Link)
February 15, 2019 - Launch of POAP Project
The Proof of Attendance Protocole (POAP) was launched initially during ETH Denver and delivers free, commemorative NFTs, initially for crypto event participants. (Related: Link / Twitter)
March 5, 2019 - 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. (Related: Link)
March 12, 2019 - Launch of Plasma Bears
Plasma Bears was an Ethereum-based game about collecting and constructing bears with parts that became a prototype for Blockade Games’ later release Neon District. (Related: Link / Contract / Twitter)
March 22, 2019 - 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. (Related: Link)
March 22, 2019 - Network of Self by Lans King
Lans King surgically implanted an NTAG216 microchip capsule in his left hand documenting his life’s metrics with the CODEX protocol. (Related: Link)
April 9, 2019 - Official launch of Autoglyphs
Generative artwork tokens issued on the Ethereum blockchain by Larva Labs in support of charitable causes. (Related: Link)
April 9, 2019 - Official launch of Editional
Ethereum-powered mobile application to create digital collectibles, after 100,000 editions it ceases operations in October the same year. (Related: Link)
April 10, 2019 - Launch of Kleee02 Generative Art Project
Kelian Maissen & Johannes Gees deploy the smart contract for their generative art project using the transaction hash to create a token. (Related: Link)
April 25, 2019 - Official launch of Makersplace
Platform for digital original artwork and limited editions, registered on the Ethereum blockchain based in San-Francisco, CA. (Related: Link)
April 26, 2019 - Launch of Gener8tive K-Compositions
K-Compositions are 250 minimalistic, unique art compositions generated from on-chain algorithms. (Related: Link)
May 17, 2019 - Launch of CryptoSkulls
CryptoSkulls in an early 10,000 NFT profile picture project. With the rise in popularity in 2022, almost 2,000 skulls held by the cofounders were given to a community trust to fund long-term development. (Related: Link / Contract / Twitter)
May 19, 2019 - Rare Art Festival 2
The crypto art and collectibles scenes came together for the second edition of the RareAF in Brooklyn, NY. (Related: Link)
May 28, 2019 - Official launch of Noow.art
Digital art platform spun off from Swisscom offers tokenized art and digital art-streaming in Switzerland. (Related: Link)
June 2, 2019 - Solo Exhibition: ARTificial – Creating the Future out of History by Bard Ionson
Bard’s first solo exhibition explores AI, AR and cryptocurrency and blockchain art at the Bull Run Library in Manassas, VA. (Related: Link)
June 27, 2019 - IDAF International Digital Art Festival
Digital and crypto art festival hosted by KnownOrigin in Manchester, England. (Related: Link)
July 26, 2019 - 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. (Related: Link)
August 2, 2019 - Official Launch of Mintbase Marketplace
Ethereum-based tokenization platform for digital art, collectibles and other use cases such as tickets, located in Berlin, Germany. (Related: Link / Note)
August 28, 2019 - Launch of The Ledger of Szabo Game
The Ledger was an interesting cross-chain game in Pineapple Arcade and featured in-game Ethereum NFTs and characters and eight puzzles with Bitcoin and Ethereum rewards. (Related: Link / Contract / Twitter)
August 29, 2019 - Official Launch of Rendar Marketplace
Rendar gallery and the Bristol, UK-based physical gallery Upfest specialize in onboarding street art and graffiti artists. (Related: Link / Note)
August 31, 2019 - Coldie Held his First Signature 24h Reserve Price Auction
Known as the Coldie method and implemented by many marketplaces, Coldie’s process triggers a 24h countdown once the reserve price is met. (Related: Link / Twitter / Note)
September 7, 2019 - 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. (Related: Link)
October 25, 2019 - Official Launch of Rarible Marketplace
Ethereum-based tokenization platform for digital art and collectibles, the decentralized team is based in Moscow, LA and NY. (Related: Link / Note)
November 10, 2019 - Group Exhibition: Crypto Art Show
Crypto art group exhibition organized by crypto artist Max Osiris at the Innerspace Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. (Related: Link)
November 16, 2019 - Group Exhibition: CryptoArts: A New Medium
Crypto art group exhibition organized by Jake Johns at the Zhu Bing Ren Copper Gallery In Shanghai. (Related: Link)
November 30, 2019 - Uniqlo Tate Late
MOCDA hosts blockchain-related artworks, projects and panel discussions during the Nam Jun Paik exhibition at the Tate Modern in London. (Related: Link)
December 5, 2019 - Conlan Rios Releases NFT-Scribe
NFT Scribe is a smart contract that allows ERC721 owners to append on-chain messages and annotations to their tokens. (Related: Link / Twitter)
2020
January 19, 2020 - Launch of ChainFaces
ChainFaces are on-chain generative ASCII text faces created by NFT42 co-founder NateAlex. All 10,000 faces sold shortly after the launch. (Related: Link)
February 9, 2020 - Group Exhibition: Cryptoqué?
An international crypto art group exhibition hosted at the MadeMotion space in Madrid, Spain. (Related: Link)
February 13, 2020 - Launch of the Museum of CryptoArt MOCA Collection
MOCA begins its rapidly growing crypto art collection which fuels crypto art creators and creations. (Related: Link)
February 15, 2020 - Official launch Nifties.com
Nifties promotes crypto art, games and collectibles as well as virtual reality projects. (Related: Link)
February 20, 2020 - Public Launch of Decentraland Metaverse
Being developed since 2017 and 91,000 plots of land traded, this highly anticipated metaverse launches publically with a series of events. (Related: Link)
February 26, 2020 - Official launch of Async Art
An experimental art platform for programmable digital art based on the Ethereum blockchain and located in San-Francisco, CA. (Related: Link)
March 4, 2020 - 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. (Related: Link / Note)
March 18, 2020 - 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. (Related: Link)
April 7, 2020 - Launch of Pixelchain
Germany-based Pixelchain was founded by Cryptomotors as an Ethereum-based Dapp that allows users to create pixel art (initially 32 x 32 px) and store it on the blockchain. It is a significant project for the on-chain crypto art movement. (Related: Link / Twitter)
April 8, 2020 - 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. (Related: Link)
April 29, 2020 - 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. (Related: Link)
May 15, 2020 - Virtual Rare Art Festival RARE3F
The third edition of the iconic crypto art and collectibles festival launched a movement. (Related: Link)
May 28, 2020 - Launch of Foundation App
Foundation launches as the first digital art marketplace to address fluctuation and pricing based on the stable-coin DAI. (Related: Link)
June 27, 2020 - Group Exhibition: crypto_manifold
Curated by BI Xin and CAO Jiamin, this international exhibition showcases international crypto artists at the Chronus Art Center (CAC) in Shanghai. (Related: Link)
July 8, 2020 - Launch of Cryptograph
Cryptograph is a marketplace for NFTs made by celebrities and artists that generate funds for charities and good causes. (Related: Link / Note)
July 16, 2020 - Launch of the FOMA magazine
FOMA (fear of missing art) is an online magazine for immutable culture, discussions & insights published by crypto artists Robness, Sparrow, Gary Cartlidge and Dave Estes and gallerist Sascha Bailey. (Related: Link / Twitter)
July 16, 2020 - Alpha Launch of NFT Showroom on Hive Blockchain
NFT Showroom uses Hive-Engine’s layer 2 NFT smart contract platform to generate tokenized art. (Related: Link)
July 24, 2020 - 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. (Related: Link)
July 27, 2020 - Launch of InfiNFT Platform
A token minting platform developed by NFT42 with a focus on flexibility and longevity through on-chain stored information. (Related: Link / Note)
September 12, 2020 - 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. (Related: Link)
September 19, 2020 - 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. (Related: Link)
September 19, 2020 - Elementum.art replaces Noow.art
Dloop rebrands Elementum as the successor of the app NOOW, which was running on Swisscom TV. (Related: Link)
September 30, 2020 - First Video Episode of VerticalCrypto Art
Mikol of VerticalCrypto Art curates and spotlights in her twitter videos and live streams crypto art, artists and crypto communities. (Related: Link)
October 2, 2020 - Launch of Emblem Vault
Circuits of Value and Emblem Vault have developed composite tokens (wrappers) that preserve original tokens and wallets from other blockchains and allow them to trade on Ethereum. (Related: Link / Twitter)
October 8, 2020 - 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. (Related: Link)
October 28, 2020 - 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. (Related: Link)
November 6, 2020 - Official Launch of Ephimera Marketplace
Canada-based Ephimera is an Etherum art marketplace specialized in fine art photography and video. (Related: Link / Note)
November 12, 2020 - Artproject 2020 promotes Crypto Art during Vancouver Biennale
Under artist Jessica Angels’ guidance, Artproject connects the traditional art world with the creative Blockchain ecosystem. (Related: Link)
November 28, 2020 - Launch of Artblocks.io Generative Art Platform
Artblocks is a generative design platform based created with the data and hosted on the Ethereum blockchain. (Related: Link)
December 3, 2020 - First Bitcoin Art Auction at Scarce City
Launched as a Bitcoin merchandise store, Scarce.City specializes in Bitcoin art through Lightning Network auctions. D0320 (Related: Link / Note)
December 8, 2020 - Launch of Paras Digital Art Card Marketplace
The digital art card minting and trading platform is based on the NEAR blockchain. (Related: Link / Twitter)
December 11, 2020 - Pascal Boyart completed the Underground Sistine Chapel
It took Pascal five months to complete this monumental artwork in a former gold foundry In Paris, funded by numerous crypto patrons. (Related: Link / Twitter)
December 28, 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. (Related: Link)
2021
January 9, 2021 - Launch of the Ethblock.art Generative Platform
EthBlockArt lets people create deterministic blockchain artworks based on Ethereum blocks. (Related: Link)
January 9, 2021 - 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. (Related: Link)
January 14, 2021 - First Episode of the Outer Realm Podcast
Eric Paul Rhodes podcasts highlights artists, collectors, supporters, and patrons of crypto art and NFTs. (Related: Link)
January 15, 2021 - 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. (Related: Link)
January 18, 2021 - Official Launch of SIGN Art – Digital Art & NFT
The SIGN Art dApp is built on top of the Waves Protocol and focuses on single and limited editions. (Related: Link / Note)
January 21, 2021 - 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. (Related: Link)
January 23, 2021 - 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. (Related: Link)
January 27, 2021 - 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. (Related: Link)
January 28, 2021 - Launch of Hashmasks
Hashmasks are digital art collectibles consisting of 16,384 portraits created by over 70 artists globally. (Related: Link)
February 3, 2021 - Launch of Arkane Network Marketplace
Arkane Network launches the first NFT collectibles marketplace on MATIC, a Layer-2 scaling solution for Etherum. (Related: Link)
February 8, 2021 - 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. (Related: Link)
February 8, 2021 - 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. (Related: Link)
February 9, 2021 - 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. (Related: Link)
February 12, 2021 - 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. (Related: Link)
February 17, 2021 - Launch of Folia Marketplace
The Berlin, Germany-based Folia marketplace is a new Ethereum platform for exhibiting and collecting NFTs. (Related: Link)
February 18, 2021 - 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. (Related: Link)
February 19, 2021 - Two-Person Exhibition: Once Twice
The first exhibition by Ry David Bradley and Hanna Hansdotter hosted by The Hole, NY in collaboration with SuperRare. (Related: Link)
February 20, 2021 - 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. (Related: Link)
February 26, 2021 - 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. (Related: Link)
March 11, 2021 - 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. (Related: Link)
March 15, 2021 - 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. (Related: Link)
March 16, 2021 - Async Launches Async Music
The innovative layered art platform expands its offering to include programmable music. (Related: Link)
March 17, 2021 - Launch of Fractional Art
Merging DeFi with Crypto Art, an NFT owner can fractionalize its asset to ERC-20 tokens and sell these fractions for liquidity. (Related: Link)
March 18, 2021 - Launch of Ether Cards Framework
The is a community-driven NFT framework that enables creators to enhance their NFT with utilities.  (Related: Link)
March 19, 2021 - Group Exhibition: The Artist is Online
KÖNIG gallery hosts this international group exhibition in their physical location in Berlin, Germany as well as in a virtual gallery in Decentraland. (Related: Link)
March 19, 2021 - 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. (Related: Link)
March 21, 2021 - Launch of Fansforever Marketplace
Tron Blockchain-based social marketplace Fansforever connects creators and their fans through NFTs. (Related: Link)
March 21, 2021 - Group Exhibition: Chain Reactions
Atlanta-based ABV Gallery and Nifty Gateway showcase 20 international artists with their Chain Reactions NFT/Crypto Art group exhibition. (Related: Link)
March 23, 2021 - 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. (Related: Link)
March 25, 2021 - 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. (Related: Link)
March 26, 2021 - Group Exhibition: Virtual Niche – Have You Ever Seen Memes in the Mirror?
This group exhibition hosted by BlockCreateArt (BCA) is the first institutional crypto art exhibition held at the UCCA Lab in Beijing, China. (Related: Link)
April 1, 2021 - Launch of Chain/Saw Marketplace
The Ethereum-based marketplace launched with the inaugural exhibition Iconography & The Internet and featured, among others, the original Pepe the Frog from 2006 by Matt Furie. It was Matt’s NFT debut after his creation. Pepe expanded the crypto art world with the RARE PEPE project in 2016. (Related: Link / Twitter)
April 4, 2021 - Launch of Portal Art Marketplace
The marketplace Portal Art was built on the Tezos Blockchain and operated from New York and Vienna, Austria. It launched with a collection of Austrian media artist Peter Kogler, who originally made it on a Commodore 64. (Related: Link / Twitter)
April 5, 2021 - Launch of Byteblock NFT Marketplace
Based in Bengaluru, India, this Tezos-based marketplace aimed to make NFTs accessible to Indian artists with low-cost minting and no platform fees. It prominently featured the concept of batch minting. (Related: Link / Twitter)
April 5, 2021 - Urs Fischer Partners with Pace Gallery on NFT Series
Swiss-born Urs Fischer launched the CHAOS NFT series with Pace Gallery in collaboration with MakersPlace. It was widely discussed that he broke his representation with the Gagosian Gallery for this collaboration. (Related: Link / Twitter)
April 6, 2021 - Kenny Schachter coins the term NFTism
The artist, curator, writer promotes NFTs through NFTism in his writing, in exhibitions, fairs and in an upcoming social token project. (Related: Link / Twitter)
April 8, 2021 - Group Exhibition: CryptoArt – It’s Not About Money
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. (Related: Link)
April 11, 2021 - Manifold Released First Custom Smart Contract
Initially developed for Mad Dog Jones’ Replikator project, Manifold released after a few collaborations the Manifold Creator a custom smart contract for creators. The contracts encourage creative sovereignty and platform independence. (Related: Link / Contract / Twitter)
April 12, 2021 - 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.  (Related: Link)
April 12, 2021 - 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. (Related: Link)
April 14, 2021 - Launch of Artvatars Project
Artvatars is an avatar/profile picture collaboration of 65 global artists based on the Polygon/Matic blockchain. The project was founded by NFT collector MantaXR. (Related: Link / Contract / Twitter)
April 20, 2021 - Launch of TR Lab Platform
Headquartered in Hong Kong, Tabula Rasa Lab focuses on fine art and its partners include among others Christie’s and Rockbund Art Museum. (Related: Link)
April 22, 2021 - Launch of the Bored Ape Yacht Club
BAYC is a collection of 10,000 Bored Ape NFTs that grant access to an online social club. The club branches continuously off-chain and the physical realm. (Related: Link / Contract / Twitter)
April 23, 2021 - 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. (Related: Link)
April 25, 2021 - Launch of the Truesy Marketplace
TRUESY is a curated NFT marketplace focused on personalities and brands and built on the Tezos Blockchain. (Related: Link)
April 25, 2021 - Launch of Bazaar NFT Marketplace
Bazaar Market is a carbon-negative NFT Marketplace based on the Tezos blockchain and governed by a DAO structure. (Related: Link)
April 30, 2021 - 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. (Related: Link)
May 6, 2021 - Domenico Quaranta Releases Crypto Art History Book
Curator and art critic Domenico Quaranta releases his book documenting the crypto art history entitled: Surfing con Satoshi. Arte, blockchain e NFT. (Related: Link)
May 11, 2021 - Christie’s Offers 9 CryptoPunks at 21st Century Evening Sale
Christie’s hosts the first crypto collectible evening auction with the 9 previously unavailable punks with an estimated of $7-9m. (Related: Link)
May 12, 2021 - Group Exhibition: Breadcrumbs
Kenny Schachter curates this Ethereum-based crypto art exhibition for Galerie Nagel and Draxler in Cologne, Germany. (Related: Link)
May 14, 2021 - Itzel Yard Sets $2m Sales Record With Dreaming At Dusk
The Panama-born, generative artist becomes the highest-selling female crypto artist to date. Her piece was auctioned in support of the Tor project. (Related: Link)
May 16, 2021 - Launch of LGND Marketplace
LGND is an NFT art platform built by artists, for artists based on the WAX Blockchain. (Related: Link)
May 18, 2021 - BCA Network becomes MetaOpus
The Chinese crypto art platform rebrands its marketplace to MetaOpus referencing the Metaverse and Opus. (Related: Link)
May 19, 2021 - Christie’s Auctions Andy Warhol: “Machine Made” NFTs
The controversial upscaling of Andy Warhols original 320 x 200 non-square px files overshadows this blue chip artist’s posthumous NFT release. (Related: Link)
May 20, 2021 - Launch of the Raretoshi Marketplace
Raretoshi is a curated NFT and physical art platform based on the Liquid Network, a Bitcoin layer-2 solution. (Related: Link)
May 25, 2021 - Proof of Sovereignty – A Curated NFT Sale
Christie’s collaborates with Lady PheOnix to present a curated sale of both legacy and newly created artwork as unique NFTs. (Related: Link)
June 4, 2021 - Sotheby’s Hosts Natively Digital: A Curated NFT Sale
The auction features Quantum (2015) by Kevin McCoy, CryptoPunk #7523 (2017) by Larva Labs, and The Shell Record (2021) by Anna Ridler. (Related: Link)
June 8, 2021 - Venly replaces Arkane Network
Arkane Network rebrands as Venly with a focus on game items and collectibles on the MATIC Layer-2 network. (Related: Link)
June 10, 2021 - Group Exhibition: Proof of Art
This museum group exhibition at the Francisco Carolinum Linz in Austria explores the history of crypto art and digital art. (Related: Link)
June 17, 2021 - Imnotart Becomes First Physical NFT Art Gallery in Chicago
Imnotart will showcase NFT artworks curated in its virtual gallery in Cryptovoxels, where it’s been housing NFT works since March.  (Related: Link)
June 22, 2021 - CryptOGs: The Pioneers of NFT Art at Bonhams
Auction house Bonhams first NFT sale in partnership with SuperRare, the authentic Digital Art Market, achieved a total of $451,688. (Related: Link)
June 24, 2021 - Group Exhibition: My Love is Your Love NFT
Every Woman Biennial, an international all-woman and non-binary art biennial collaborated with Superchief Gallery NFT in this carbon-negative NFT exhibition in New York. (Related: Link / Twitter)
June 24, 2021 - Dystopian Visions at Italian Cambi Auction House
Curated by MoCDA this NFT collection is auctioned by Cambi in collaboration with SuperRare at the Cambi Casa d’aste in Milan, Italy. (Related: Link)
June 24, 2021 - Binance Exchange Launches Binance NFT Platform
The launch features controversial digitized NFT artwork from Salvador Dali and a tribute to Andy Warhol along with 100 regional creators. (Related: Link)
June 26, 2021 - CrypTOKYO Group Exhibition
Blockchain Art Exchange and GrowYourBase hosting Japan’s first physical NFT exhibition at UltraSuperNew Gallery in Tokyo. (Related: Link)
July 2, 2021 - NFT Gallery Opens in Montreal
Non-profit 0xSociety opens in the New City Gas complex aiming to educate and promote the crypto art movement. (Related: Link / Note)
July 4, 2021 - Launch of Solanart Marketplace
This curated Solana-based aggregator NFT marketplace launched with the controversial SolPunks collection, a copy of the 2017 Crypto Punks. (Related: Link / Twitter)
July 6, 2021 - CryptoPunk Joins Major Art Museum Collection
The Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (ICA Miami) announced the acquisition of the CryptoPunk 5293 gifted by a trustee. (Related: Link)
July 9, 2021 - Crypto Art Week Asia Begins
Crypto Art Week Asia features 300+ Asian-based digital artists, physical exhibitions in six cities and over 50 virtual galleries. (Related: Link)
July 23, 2021 - Group Exhibition: metaphysical
IRL/digital group exhibition curated by Max Kulchinsky at the DorDor gallery in New York and a virtual Bitski gallery on OnCyber. (Related: Link)
July 24, 2021 - Group Exhibition: Stratosphere
Hosted by the Stratosphere DAO, this international showcase features hundreds of artists in a virtual and IRL exhibition in Beijing, China. (Related: Link)
August 2, 2021 - Launch of Huanhe Marketplace
The largest internet company in China, Tencent, launched its NFT marketplace. A year later, China banned NFT sales and Tencent closed the marketplace following low profits. (Related: Link / Twitter)
August 6, 2021 - Launch of WeMint.Art
Promoting decentralization, this free decentralized app allows artists to deploy their own smart contracts and mint ERC-721 NFTs on Ethereum. (Related: Link)
August 11, 2021 - Launch of 1st Dibs NFT Platform
Founded in 2000, 1stDibs is a design-focused furniture and art online marketplace which expands its offering into the NFT space. (Related: Link)
August 22, 2021 - Launch of MISA.art Marketplace
Berlin-based online art marketplace MISA by König Gallery launched its marketplace MISA.art, focussing entirely on NFTs. (Related: Link / Twitter)
August 26, 2021 - Launch of Solsea Marketplace
All-Art Protocol released Solsea, a curated Solana-based aggregator NFT marketplace, which includes NFTs with embedded licences and credit card payment integration. (Related: Link / Twitter)
August 27, 2021 - Launch of DigitalEyes Marketplace
DigitalEyes is an open Solana-based aggregator NFT marketplace that also featured unverified NFT collections and projects. (Related: Link / Twitter)
August 31, 2021 - Launch of Rally Marketplace
The social coin platform centred around content creators and influencers launched its NFT marketplace on its own Proof-of-Authority Ethereum sidechain. The project ended suddenly in February 2023. (Related: Link / Twitter)
September 4, 2021 - Group Exhibition: Proof of Stake: Technological Claims
Initiated by the Kunstverein in Hamburg and artist Simon Denny that reflects on themes of technology, organization and ownership. (Related: Link)
September 17, 2021 - Launch of Magic Eden Marketplace
Magic Eden is a Solana-based aggregator NFT marketplace. The Alpha version launched on September 14th but the Solana network went offline for 17h that day. (Related: Link / Twitter)
September 21, 2021 - NFTs debut at Art Basel Fair
With “Crypto Kiosk” Kenny Schachter curates an introduction of NFTs for Galerie Nagel Draxler at the Art Basel fair in Switzerland. (Related: Link)
September 24, 2021 - Launch of ArtOfficial Marketplace
ArtOfficial is a collaborative NFT platform of the traditional Vito Schnabel gallery with locations in New York and Switzerland and entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk. (Related: Link / Twitter)
October 18, 2021 - Launch of Xeno NFT Hub
The South Korean NFT marketplace launches on the Ethereum blockchain. (Related: Link)
October 28, 2021 - Launch of FX(Hash) Platform
FX(Hash) is an experimental platform for generative or algorithmic art based on the Tezos blockchain. (Related: Link)
October 30, 2021 - Launch of Mint Gold Dust Marketplace
ETH-based marketplace with a strong focus on curation along with a range of managed services for artists and collectors. (Related: Link)
October 30, 2021 - Verse Gallery Opens in Oslo
Founded by Sophia Adampour and Mikail Adampour, Verse Gallery opened as Scandinavia’s first physical NFT gallery in Oslo, Norway. (Related: Link / Twitter)
October 31, 2021 - Launch of Exchange Art Marketplace
Exchange Art is a fine art NFT marketplace on the Solana Blockchain. The London-based marketplace launched within two months after the company was founded. (Related: Link / Twitter)
November 2, 2021 - Launch of Verisart Minting
The well-established provenance platform branches into offering NFTs/smart contract services. The NFTs can be listed on different platforms. (Related: Link / Twitter)
November 3, 2021 - Launch of Quantum Art Marketplace
Photographer Justin Versano launched with Alexx Shadow, Kris Graves, and Jonas Lamis the NFT platform initially focused on large fine art photography drops. (Related: Link / Twitter)
November 10, 2021 - Group Exhibition: The Ethereal Aether
Dimitri Ozerkov and Anastasia Garnova curated the first virtual NFT exhibition by the State Hermitage Museum in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. (Related: Link / Twitter)
November 15, 2021 - Launch of BrainDrops Marketplace
Brain Drops is an Ethereum-based NFT platform focused on AI-generated art with releases of 500 to 1,000 pieces. (Related: Link / Contract / Twitter / Note)
November 18, 2021 - Launch of Orica Marketplace
Orica is an NFT marketplace for ethical funding of digital creatives and social impact projects on the Binance Smart Chain.  (Related: Link / Twitter)
November 20, 2021 - Group Exhibition: Dear Block Chen
Curated by Feng-Yi Chu this exhibition explores critical views on the blockchain for the Solid Art Gallery in Taipei, Taiwan. (Related: Link)
November 22, 2021 - Launch of Pace Verso Marketplace
International Pace Gallery launched its NFT marketplace on the Palm Network, an Ethereum sidechain focused on low-transaction-fee NFTs. (Related: Link / Twitter)
November 23, 2021 - Group Exhibition: Crypto Art is Now
Dynamic Art Museum presents with DART 2121 the first major exhibition project dedicated to Crypto Art within a museum space in Milan, Italy. (Related: Link)
November 25, 2021 - Solo Exhibition: Digital Reflection by Phillip Fotheringham-Matt
The solo exhibition took place at Subtile art gallery in Diderich, Luxembourg-based in partnership with Tezos-based marketplace Kalamint. (Related: Link)
November 26, 2021 - Launch of Portals Metaverse
Portals is a web-based metaverse platform in the Solana ecosystem and winner of the Solana Ignition Hackathon. The first release of parcels sold out within four minutes. (Related: Link / Twitter)
November 29, 2021 - Launch of The Sandbox Metaverse
The Sandbox is an Ethereum-based virtual gaming world where players can build, own, and monetize their gaming experiences. The metaverse uses its own utility token SAND. (Related: Link / Twitter)
November 29, 2021 - Launch of Aorist Marketplace
Aorist is an artist-led NFT marketplace on the Algorand blockchain launched during Miami Art Week. The marketplace pledges to offset its carbon emissions. (Related: Link / Twitter)
December 9, 2021 - Group Exhibition: Color :: Field
This exhibition drew a thread between contemporary digital art and the iconic Color Field movement of the 20th century at Vellum LA in Los Angeles, CA. (Related: Link / Twitter)
December 10, 2021 - Group Exhibition: No Existe Tierra Mas Alla
Crypto Argentina Collective features 30 artists with physical and digital crypto artworks curated by Merlina Rañi in Buenos Aires. (Related: Link)
December 10, 2021 - Launch of Layer Marketplace
Layer is based on the Stacks blockchain and launched with the ON THE BLOCK: SATOSHE collection by 20 selected female artists. (Related: Link / Twitter)
December 14, 2021 - Group Exhibition: Crypto Art Revolution
MoCA, the French Museum of Crypto Art celebrated its third anniversary with a large group exhibition and conference in the former Pierre-Cardin museum in Paris, France. (Related: Link / Twitter)
December 15, 2021 - Launch of Ethernaal Marketplace
The NFT marketplace and DAO Ethernaal focuses on tattoo NFTs some of which are redeemable as physical tattoos. (Related: Link)
December 16, 2021 - Artnet hosts first NFT auction
ArtNFT: Beginnings features pioneers of computer art along with established crypto artists. (Related: Link)
December 18, 2021 - Group Exhibition: DAZE Decentralized Art Zone
Cryptoart India Collective (CIC) hosts with DAZE an exhibition featuring 30 artists and curators from India’s NFT scene in Delhi. (Related: Link)
December 18, 2021 - NFT Kochi Conference, Festival and Art Exhibition
At the same time as the Daze exhibition in the North of India, NFT Kochi celebrated the Indian NFT scene in the South with a conference, art festival and exhibition. (Related: Link / Twitter)
2022
January 10, 2022 - Launch of LooksRare Marketplace
LooksRare is an NFT marketplace aggregator that combines its own token and incentivizes trading. (Related: Link / Contract / Twitter)
January 12, 2022 - Launch of Versum Marketplace
Versum is a Tezos-based NFT marketplace and metaverse with a focus on art, curation, decentralization and scalability. (Related: Link / Twitter)
January 14, 2022 - Solo Exhibition: Metadada by Kenny Schachter
Nagel Draxler gallery converted one of its venues to an NFT gallery and will host Kenny’s solo exhibition as its inaugural show. (Related: Link / Twitter)
January 15, 2022 - Group Exhibition: 5050
Dubai Culture with Morrow Collective hosted its first NFT exhibition featuring 50 works made by artists in the UAE at the Al Safa Art and Design library in Dubai. (Related: Link / Twitter)
January 19, 2022 - Group Exhibition: TeleNFT
TeleNFT questions technological progress in the context of economic and environmental crises in Teletext on 78×69 pixels. Haarich & Gleb Divov curated the 15 international artists to work with this 40-year-old medium. (Related: Link / Twitter)
January 19, 2022 - Group Exhibition: Elsewhere is a Negative Mirror
Curated by Jesse Damiani and Sinziana Velicescu, Elsewhere is a Negative Mirror is an in-person NFT exhibition at the LA Art Show and at Vellum LA gallery. (Related: Link / Twitter)
January 28, 2022 - Group Exhibition: SUI GENESIS: Digital Shaping
Reasoned Art & Lava Club showcased four Italian artists’ attempts to conceptualize post-human subjectivity at Gluck 50 in Milan, Italy. (Related: Link / Twitter)
January 31, 2022 - Lauch of Right Click Save Zine
Right Click Save (RCS) is a new online magazine for critical conversation about NFTs by expert contributors published by Jason Bailey (Artnome) and Club NFT. (Related: Link / Twitter)
February 3, 2022 - Launch of Formfunction Marketplace
Formfuntion launched on the Solana blockchain. The NFT marketplace positioned itself dedicated to independent artists with a focus on 1/1 art. (Related: Link / Twitter)
February 6, 2022 - Launch of X2Y2 Marketplace
Positioned as a decentralized OpenSea contender, X2Y2 is a community-owned marketplace based in Singapore which is organized through a governance token of the same name. (Related: Link / Contract / Twitter)
February 12, 2022 - Solo Exhibition: Snowfro – Chromie Squiggles
Venus Over Manhattan presented an exhibition of recent work by Snowfro (Erick Calderon) the founder of Art Blocks, organized in collaboration with Infinite Objects. (Related: Link / Twitter)
February 17, 2022 - Group Exhibition: NFT & Art: The Digital Roots
Curated by Mikol Apruzzese of Vertical Crypto art in collaboration with Rarible, Whitewall and Tezos, the exhibition showcases 19 artists at NeueHaus in Hollywood, LA. (Related: Link / Twitter)
February 17, 2022 - Solo Exhibition: The Decentralized Unicists by the Botto Project
Curated by Jesse Damiani and Sinziana Velicescu, The Decentralized Unicists is the first solo show ever by a “decentralized autonomous artist” at Vellum, LA. Botto is a generative artist governed by the community. (Related: Link / Twitter)
February 18, 2022 - Launch of PRISM NFT Marketplace
The Waterville, OH-based NFT marketplace launched on Ethereum but will switch to the company’s own NuPay blockchain. PRISM claims to use a patent-pending artwork protection mechanism. (Related: Link / Contract / Twitter)
February 19, 2022 - Group Exhibition: NfTNeTArT – from Net Art to Art NFT
This exhibition of nine international artists has been developed in cooperation between Berlin-based Panke gallery and OFFICE IMPART and will be shown physically in both spaces and digitally at jpg.space. (Related: Link / Twitter)
March 11, 2022 - Yuga Labs acquires CryptoPunks and Meebits
Yuga Labs the creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club acquired the IP for the two projects from Larva Labs. Despite Yuga Labs’ intention to ease the copyright policy, the sale was discussed controversially. (Related: Link / Twitter)
March 26, 2022 - Group Exhibition: #Trashart – NFT Garbology
Paris-based L’Avant Galerie Vossen highlighted the trashart social movement/meme within the crypto art scene with an international group exhibition. (Related: Link / Twitter)
April 23, 2022 - Group Exhibition: Singularity – Decentral Art Pavilion
The Decentral Art Pavilion Venice Edition, titled Singularity will feature over 200 NFT works of art created by international artists now shaping the NFT space. (Related: Link / Twitter)
May 9, 2022 - Instagram Integrates NFTs as Digital Collectibles
Meta rolls out the integration of ETH, Solana, Polygon and Flow NFTs in posts and stories for a handful of American creators on Instagram. As a controversial centralized platform, Meta’s efforts to adapt web3 technology warrant a critical assessment. (Related: Link / Twitter)
May 19, 2022 - SuperRare opens Pop-up Gallery in New York
For a period of three months, SuperRare is hosting changing group exhibitions in its pop-up gallery in Soho. The five curated exhibitions will feature selections from its in-house curatorial team as well as guest curators. (Related: Link / Twitter)
May 26, 2022 - NFT BCN 2022 – Conference and Group Exhibition
Hosted at the Pignatelli Palace in Barcelona, Spain, this cross-chain conference and exhibition aimed to bring together traditional art world professionals and the crypto art space. (Related: Link / Twitter)
June 2, 2022 - Launch of Streetlab Marketplace
The Swiss-based marketplace aims to be a community-led platform creating permanent NFT records of usually ephemeral street art. The Genesis collection featured Mexican street artist Yescka. (Related: Link / Contract / Twitter)
June 7, 2022 - Art Blocks and Pace Verso Announce Partnership
The generative art marketplace and the large traditional gallery network announce a multi-faceted partnership with curated NFT releases, exhibitions and community programming. (Related: Link / Twitter)
June 9, 2022 - LACMA Started its NFT Collection
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art announced its new digital acquisition fund for digital art by women artists. The museum also acquired its first two NFTs by Krista Kim and Shantell Martin. (Related: Link / Twitter)
June 17, 2022 - Group Exhibition: The Non-Fungible Body
Freda Fiala und River Lin curated for the OK Center for Contemporary Art Austria a performance festival with artists exploring the intersection of performance art and NFTs. (Related: Link / Twitter)
June 20, 2022 - Launch of CADAF Marketplace
CADAF, the crypto and digital art fair launched its own marketplace on the Tezos blockchain with a curated drop entitled #Retouched featuring female creators. (Related: Link / Twitter)
June 22, 2022 - eBay Acquires KnownOriging Platform
The acquisition of the marketplace KnownOrigin founded in Manchester in 2018 was received as highly controversial as more traditional web2 companies expand their reach into a seemingly decentralized and artist-centred space. (Related: Link / Twitter)
June 22, 2022 - Solo Exhibition: DYOR by Andreas Stylianou
Andreas Stylianou held his NFT-centred solo exhibition DYOR short for “do your own research” at the Alpha C.K. Art Gallery in Nicosia, Greece. (Related: Link / Twitter)
June 30, 2022 - NFT Rio Group Exhibition and Conference
NFT Rio hosted an international exhibition at the Visual Arts School of Parque Lage and across 300 digital billboards in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil. (Related: Link / Twitter)
July 4, 2022 - Group Exhibition: The Byzantine Generals Problem
Curated by Domenico Quaranta and produced by Aksioma Institute for Contemporary Art, this online exhibition at distant.gallery focused on artworks which engage with blockchains and crypto culture in a critically constructive way. (Related: Link / Twitter)
July 6, 2022 - Proof of People Festival
Vertical Crypto Art hosted this immersive 3-day festival showcasing art, fashion and music through the lens of metaverse culture and NFT-backed technology in London. (Related: Link / Twitter)
July 8, 2022 - Launch of sudoAMM Marketplace
Targeting NFT traders, the DeFi-focused NFT marketplace positioned itself with aggressively low fees. Its controversial disregard of artist royalties sparked heated debates on the subject. (Related: Link / Contract / Twitter)
July 8, 2022 - Launch of Verse Marketplace
Founded by Jamie Gourlay and Augustinas Malinauskas, Verse marketplace focuses on traditional art world tastemakers and curators. Its inaugural online exhibition was This Is Tomorrow. (Related: Link / Twitter)
July 26, 2022 - Launch of Ledger Market
The French hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger launched its NFT marketplace for artists and brands focused on the security and integration of its hardware wallet. (Related: Link / Twitter)
September 20, 2022 - Seedphrase Podcast by Simon Denny
In his podcast produced by Simon Denny and THE NEW INSTITUTE, the artist talked with people from art, tech, and the worlds in between about their experiences and ideas around Web3. (Related: Link / Twitter)
September 27, 2022 - Launch of Christie’s 3.0 Marketplace
256-year-old auction house Christie’s collaborated with NFT platform Manifold, analytics firm Chainalysis, and metaverse platform Spatial to develop the new Ethereum-based NFT marketplace. (Related: Link / Twitter)
October 8, 2022 - Group Exhibition: DYOR Do Your Own Research
Kunsthalle Zurich dedicated this institutional group exhibition curated by Nina Roehrs to the nascent crypto art movement. It showcased to visitors a new art world: art in the context of blockchain and NFTs. (Related: Link / Twitter)
October 22, 2022 - Group Exhibition: Poème Objkt
This collaboration between Paris-based L’Avant Galerie Vossen and theVERSEverse showcased a conversation of poetry and visual arts utilizing physical and digital media. (Related: Link / Twitter)
October 22, 2022 - Launch of Blur Marketplace
Backed by Paradigm and many web3 influencers, this controversial NFT marketplace targeted professional traders and featured the option to bypass royalty payments. The royalty payment was incentivized in return for its native $BLUR token. (Related: Link / Twitter)
October 28, 2022 - Historic NFT Fest in Barcelona
Celebrating the 5th anniversary of their Creeps and Weirdos collection, DADA hosted the first historic NFT Fest focused on NFTs from 2011 to 2019 at the Reial Cercle Artístic in Barcelona. (Related: Link / Twitter)
November 3, 2022 - NFT.NYC hosts NFT London
Since its inaugural conference in February 2019, NFT.NYC hosted tens of thousands of attendees. With NFT London this concept ventured to London at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre. (Related: Link / Twitter)
November 7, 2022 - The Non-NFT Summit
This artists-for-artists crypto art summit in Mexico City brings together people behind the crypto art movement in a one-of-a-kind collaboration led by artists Artists Moxarra, Neurocolor, Gus Grillasca, Ann Ahoy and Mr.MonkX. (Related: Link / Twitter)
November 21, 2022 - Group Exhibition: Peer to Peer
This online group exhibition was curated by Tina Rivers Ryan and claimed to be the first survey organized by an American museum of artists engaged with blockchains. It was also a Buffalo AKG Art Museum fundraiser in collaboration with Feral File. (Related: Link / Twitter)
December 1, 2022 - EXPANDED.art replaces MISA Art
MISA Art by Berlin-based König Gallery rebrands its NFT marketplace as EXPANDED.art to further highlight its hybrid approach of a physical and digital gallery. (Related: Link / Twitter)
December 14, 2022 - First Ordinal Inscription 
Software engineer Casey Rodarmor created Inscription 0 of his Bitcoin token protocol Ordinals. The protocol enabled on-chain Bitcoin NFTs, gained rapid popularity and sparked controversy within the Bitcoin community. (Related: Link / Contract / Twitter)
2023
January 6, 2023 - Start of the NFT Biennial
For one and a half months, the NFT Biennal showcased NFT in physical venues and galleries in Turkey, the United States, England, Colombia, the Netherlands, Germany and Japan. (Related: Link / Twitter)
January 6, 2023 - Group Exhibition: Proof of Concept
Presented by Co-Museum and curated by Appetite, Proof of Concept is a digital media and crypto art show happening at Gillman Barracks in Singapore. (Related: Link / Twitter)
January 7, 2023 - Group Exhibition: Tez in Japan
Curated by Yuki Ama, Tez in Japan is a digital art exhibition at the NOX Gallery in Tokyo, Japan. (Related: Link / Twitter)
January 20, 2023 - Group Exhibition: Generative Abstraction and Beyond
Leyla Fakhr and Anika Meier curated the joint exhibition of EXPANDED.art and Verse, highlighting artists who use algorithms and codes to create formal ideas of abstraction. (Related: Link / Twitter)
February 1, 2023 - Solo Exhibition: Stack Trace by Kim Asendorf & Leander Herzog
The duo show highlighted eight works on aluminum and a real-time multi-channel NFT collection, which the artists created as a site-specific installation for Expanded.art in Berlin. (Related: Link / Twitter)
February 9, 2023 - Group Exhibition: Who is Online? Game Art in the Age of Post-NFTism
Curated by Anika Meier, the House of Electronic Arts Basel in Switzerland hosted this virtual exhibition, critically commenting on the gamified new online art world. (Related: Link / Twitter)
February 10, 2023 - Centre Pompidou Started its Crypto Art Collection
The Paris-based Centre national d’art et de culture Georges-Pompidou announced its crypto art collection by acquiring 18 projects by 13 French and international artists. (Related: Link / Twitter)
February 18, 2023 - Solo Exhibition: Robbie Barrat, 2018-2020
L’Avant Galerie Vossen focused in this solo exhibition on Robbie’s untokenized continuation of his early nude AI portraits and collaboration with painter Ronan Barrot. (Related: Link / Twitter)
April 21, 2023 - Solo exhibition: Color, Code, Communication by Rafaël Rozendaal
Dutch-Brazilian new media artist Rafaël Rozendaal’s solo exhibition is hosted by the German Folkwang museum and accompanied by a two-day symposium entitled  New Landscapes – NFTs and the Museum. (Related: Link / Twitter)
April 21, 2023 - New Landscapes – NFTs and the Museum
The Museum Folkwang in Germany’s Essen hosted this symposium with a focus on the new way art museums deal with NFTs and what this can mean for the future of museums. (Related: Link / Twitter)
May 14, 2023 - Solo Exhibition: Metaverse Landscapes by Simon Denny
Kunstverein Hannover in Germany showcases Metaverse Landscapes, Simon Denny’s most recent series of works that offer a glimpse into a number of the rapidly growing immersive virtual worlds enabled by blockchain technology. (Related: Link / Twitter)
June 3, 2023 - Group Exhibition: Collective Worldbuilding – Art in the Metaverse
HEK (Hous of Electronic Arts) in Basel presented with their group exhibition a selection of international artists exploring the possibilities of a decentralized Internet that promises more self-determination. (Related: Link / Twitter)
June 8, 2023 - Launch of Kraken NFT Marketplace
The American crypto exchange Kraken launched its own NFT marketplace with a focus on NFT collections. After testing the public beta since December 2022 the platform launched first with over 100 collections. (Related: Link / Twitter)
June 29, 2023 - Group Exhibition: 100X
100X CRYPTO ART – unmasking the truth of crypto memes was a group exhibition featuring ten artists which took place at the Magall Art gallery space in Hamburg’s Schanzenviertel in Germany. (Related: Link / Twitter)
July 12, 2023 - Solo Exhibition: Stored Memories by Bryan Brinkman
Bryan Brinkman’s first solo exhibition at Unit London focused on the intersection of technology and psychology. (Related: Link / Twitter)
July 14, 2023 - NFT Show Europe in Valencia
NFT Show Europe hosts the second edition in the Spanish city of Valencia, focusing on Web3, Digital Art, Blockchain & Metaverse. (Related: Link / Twitter)
July 18, 2023 - Launch of Prohibition Marketplace
Prohibition is an open platform for on-chain generative art NFTs built on Art Blocks Engine and deployed on Arbitrum. Founder Jordan Lyall also created the Meme project. (Related: Link / Twitter / Note)
July 31, 2023 - HEK launches Tokenized Museum Membership
HEK (House of Electronic Arts) introduced its NFT-backed Friends of HEK membership. Aside from free entrance and exclusive events, the program promised to access to online exhibition open calls and curational decisions. (Related: Link / Twitter)
August 30, 2023 - Solo Exhibition: Shavonne Wong
Paris-based NFT Factory presented a solo exhibition by Shavonne Wong, a distinguished Singapore-based artist and Forbes 30U30 Asia honoree, in 2020. (Related: Link / Twitter)
September 2, 2023 - Group Exhibition: Exploring the Decentralized Web – Art on the Blockchain
Sabine Himmelsbach and Boris Magrini curated this international group exhibition for the HEK (House of Electronic Arts) in Basel, Switzerland. The exhibition reviewed the recent developments of blockchain and Web3 from an artistic perspective. (Related: Link / Twitter)
September 6, 2023 - Solo Exhibition: Keep Hope Alive by Kenny Schachter
Schachter’s first solo museum exhibition celebrates perseverance, persistence, and the relentless pursuit of a life with art – at any cost. (Related: Link / Twitter)
September 7, 2023 - Solo Exhibition: Max Au Carré by MaxOsiris
Paris-based L’Avant Galerie Vossen showcased the first solo exhibition of pseudonymous crypto artist and provocateur Max Osiris who is known for his spontaneous art mixing meme culture and dadaism. (Related: Link / Twitter)
November 6, 2023 - The Simpsons: Wild Barts Can’t Be Token
The Simpsons highlighted the NFT craze in their latest episode of the Treehouse of Horror (XXXIV) series, turning Bart into an NFT and featuring several popular art NFTs and collectibles. (Related: Link / Twitter)
November 17, 2023 - NFT Istanbul Exhibition & Conference
NFTist or NFT Istanbul was a digital art exhibition and conference at Planeth, during the exciting Zuzalu & DevConnect Week in Istanbul, Turkey. (Related: Link / Twitter)
November 23, 2023 - Launch of Shadow Marketplace
Shadow, a non-custodial marketplace on the Flow Blockchain, followed the zero-fee trend and replaced the 2021-founded VIV3 marketplace. It also integrated the former “Flipper” wallet as Shadow Wallet as a browser extension and MetaMask competitor. (Related: Link / Twitter)
December 6, 2023 - The Gateway Miami
Third edition of NFT Media’s (former NFT Now) event series of presentations, panel discussions and exhibitions at the Faena Forum in South Beach, Florida. (Related: Link / Twitter)
December 15, 2023 - Group Exhibition: Kryptomania – Die Verheißungen der Blockchain
Curated by Ina Neddermeyer, this interactive group exhibition (translated Cryptomania – The Promises of Blockchain) explored different contemporary perspectives at the Zeppelinmuseum Friedrichshafen in Germany. (Related: Link / Twitter)

Speaking Engagements & Publications

Documenting the history led to many opportunities to speak about the rich history of this Blockchain-based movement.

Read more

I write about the history of crypto art to help contextualize the movement for the general public and the traditional art world.

Read more

Support the Timeline Research

This timeline provides a condensed overview of the extensive personal research I have conducted since 2019, amounting to hundreds of hours. Due to facing censorship in various attempts to establish this timeline on Wikipedia, I made the decision to continue its development publicly on my website. It is also accessible using the following shortlink: mlo.art/history

Numerous individuals have found this overview to be helpful in providing context and guidance for discovering and supporting pioneering artists and projects. 

If you wish to support my research, please consider using the following Bitcoin and Ethereum addresses. With the funds, I am seeking to hire a student who can assist me in addressing the backlog of several hundred entries, adhering to academic standards. I appreciate your support.

Bitcoin Tip Jar

bc1qd80ssgln6sr0f2m985z4ertp8fy6fxgl53zmy9

QR ETH Address

Ethereum Tip Jar

0xc7efcD0A08AEBbcBFe37E8959864DBBd4768a78e

Suggest a New Milestone