At the end of September, we reported that the world-renowned Parisian museum Musée d’Orsay had partnered with the Tezos Foundation to launch an NFT project inspired by the artwork of Vincent Van Gogh.
The project kicked off on October 3rd with a real-life exhibition at the museum of Van Gogh’s works during his last months. It also featured two digital artworks created by KERU, a French Web3 culture project.
A few days ago, two Van Gogh-inspired digital artworks minted on Bitcoin sold for $2.7 million dollars combined. The winning bids were 36.9999 BTC ($1.36 million) and 36 BTC ($1.34 million). Worth noting, just six months ago one of the NFTs sold for only 0.0061 BTC (about $164).
The news comes as Bitcoin continues to experience a surge in NFT minting on its network, and the NFT market in general appears to be recovering in global sales. The latest report from CryptoSlam.io shows a 40% increase in NFT sales, with other blockchains like Solana and Arbitrum also enjoying boosts in their numbers.
Though NFTs minted on Bitcoin were initially controversially, some Bitcoin maximalists have discussed the benefits of minting a document or artwork on the secure, immutable blockchain. The recent high-value sales could indicate that idea is starting to be taken more seriously.
It’s also interesting to consider how the mix of nascent technologies with classic world-renowned artwork is emerging as a popular theme in the NFT space. We look forward to more to come.
NFT Market Looks to Be Heating UP
It’s been a rough year and a half for NFT enthusiasts. Top collections have seen their floor prices plummet, and many holders have had to hold on for dear life. But things look like they’re starting to turn around for the better. At Rarity Sniper, we’ve covered several stories recently about a change in the market. Here are three of the top stories.
Two weeks ago, after the Simpsons aired an episode where Bart was minted as an NFT valued at $1.5 million, the NFT market cap rose an impressive $2.5 billion. The surge was led by sales of top NFT collections including CryptoPunks, Azuki, Pudgy Penguins, CloneX and Cool Cats.
Shortly after that story, Bitcoin Ordinals amassed $17 million in sales in 24 hours and flipped Ethereum in NFT trading volume. The jump could be attributed to BRC-20 collections, which are Ordinals with a meme coin component that have been increasing in popularity.
Finally, last week, an NFT collection on the Solana blockchain, Mad Lads, had an impressive run. The NFTs that can actually execute scripts reached a floor as high as 105 SOL (around $6,000), outperforming nearly every other NFT in the space. It came as the SOL token also made big gains in the market.
It’s a bit early to start flying our bull market flags, but it’s undeniable NFTs have made great gains over the past couple of weeks. This latest sale of two Van Gogh NFTs for $2.5 million should add another boost of energy and excitement to the space. At Rarity Sniper, we’ll be on the lookout for any updates to the story.