Tapinator, Inc, a leading developer and publisher of mobile games and applications on the iOS, Google Play, Amazon, and Ethereum platforms, today announces that it has released the Early Access version of BitPainting, a crypto-collectibles platform for the global art market.
Collectors interested in owning a piece of art history may sign up to participate in today’s historic auction via EarlyAccess.BitPainting.com using a Chrome or Firefox web browser. Today’s auction on the Ethereum Network will include 12 iconic artworks from renowned painters including Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvatore Mundi.
In 2011, the dramatic public unveiling of Salvator Mundi (‘Saviour of the World’), in the exhibition Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan at The National Gallery in London, caused a worldwide media sensation. Painted by one of history’s greatest and most renowned artists, whose works are exceedingly rare — fewer than 20 paintings in existence are generally accepted as from the artist’s own hand — it was the first discovery of a painting by Leonardo da Vinci since 1909. “It was, without question the greatest artistic rediscovery of the 21st century – a painting of the most iconic figure in the world by the most important artist of all time,” according to auction house Christie’s where it sold in November 2017 for an astonishing $450.3 million. Six short months later, Salvatore Mundi could again shatter records as it returns to the auction block today as the lead lot in BitPainting’s inaugural auction of virtual iconic art on the blockchain.
“After significant development efforts by our team, we are very excited to announce the initial launch of BitPainting, a new digital platform for collecting iconic art on the blockchain,” said Ilya Nikolayev, CEO of Tapinator. “BitPainting allows art enthusiasts to collect and interact with rare virtual artwork on the Ethereum network. Art lovers can acquire iconic works, mint editions, sell, gift and explore famous works from world-renowned artists. BitPainting members can assemble unique collections and browse the artwork amassed by our community. Each artwork on BitPainting is a non-fungible (ERC-721) token, which is stored on the Ethereum blockchain. We have built specialized smART™ contracts which guarantee the scarcity, ownership, and provenance of these works. These smART™ contracts allow BitPainting collectors to create limited editions of their artworks, enabling a form of limited, decentralized supply as well as profit opportunities.
We believe the $45 billion art market is ripe for disruption by blockchain technology. We see a future where crypto-collectibles drive art sales via digital scarcity and democratize the collection of physical, digital and virtual fine art. In fact, we have already witnessed significant early market adoption of crypto-collectibles. Recently, CryptoKitties’ virtual cat, Celestial Cyber Dimension, sold for $140,000 via LiveAuctioneers and Kevin Abosch’s Forever Rose sold for $1 million via GIFTO. We believe Tapinator is well positioned to become a leader in the crypto collectibles market through the BitPainting platform,” concluded Nikolayev.
