Art venture KnownOrigin and OxCert, an open-source permissionless protocol authenticating unique digital assets on the blockchain, are collaborating on a new creative challenge. The aim is to promote artists on the blockchain and the potential of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) at the upcoming NIFTY conference and hackathon in Hong Kong.
NFTs are described as a special type of cryptographic token that represents something unique such as CryptoKitties. Each item can be distinguished from each other. This is compared to fungible items, which can be replaced by another identical item such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other large cryptocurrency projects.
Reaching out to KnownOrigin, OxCert set a challenge for artists to create a unique design for a t-shirt giveaway. According to Manchester-based KnownOrigin, which uses the Ethereum blockchain to bring art ownership into the digital world, there was a great response from the community.
The deadline may have been tight, but artists submitted their entries, and by the deadline, KnownOrigin had received 10 ultrarare pieces from five artists. These included Hackatao, Massimo, Oficinas TK, CoinJournal, and Aktiv Protesk. As the challenge is a contra deal, meaning no money is exchanged, OxCert agreed to promote the artists and KnownOrigin, in addition to getting the designs printed on to t-shirts to be given away at the NIFTY conference.
In March, CoinJournal reported on how the art venture was aiming to bring people closer to art through the blockchain. They are doing this by giving people the opportunity to purchase original artwork and rare digital assets. With the technology, artists and people who purchase the artwork can see how many pieces of work exist, which helps to drive its price up.
Taking place between 24-26 July, the NIFTY conference and hackathon is hosting the first blockchain games and NFTs hackathon. Just a few of the attendees include Benny Giang, co-founder of CryptoKitties, Pete Kim, head of engineering at Coinbase, Yiyi He, co-founder of Mix Marvel, Jure Zih, CEO of OxCert, Lili Feyerabend, co-founder of CryptoDecks, Jehan Chu, co-founder and managing partner at Kenetic, and Esteban Ordano, founder and CTO of Decentraland.
The team at KnownOrigin said: “Having the opportunity to collaborate with 0xCert and have a presence at the event is great. We are super excited to see how the give away goes and working with 0xCert on future collaborations.”