# AI Art Heating Up! *Author: William M. Peaster* *Published: Jan 8, 2021* *Source: https://www.bankless.com/de/ai-art-heating-up* --- Dear Bankless Nation, This was a special week for the NFT ecosystem. That’s because Robbie Barrat, a young masterful AI artist, just saw three of his signature works sell for 280 ETH collectively on SuperRare’s secondary marketplace. Barrat’s a trailblazer who will go down in history as one of the all-time greats. His success is a beacon to all other AI artists that tokenizing their works as NFTs is not only viable, it’s the future. So expect to be hearing a lot more about AI art and other related fields like generative art around the NFT space. We’ve got a lot more trailblazers coming. In the meantime, let’s catch our breaths and catch up on the week’s news! - WMP --- ## **🏆 Digital Collectibles** - Collector gmoney purchased rare ape CryptoPunk 8219 for 140 ETH, setting a new all-time CryptoPunks [USD sales record](https://twitter.com/larvalabs/status/1346847313164120066) of $150k in the process. The collector [noted afterwards](https://twitter.com/gmoneyNFT/status/1347023737166696448): “If you're looking for a high beta play on BTC/ETH, you want to be buying AAA caliber NFT projects. And as of right now, CryptoPunks is at the top of that list.” > [](https://twitter.com/cryptopunksbot/status/1346664746767044608) - CryptoPunk’s smart contract is currently securing over 1,000 ETH in bids and withdrawals. ## **🎨 Cryptoart** - 1confirmation collected artist Robbie Barrat’s [AI Generated Nude Portrait #1](https://superrare.co/artwork/ai-generated-nude-portrait-1-1) for 100 ETH on Ethereum’s leading cryptoart platform, SuperRare. Days later [AI Generated Nude Portrait #5](https://superrare.co/artwork/ai-generated-nude-portrait-5-65) separately sold for 100 ETH and [AI Generated Nude Portrait #3](https://superrare.co/artwork/ai-generated-nude-portrait-3-3) sold for 80 ETH, too. Barrat received an automated 10% royalty in ETH from each of the purchases. > [](https://twitter.com/NTmoney/status/1346642772397199360) - Metapurse.eth, a duo composed of Metakovan and Twobadour, confirmed they were the purchasers of the [*Beeple Everydays: The 2020 Collection*](https://metapurser.substack.com/p/the-beeple-collection-it-was-us) on Nifty Gateway last year, a feat that cost +$2.2 million. Speaking of Beeple, he’s got Ethereum on the brain ... > [](https://twitter.com/beeple/status/1345947942964899840) - Check out [Neolastics](https://simondlr.substack.com/p/simondlr-26-neolastics-liquid-on), a new generative on-chain art project created by Simon de la Rouviere. - Artblocks, another new on-chain generative art project, saw [Tsukamoto Hideki’s Singularity drop](https://twitter.com/artblocks_io/status/1345053014634229760) sell out within an hour this week. Next on the slate? Acclaimed generative artist [Dmitri Cherniak](https://twitter.com/dmitricherniak/status/1346140333726257153). - Trading volume around cryptoart hit a monthly all-time of [$8.2 million](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nft-art-sales-reached-time-183709052.html) in Dec. 2020, up from $2.6 million in Nov. 2020. ## **🕹️ Blockchain Games** - Popular Ethereum game Axie Infinity is now within the [top 20,000 most visited websites](https://twitter.com/Jihoz_Axie/status/1346673314966556672) in the world. - [Liverpool FC](https://twitter.com/SorareHQ/status/1346396059640229889) is the latest acclaimed football club to partner up with Ethereum fantasy ⚽ game Sorare. - The brothers of Synthetix’s Kain Warwick have launched [Illuvium](https://illuvium.medium.com/illuvium-collect-battle-earn-b352a8901b7b), a new NFT-based auto battling RPG. ## **🌐 Virtual Worlds** - Hearing more about Ethereum’s virtual world projects but don’t know where to start? You might consider visiting the [Museum of Crypto Art](https://www.cryptovoxels.com/play?coords=E@153W,126N) (MoCA) campus in Cryptovoxels, which is built across four connected VR parcels. > [](https://twitter.com/museumcryptoart/status/1346071323022385153) - This week’s [WIP Meetup in Cryptovoxels](https://twitter.com/theWIPmeetup/status/1347209953744879620) enjoyed presentations from Artblocks, Alethea, and Ephimera.  - Is $MEME Protocol setting up shop in [Somnium Space](https://somniumspace.com/)? Maybe! > [](https://twitter.com/JordanLyall/status/1347611826846982145) ## **🛒 NFT Marketplaces** - OpenSea saw the ENS domain adidas.eth sell for +25 ETH this week. ## 💎** DeFi x NFTs** - NFT marketplace Cargo launched its [Cargo NFT Reward System](https://staking.cargo.build/), which blends elements of yield farming with earnable NFTs. > [](https://twitter.com/BuildWithCargo/status/1347581440704225280) --- ### Action Steps - Consider NFT purchases on platforms like OpenSea, SuperRare, and NiftyGateway to [potentially qualify for future token airdrops](https://bankless.ghost.io/how-to-earn-token-airdrops/). - Read “[The Five Worlds](https://mailchi.mp/5ded358c9f12/the-five-worlds?e=29f2240adb)” by Mason Nystrom and “[A beginner’s guide to NFTs](https://linda.mirror.xyz/df649d61efb92c910464a4e74ae213c4cab150b9cbcc4b7fb6090fc77881a95d)” by Linda Xie