Major auction house Sotheby’s has recently held its first inscription auction, which turned out to be a resounding success. The auction closed with a staggering total of nearly $451,000 raised. Taking place between December 6 and 13, Sotheby’s New York conducted an online sale of selected BitcoinShrooms from the Bitcoin ordinals project by renowned digital artist Shroomtoshi.
The BitcoinShrooms Collection
The auction showcased three distinct images from the yet-to-be-released pixelated collection, seemingly inspired by the iconic Super Mario game. These three pieces include the “S” shroom (representing Self-Sovereignty), the Sovereign Individual, and the BIP39 seed, which serves as a foundation for deriving all Bitcoin addresses and their corresponding private keys.
Initially, each of these pieces was estimated to be worth between $20,000 and $30,000. However, as the auction concluded, the final prices far exceeded expectations. The total price for the three artworks reached an impressive $450,850, which is five times higher than the highest estimated price of $90,000.
Sotheby’s describes Shroomtoshi as a highly skilled digital artist with a deep understanding of Bitcoin and its underlying technology. The artist himself explains that the BitcoinShrooms collection is a pixelated representation of the first 13 years of Bitcoin. It pays tribute to the 8-bit art style, evoking a hint of nostalgia for the 90s. Shroomtoshi also aims to spread his artwork to thousands of SSDs worldwide, using it as a form of cyber-vandalism while raising awareness about Bitcoin and its core principles.
“The BitcoinShrooms collection is a thank you to those I worked with and learned from, to those who are not around anymore but whose name should not be forgotten. It is knowledge condensed and a journey for the curious.”
– Shroomtoshi
Understanding Inscriptions and Ordinals
Ordinals, in the context of the Bitcoin ledger, refer to non-fungible tokens (NFTs). On the other hand, inscriptions are the encoded media content embedded within these ordinals. Sotheby’s clarifies that although the terms “inscriptions” and “ordinals” are often used interchangeably, they hold distinct meanings.
It’s worth noting that Sotheby’s has been actively involved in the NFT space. The auction house previously sold digital collectibles owned by the bankrupt Singaporean crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) for an impressive total of $10.9 million back in June. Furthermore, in May, Sotheby’s launched its own NFT secondary marketplace, enabling users to purchase curated NFTs on the Ethereum and Polygon networks.
