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British street artist Nathan Murdoch plans to release two versions of his freshly painted mural that he destroyed, one a print and the other a blockhain-based digital file called a non-fungible token (NFT).

The artist destroyed the painting depicting a giant image of two hands wearing rainbow-colored gloves and joined in prayer by hurling a large dollop of white paint straight at it from an open tin. The destruction of the freshly created mural is part of an artistic project straddling the physical and virtual worlds.

“We’re going to do a singular print which will go to an eBay auction, and then after that we’ll do a singular NFT print, which will also go to auction, which is essentially crypto-art,” said Murdoch.

NFT stands for non-fungible token, a type of digital asset verified using blockchain technology. NFTs are increasingly popular in the art world because they make a file unique by allowing it to be permanently authenticated, regardless of copies.

In a record-breaking auction at Christie’s, an NFT by U.S. artist Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple, sold for nearly $70 million in March, raising the profile of NFTs which some artists and collectors see as key to the future of the art market.

“Anybody can take photos of pieces of art, but they don’t own it,” said Murdoch. “This will be, you’re buying the ownership to the file.”

For Murdoch, who is based in the central English city of Peterborough, the decision to immediately destroy his mural is a new departure from his previous projects. It allows him to transfer the status of the original work to the print and the NFT.

“All other evidence of it will be destroyed,” he said.

“I essentially create art in the real world, but then I’m going to convert this to be used in the digital space… opening to a much larger and worldwide possible audience.”

The image represents a praying doctor or nurse, and the colored gloves are a reference to pictures of rainbows that many British people displayed in their windows during the first COVID-19 lockdown as a sign of solidarity with hospital staff.

Murdoch plans to donate the proceeds of the sales of the print and NFT to Britain’s National Health Service.

The artist drew international attention after a mural promoting racial harmony that he painted in a Peterborough underpass in 2019 was widely shared on social media, including by the U.S. rapper Ice T, during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protest movement.

Voice is an emerging company that will be launching the first environmentally friendly NFT platform later this month. The service is carbon-neutral and allows one to use a credit card, instead of the typical cryptocurrency needed for purchase.

Photographer Misan Harriman is amongst the curators partnering in Voice’ NFT Residency Program. “I’ve always been interested and loved the idea of digital art and the value of digital art being akin to the value of physical art. And I love the idea that the non-fungible token is allowing digital artists to be able to have a voice and have a value in their voice. I see the most potential in NFTs by democratizing talent and merit for those who have always not had access to the gatekeepers,” he said in an interview.

For those wondering what exactly makes this NFT platform different than the others — Voice is a free to mint (create) service, which negates much of the gas fees experienced when minting on chains like Ethereum. Additionally, the service accepts credit cards, is carbon neutral and is powered through Delegated proof of stake, an efficient blockchain network that does not require massive server farms to find a solution. Making Voice 65,000 times more energy efficient than Bitcoin and 17,000 times more than Ethereum.

Voice is an intriguing new player for those who have wanted to get into NFT’s, but are puzzled by the various buzzwords and barriers of entry. The platform’s beta app will launch in the coming weeks and only requires you to be 18 or over to purchase.

Elsewhere in art, Haroshi has launched his first collection of NFTs.

Here we go. J.P. Morgan Chase has applied for a patent to facilitate payments between banks using the blockchain.

The patent was originally submitted in October, but the application was made public by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday. It outlines a system that would essentially use distributed ledger technology, such as blockchain, to keep track of payments sent between financial institutions.

In the application, J.P. Morgan notes that cross-border payments require “a number of messages” that must be sent between the bank and clearing houses involved in the transaction. This often results in delays and a restricted availability to the funds. Rather, the transaction on the blockchain would eliminate high costs, provide a system for accurately logging the transactions, and process payments in real time with a verifiably true audit trail.

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Last summer I distinctly remember creating a digital art piece and titling it Blessed but Depressed. I created the piece during one of the lowest points in my life. Just a few months before this, I had accepted a job offer to be a digital artist at Apple, only to have it rescinded weeks later due to the pandemic. After several years working in 3D animation and visual effects, it was the first time since college that I had been unemployed and without a plan.

Worried about my future, I continued to apply for every job that came to sight (even ones irrelevant to my skill set) and was rejected for every single one. I also started creating my own art during this period, for the first time outside of school projects, solely to pass time while applying for jobs.

This was when I discovered decentralized finance, or DeFi, and NFTs (short for “non-fungible tokens”) through a friend. I was initially attracted to them as a means to make money. But while stumbling around crypto Twitter I couldn’t help but notice two things. First: The community, culture around memes, and sense of humor highly resonated with my own. Second: There was a shortage of creative talent in promotional efforts in the space. 

One of my close friends, knowing I was desperate for any job or income, saw an opportunity for a promotional gig and referred me. Through this, I made my first ever DeFi video—a short animation that captures the spirit of a given DeFi project and its brand. Community members took notice. I was just excited that I was able to make a bit of money while also learning about DeFi, but through word of mouth my reputation for making cool animations quickly spread. 

Some 20 videos later, I was approached by Uniswap this January to create a video for their v3 launch. I saw this as an opportunity to also make an impactful NFT sale, at a time when the NFT market was beginning to hit new peaks. I was thinking that if my reputation permeated the NFT space I could just sell art for a living. What I never saw coming was my Internet friends forming a DAO—a decentralized autonomous organization—through which they and other fans could support my work. And then my life blew up (in a good way). 

Crypto changed my life not only because of the money and investing opportunities it exposed me to, but also because of a welcoming community of passionate people who aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo. I find myself in a unique position, standing at the intersection of DAOs, NFTs, and DeFi, and I definitely don’t want to take this attention for granted. I feel a degree of responsibility to spread crypto awareness in a positive and eloquent way. My goal of selling NFTs for a living has shifted to seeing how I can use NFTs to innovate and pave new paths. From participating in PleasrDAO to helping crowdfund a documentary about Ethereum to creating the cover of Fortune (!!!), I hope to inspire more creatives to participate in crypto/Web 3.0 with each new collaboration. This is only just the beginning, and there is room for everyone. 🙂

The World Bank has issued a second round of its landmark blockchain bonds.

The international financial institution raised another $50 million AUD ($33.8 million U.S.) by selling the “blockchain-operated debt instrument” (bond-i), according to Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CommBank), which managed the sale jointly with RBC Capital Markets and TD Securities.

Both new and existing investors participated, CommBank said.

All told, the World Bank has issued $160 million AUD ($108 million U.S.) of these bonds, which run on a private version of the ethereum blockchain. It is “the first bond created, allocated, transferred and managed through its life-cycle using distributed ledger technology,” according to CommBank.

“We are happy to see the continued, strong support and collaboration from investors and partners,” Andrea Dore, the World Bank’s head of funding, said in a press release. “The World Bank’s innovation and experience in the capital markets is key to working with our member countries to increase digitization to boost productivity in their economies and accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.”

The blockchain platform was built and developed by CommBank’s Blockchain Centre of Excellence.

“CBA now has tangible evidence from our first bond offering using blockchain technology and subsequent bond management, secondary trading and tap issue via the same platform, that blockchain technology can deliver a new level of efficiency, transparency and risk management capability versus the existing market infrastructure,” Sophie Gilder, head of blockhain and AI at CommBank, said in last week’s release, adding:

“Next we intend to deliver additional functionality to deliver greater efficiencies in settlement, custody and regulatory compliance.”

A year ago, the World Bank announced the first $110 million AUD (roughly $81 million U.S. at the time) issuance of bond-i.

In May of this year, the World Bank and CommBank began to record secondary market bond trading using blockchain tech.

World Bank image via Shutterstock