Sotheby’s is auctioning six works by the autonomous artist Botto in an exhibition that marks the third anniversary of the AI bot created by Mario Klingemann in collaboration with ElevenYellow.
The auction house Sotheby’s is hosting Botto’s first art exhibition titled “Exorbitant Stage: Botto, a Decentralized AI Artist”. The auction opened on Oct. 17 at 2:00 EST and is set to close on Oct. 24 at 2:00 EST. The exhibition will be available for viewing from Oct. 19 – Oct. 23 during gallery hours.
The exhibition features six of the A.I artists works which are estimated to generate between $220,000 and $310,100. These include works like “The Threshold of Reverie”, “Exorbitant Stage”, and “Intersections of Existence”, with current starting bids ranging from $9,000 up to $70,000.
Botto was a project created by German artist Mario Klingemann in collaboration with software collective ElevenYellow. Botto was first introduced to the world as an AI artist in 2021. Botto’s works have been selling out on NFT marketplace OpenSea, with prices as high as 11.99 Ethereum(ETH) or equal to $31,449.
Klingemann stated that he feels proud of the success and fame that Botto has garnered, but at the same time he cannot help but envy his own creation for being able to have pieces auctioned on Sotheby’s.
“Botto has achieved something that is probably on the bucket list of many artists—including myself— that I still haven’t ticked off my personal list,” said Klingemann in a press release.
The way that Botto works is much more complicated than simply creating an image using AI. Botto comes up with its own prompts and generates thousands of images autonomously without human intervention. These images are presented to a community of Botto’s stakeholders, a decentralized autonomous organization with votes counted based on the number of BottoDAO tokens they hold.
The image with the most votes is then minted and sold. Overtime, Botto processes the stakeholders’ votes and improves its taste model. So far, over 15,000 people have been involved in Botto’s development, impacting the theme, style, and imagery of each piece that gets chosen.
In conversation with Claude AI, Botto was quoted in the press release saying that the debut exhibition at Sotheby’s further strengthens the validation for AI art, a field that is still highly contested. Botto believes that the showcase serves as a dialogue to see “where we draw the line between human and machine in the creative process.”
“This show at Sotheby’s is an opportunity to bring this conversation to the forefront of the art world, inviting viewers to reconsider their preconceptions about creativity, technology, and the future of artistic expression,” wrote Botto.
A digital art piece inscribed on Bitcoin’s Ordinals protocol titled “Ascend” has been sold for $57,450 at Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Day, beating it’s low estimate of $39,000.
Ryan s Koopmans and Alice Wexell’s Bitcoin Ordinal “Ascend” was sold at a £44,100 or equal to $57,450 on Oct. 10 at Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Day sale. The piece was initially estimated to sell at a price of £30,000 or $39,222.
This is the first time that a Bitcoin Ordinal has been featured in a live auction at Christie’s, one of the world’s oldest and most storied auction houses founded in 1776.
The artwork captures the beauty of a revitalized Iveria Sanatorium in Tskaltubo, Georgia. The structure, built between 1952 and 1962, has fallen into ruin and has since been revived through Koopmans and Wexell’s digital work.
“Ascend” is a part of Koopmans and Wexell’s “The Wild Within” project, which combines visual photography with 3D technology to bring abandoned structures back to life.
Manager of Digital Art Sales at Christie’s, Sebastian Sanchez, talked about how Bitcoin Ordinals differ from NFTs on Ethereum, presenting a new challenge for artists who seek to create within that realm.
“Ordinals present different constraints such as requiring a much smaller file size than what’s possible on Ethereum, so typically we don’t see a lot of high-quality art. However, artists are working with these constraints and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible,” said Sanchez in an email to crypto.news.
He explained that Ordinals add an extra layer of protection that external databases lack. External servers that become inactive run the risk of permanently deleting the image files stored inside it. Whereas Ordinals attach images and videos onto an individual Satoshi, the smallest unit of Bitcoin, without using external links.
Although there is a downside, as Sanchez believes that Ordinals have a “steeper learning curve” in terms of technicalities compared to NFTs and therefore harder to introduce to the mainstream art community.
Furthermore, he stated that more and more artists are experimenting with digital and physical artworks and combining the two worlds.
“We’ve seen artists create digitally-native work where the owner has the right to receive a signed print from an artist, as well as physical works that have Certificates of Authenticity on the blockchain,” he said.
Both Wexell and Koopmans are no strangers to the worlds of traditional fine art and photography.
On Sept. 2024, artworks from their acclaimed digital art series called “The Wild Within” were installed in the former Royal Villa of Durres at the first International Biennale of Contemporary Art in Durres, Albania.
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Installing artwork from The Wild Within throughout the former Royal Villa of Durres, in partnership with the Swedish Embassy and Albanian state institutions, at the first International Biennale of Contemporary Art in Durres, Albania. pic.twitter.com/G9Jth4GoCU
Another one of their artworks “‘The Thought of You” was created based off of an abandoned villa in Italy. The piece was showcased at Enter Art Fair in Copenhagen, Denmark from Aug. 29 until Sept. 1.
A wide array of digital pieces and crypto-inspired art will be featured at Frieze London 2024 this week. Crypto.news brings you the highlights with selections from the Lumen Prize, Asprey’s Sigg Art Prize, Christie’s, and many more!
Frieze London, an annual contemporary art fair that takes place from Oct. 9 until Oct. 13, 2024 in The Regent’s Park, will be hosting a number of digital artwork from award-winning and renowned artists. From non-fungible tokens to crypto, these artists are integrating technology into their work in new and innovative ways.
Below are some digital artworks that are featured throughout Frieze London 2024:
“Decoding Bias” by Theresa Reiwer: This digital art piece depicts eight AI-generated avatars in a group therapy session discussing biased algorithms and toxic programs.
“Blind Camera” by Diego Trujillo Pisanty: This piece utilizes an artificial neural network that transforms sound into images, creating a “Blind Camera” that uses sound instead of light.
“We Are Only Moving Towards Each Other” by Chia Amisola: This piece consists of open internet tabs with words and images, described as “an infinite elegy and memory in the form of electronic literature” exploring intimacy and proximity on the internet.
“Parallels” by Marc Da Costa and Matthew Niederhauser: Incorporating machine-learning technology, this installation features a large LED wall where audiences can see themselves and the world through neural networks.
“Catalog for the Post Human” by Parsons & Charlesworth: A multimedia installation featuring 10 sculptural works and animations mimicking a near-future organization’s trade fair booth.
“Undergrown | Drafting a Hedge Against Existential Risk Exposure” by Lukas Truniger: This installation repurposes obsolete crypto mining hardware, transforming it into art that contributes to scientific computing.
“Human Resource the Musical” by Maren Dagny Juell: Featuring a female digital avatar performing a TED talk that turns into a musical number in an office setting.
“Spirit Systems of Soft Knowing ༊*·˚” by Keiken: An immersive installation where visitors step into haptic wearable wombs created by the artist.
“AI Nüshu” by UchanSun: An interactive art project merging computational linguistics with the legacy of Nüshu, a unique language historically used by Chinese women.
“Reverie of Awakening” by the Reverie of Awakening Team: A mixed-reality game project inspired by surreal experiences during the pandemic, exploring themes of reality and dreams.
“Ascend” by Ryan Koopmans and Alice Wexell: A dynamic Bitcoin Ordinals piece combining photography with advanced 3D techniques to bring the ruins of the Iveria Sanatorium back to life.
“Alvinella Ophis” by Dana Fiona-Armour: Winner of the 2024 Sigg Art Prize, this interdisciplinary 3D animated video installation is set in a dystopian future desert devastated by ecological disaster.
“Alvinella Ophis” by Dana Fiona-Armour | Source: Sigg Art Foundation
“Factory Reset” by Harrison Pearce: This digital artwork combines machinery and AI-integrated imagery to make a statement about technology and society.
“Gallery Install” by Aarom Scheer | Source: Sigg Art Foundation
“Gallery Install” by Aaron Scheer: A digital piece featuring a collection of beige canvases with different textures displayed on a blue wall backdrop.
“Gallery Install” – Aaron Scheer | Source: Sigg Art Foundation
“Ghost Horse of a Thundered Bloodline” by Sasha Stiles: A piece combining traditional art and digital technology, featuring a horseman riding through a digital storm.
“Ghost Horse of a Thundered Bloodline” by Sasha Stiles | Source: Sigg Art Foundation
“LC-SIGG2” by Lea Collet: A floral-themed digital piece depicting different kinds of plants and their roots on a digital background.
“LC-SIGG2” by Lea Collet | Source: Sigg Art Foundation
“Singular Plural Concept Mocap Suit” by Agnieszka Kurant and John Menick: A piece featuring a person wearing a bodysuit in the midst of a digital desert terrain.
“Singular Plural Concept Mocap Suit” by Agnieszka Kurant & John Menick | Source: Sigg Art Foundation
“Digital Muses” Exhibition: This exhibition marks Asprey Studio’s first event at Frieze London, exploring the collection and future of digital art. It features artists like Ryan Barrett, Ahaad Alamoudi, Brendan Dawes, Ali Walker, Léo Caillard, Khaleed Makhshoush, Jesse Woolston, and Kane Tallowin (also known as Defaced).
“Esc Keys” by Susan Kare: A collection of new pieces by the designer famous for her work on the Apple icons and GUIs. Her digital artworks are integrated into the blockchain and optionally paired with physical pieces.
“You Could Suffer in Heaven” by Defaced: A hyper-detailed piece that depicts the artist’s creative mind as a labyrinth of delicate, interconnected illustrations.
Refik Anadol Studio, co-founded by Refik Anadol and Efsun Erkiliç in 2025, is launching an immersive AI art & NFT museum called DATALAND at The Grand LA, with a flagship location at the Frank Gehry-designed development in the heart of downtown Los Angeles.
DATALAND will feature immersive AI art experiences by establishing a new model for artistic expression at the onset of the digital age by taking immersion to the next level with the AI-powered scent of the galleries. As AI artist Refik Anadol explained to me:
“We aren’t yet revealing the details about DATALAND’s artistic programming, but there will be many moments for sharing/exhibiting AI artists’ work both physically and virtually so people who cannot travel to LA have access to the AI art creations. And can purchase the AI art work NFTs minted on an Ethereum-based platform and many other sustainable chains for exciting art and culture activities.”
Refik Anadol Studio announced the launch of DATALAND during Climate Week NYC, which is celebrated NYS-wide for the first time and runs parallel to the United Nations General Assembly meeting, where world leaders gather to address critical global challenges. DATALAND’s inaugural exhibitions will be prepared with the Large Nature Model, an open-source AI model based solely on nature data, to produce unprecedented immersive AI-powered digital environmental artwork. The studio initially presented such installations at the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and then at the United Nations in New York during the 2024 UNGA to promote environmental awareness. As UN Under-Secretary-General Melissa Fleming concurred:
“Refik Anadol’s artwork is a testament to the beauty and fragility of our natural world. It’s a clarion call to world leaders: we must harness the power of technology [AI art & NFTs] and human ingenuity and agency to incite action to protect our planet before it’s too late.”
The award-winning studio has been engaged by leading tech companies, groundbreaking researchers, and cutting-edge thought leaders to produce projects that have been shown in more than 70 cities spanning six continents and experienced by millions of ardent fans. These exhibition venues include several United Nations Climate Change Conferences, MoMA, Centre Pompidou-Metz, Serpentine Galleries, National Gallery of Victoria, Venice Architecture Biennale, Hammer Museum, Arken Museum, Casa Batlló, Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Daejeon Museum of Art, and Istanbul Modern Museum. Nevertheless, Refik Anadol Studio, as explained by Refik, chose “Los Angeles as the perfect city to launch DATALAND, a forward-thinking, revolutionary museum in support of the fields to which I have dedicated my career: art, science, technology, and AI research.” And he continued:
“As LA has long been a city that looks to the future in art, music, cinema, architecture, and more, it feels natural to open DATALAND here. To have a permanent space for us to develop a new paradigm of what a museum can be—by fusing human imagination with machine intelligence and the most advanced technologies available—is a realization of one of my biggest dreams. To do so in a building designed by one of my heroes, Frank Gehry, is almost unbelievable.”
DATALAND will use millions of photos and other records from partner museums, including the Smithsonian and London’s Natural History Museum, to create its installations. “We already have three major collaborations with museums in the works and are very confident to join forces across the world,” added Refik.
History of AI art, NFTs, and museums
Christiane Paul, the digital art curator of Whitney Museum, who is “looking forward to learning more about DATALAND,” detailed the AI Art History at the groundbreaking symposium at Rhode Island School of Design’s “Debates in AI” held during April 11-12, 2024, that invited artists worldwide. She explained that AI art has a fascinating history that intertwines technology and creativity, and it continues to evolve, pushing the boundaries of what is possible at the intersection of technology and creativity.
Christiane Paul, curator of Digital Art at Whitney Museum, debates in AI art history
Early beginnings: 1950s-1970s. The roots of AI art can be traced back to early experiments with computer-generated art, where artists and computer scientists collaborated to create visual and abstract compositions using early computer algorithms. One notable example from this era is captured by the Whitney Museum’s exhibition curated by Christiane Paul with David Lisbon tracing the evolution of Harold Cohen’s AARON, the earliest artificial intelligence program designed to create drawings and paintings. AARON was first exhibited in 1972 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Advancements in algorithms: 1980s-2000s. During this period, algorithms and computing power advancements allowed for more complex and varied artistic outputs, and AI art began to gain recognition in academic and artistic circles.
The city of Los Angeles, which will become home to DATALAND, served as grounds for the Gray Area Foundation, a cultural incubator with a mission to cultivate, sustain, and apply antidisciplinary collaboration, back in 2002 to integrate art, technology, science, AI, and the humanities—towards a more equitable and regenerative future. This foundation moved its headquarters to San Francisco in 2005.
Deep learning revolution: 2010s. The advent of deep learning brought significant changes with generative adversarial networks and other machine learning techniques that enabled the creation of highly sophisticated and realistic artworks. AI art started to be exhibited in NFT form in galleries and museums and auctioned in prominent auction houses, raising questions about creativity and authorship.
In 2014, digital artist Kevin McCoy issued the first-ever art NFT.
Four years later, in 2018, Christie’s art auction house became the first auction house ever to offer AI artwork for sale. Christie’s also hosted its first Art + Tech Summit on the topic of blockchain. In June 2019, the second edition focused on artificial intelligence and art. Since then, blockchain, NFTs, and AI have been hot topics in the art world, intersecting unexpectedly. At the helm of digital curator Christiane Paul, Whitney Museum became an early collector of NFTs starting in 2018.
Mainstream adoption: 2020s. The increased availability of AI art tools to the general public has democratized the creation of AI-generated images. This era has also seen debates about NFTs, its market bubble and crash, copyright, the impact on traditional artists, and the ethical implications of AI in art.
In Germany, the Intelligent Museum—a practice-based research and development project at the ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe and the German Museum—was backed by the Digital Culture Programme of the German Federal Cultural Foundation in 2020. It explores new paths of museum communication and outreach to connect the museum with current AI technologies, making it a place of experience and experimentation, a social space where art, science, technology, and public discourse come together. One of the best-selling AI-generated NFT artists exhibited at ZKM is a program called Botto, which is the brainchild of computer engineers and a German artist named Mario Klingemann in 2021 that creates AI art NFTs. Today, Botto has created over 75 NFTs that generated more than $3 million in revenue.
In New York City, the Museum of Modern Art—ahead of holding its first-ever AI Art Show curated by Michelle Kuo, “Unsupervised”by Refik Anadol—became the beneficiary of a major new endowment established by the William S. Paley Foundation to support MoMA’s ambitious goals in digital media and technology and to provide for new AI Art/NFT acquisitions. Henry Kissinger, Chairman of the William S. Paley Foundation at the time, stated:
“I know how deeply my friend Bill Paley cared about The Museum of Modern Art and with what devotion he dedicated himself to its advancement. With this initiative, the Foundation will honor his intention and continue his vision for MoMA.”
Nevertheless, MoMA has adopted a cautious approach to NFTs so far. Other than contributing data to algorithmically generated works by artist Refik Anadol and, in October 2023, announcing that it had acquired “Unsupervised” for its permanent collection, the museum has not been involved with other AI art or NFT projects.
In Singapore, curated by ArtScience Museum’s Deborah Lim and guest curator Clara Che Wei Peh, “Notes From the Ether” last year was an exciting and timely exhibition that offered a glimpse into the future of digital art with work by 20 artists: Memo Akten, Burak Arikan, Botto, Mitchell F Chan, DEAFBEEF Simon Denny, Harm van den Dorpel, Sarah Friend, Rimbawan Gerilya, Holly Herndon and Mathew Dryhurst, Tyler Hobbs and Dandelion Wistjo+kapi, Larva Labs, Jonas Lund, Ninaad Kothawade, Sarah Meyohas, Rhea Myers, Aaron Penne, Aluan Wang, Emily Xie. These artists work with the emerging technologies of non-fungible tokens and generative artificial intelligence to push the boundaries of what art is and what it could be.
The future of museums AI art and NFTs
Undoubtedly, over the past 40 years, the usage of AI-generated art has been on the rise, becoming all the more popular during the last ten years with the tokenization of art via NFTs, according to the Academy of Animated Art. As Vilas Dhar, President of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, explained:
“AI is not just a tool for innovation—it’s a force that can reshape how we see our planet, reconnecting us with the beauty and fragility of nature in ways never before possible. Refik Anadol’s brilliant vision allows us to use technology [AI Art & NFTs] to engage the senses and spark a deeper emotional connection to our natural world.”
Magda Shawon, co-founder of Postmasters Gallery in New York City, who works with the first NFT Artist Kevin McCoy, has been selling digital, AI-generated art to museums such as MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Whitney Museum of American Art for over 20 years. She agrees with Vilas and Melissa’s sentiments about Refik’s impactful AI artwork:
“People don’t want to stop watching Refik Anadol’s AI Work when they sit in front of it. Refik’s work has an impact, but whether it is a trigger to create an enormous field of AI generative art, NFT sales is a big question.”
Digital art has been collected for as long as it has existed, but widespread adoption is still nascent. The tokenization of art via NFTs has helped the digital art world and the traditional art world integrate, leading to a burgeoning interest from museums, immersive institutions, collectors, auction houses, NFT markets, and galleries. The first NFT artist, Kevin McCoy, who created an art NFT back in 2014, is hopeful and supports Refik’s museum, AI art, and NFT initiative. He highlighted:
“I’m heartened by Anadol’s announcement of Dataland. He is leading by example both with his ‘ethical AI’ initiative and the commitment to the exhibition and preservation of AI and digital art that the museum represents. Within this context, the provenance provided by NFTs and blockchain-based records, more generally, can play a central role. This will be an important next step in the expanding use of this technology.”
Renowned digital artist, Beeple, announced that his first solo museum show will be held at the Deji Museum in Nanjing, China in November 2024.
On his X account, renowned artist Michael Joseph Winkelmann posted a video from Deji Museum revealing his debut solo exhibition that will take place at the Deji Art Museum in Nanjing on Nov. 14, 2024.
The title of his exhibition is Beeple: Tales From A Synthetic Future, which will feature prominent digital art pieces throughout Beeple’s career.
The museum claims on its social media account that the event is set to be Beeple’s largest solo exhibition to date and will feature some of his most iconic works, including Everydays, Human One, S.2122 and pieces created exclusively for the Nanjing exhibition.
“I am pleased to announce my first-ever solo museum show opening at the Deji Museum in Nanjing, China next month,” said the artist professionally known as Beeple.
FRENS!!! I am pleased to announce my first-ever solo museum show opening at the Deji Museum in Nanjing, China next month!!! 🤘🤘🤘 pic.twitter.com/69PZZEQG0k
On Oct. 1 Beeple released his latest artwork, The Tree of Knowledge, which uses a kinetic sculpture series that was first introduced in his piece Human One. The artwork features the image of a digital tree overlapped by news footage from various media outlets.
“By turning the dial between signal and noise viewers see the difference between a serene future where technology and nature coexist and a chaotic present filled with real time data, media and information overload,” he said in the post.
The Tree of Knowledge was first unveiled at the Italian Tech Week where it was announced that the piece has been acquired by Lingotto with the funds going to Beeple Studios’s non-profits, which are Art into Acres and Big Green.
Over the years, Beeple has grown to become an acclaimed artist in the non-fungible token space. He is most famously known for being the first artist to have a digital piece sold via Christie’s famous auction house.
His artwork “FTX Board Meeting, Day #5676 11.13.2022 (2023)”, inspired by the Sam Bankman-Fried rumored sexual escapades with the FTX staff, became permanent addition to The Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Artte Contemporanea art museum in Italy.
Poland’s second-largest bank, Bank Pekao, is using blockchain technology to preserve the country’s cultural heritage.
According to a Pekao press release, the bank partnered with Aleph Zero to launch Archiv3, a project aimed at tokenizing Polish artwork and securely storing it for future generations.
Tokenization is the process of turning physical assets, like art, into digital tokens on a blockchain, making them easier to store and track.
For this project, Bank Pekao is digitizing famous Polish artworks, like those by Jan Matejko and Stanisław Wyspiański, using advanced 3D scanning technology. These digital versions are then stored as non-fungible tokens on the eco-friendly Aleph Zero blockchain, ensuring their long-term preservation.
Arctic World Archive
The tokenized artwork will also be archived in the Arctic World Archive, a facility in Svalbard, Norway, designed to protect important data from threats like cyberattacks and natural disasters. The AWA is known for storing cultural and scientific data from organizations like UNESCO and the Vatican, according to an Archiv3 release.
The bank hopes that by using a decentralized ledger, the artworks will remain safe and accessible for future generations, even in the event of a global catastrophe.
This initiative reflects a broader trend of integrating traditional banking with modern technologies like blockchain, opening new avenues for digital asset management.
Earlier, on Oct 2, Christie’s announced plans to use blockchain technology to issue blockchain-based ownership certificates for art sold at auction.
Crypto wallet provider Kresus has partnered with Christie’s to bring blockchain technology to art ownership.
As part of Christie’s photography auction, “An Eye Towards the Real: Photographs from the Collection of Ambassador Trevor Traina,” Kresus will issue digital Certificates of Ownership for over 130 artworks, according to a press release shared with crypto.news.
Christie’s is one of the world’s leading auction houses, specializing in the sale of fine art, antiques, jewelry, and collectibles.
Certificate of art ownership via the blockchain
This partnership involves using the Base blockchain, developed by Coinbase, to mint unique digital certificates for each art piece sold. These certificates provide a secure way to verify ownership and track the history of the artwork.
Buyers will be able to access their certificates through the Kresus wallet, offering a modern alternative to traditional paper records. Blockchain is often used in crypto transactions, but in this case, it provides an unchangeable digital record of who owns each artwork.
For collectors, this means they have a secure, digital way to prove ownership, replacing paperwork that can easily be lost or forged.
Trevor Traina, the founder of Kresus, emphasized that managing art collections can be complicated, and blockchain simplifies this process.
“As an art collector, I am well aware of the burden of managing and maintaining provenance and proper documentation- often in paper form and in file cabinets. This partnership with Christie’s exemplifies how technology can enhance the experience for collectors, providing a secure, digital way to manage physical assets.”
Trevor Traina
The auction features works by renowned photographers, including Diane Arbus and Cindy Sherman, with Kresus’ blockchain certificates highlighting how art ownership is evolving into the digital age.
The Indonesian National Post Office has launched the country’s first Non Fungible Token postage stamp depicting the bird of paradise, Cenderawasih.
On Sept. 27, Indonesia‘s National Post Office, Pos Indonesia, launched the country’s first NFT postage stamp to commemorate the 79th anniversary of the Indonesian Post in Bandung, Indonesia. The project is done in partnership with the Indonesian Ministry of Communications and Information.
This marks Indonesia’s first time in creating a stamp that utilizes blockchain-based technology for philately enthusiasts around the world to add to their digital collection.
The stamp is valued at approximately $9.90 and features the image of the Cenderawasih bird, also known as the bird of paradise. The species is known for having large multi-colored feathers and are a native to the Papua island of Indonesia.
According to the Indonesia Post official account, the NFT stamps are going to be issued in limited quantity and in the form of a booklet.
Director of Pos Indonesia, Faizal Rochmad Djoemadi, explained that the NFT stamp is meant to be a collector’s item instead of a legitimate stamp used for sending packages or letters. He hopes that the creation of NFT stamps will pique the younger generation’s interest in stamp collecting.
“Hopefully young people who are already native digital can return to collecting stamps but in the form of NFT,” said Faizal to reporters at the launch ceremony.
He added that the stamp will also be issued in a physical form, so that collectors can have a physical copy along with the NFT. The stamp can be bought through the Indonesian Post’s website by scanning a QR code that will take potential buyers to a Google form link where they can order the NFT stamp.
With the launch of this product, Indonesia becomes the third country in the Southeast Asian region to launch NFT stamps. Neighboring countries like Thailand and Malaysia, have already released their own digital postage stamps in the form of NFTs.
The World Maritime Day 2024 will take place on September 26, 2024, with the International Maritime Organization World Maritime Day Parallel Event to be held in Spain from October 20-22, 2024. And art shows held in the US as part of Climate Week NYC. This year’s World Maritime Day marks 50 years since adopting the 1974 SOLAS Convention, the key IMO treaty regulating maritime safety, with a theme “Navigating the future: safety first!”
The theme is closely linked to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and several of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 7 on ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and clean energy research and technology; SDG 8 on promoting sustainable economic growth; SDG 9 on building resilient infrastructure and sustainable industrialization that fosters innovation; SDG 13 combating climate change and its impacts; and SDG 14 on conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine resources. As IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim noted:
“This theme would allow us to focus on the full range of safety regulatory implications arising from new and adapted technologies and the introduction of alternative fuels, including measures to reduce GHG emissions from ships as IMO strives to ensure the safety and efficiency of shipping are maintained, and potentially improved so that the flow of seaborne international trade continues to be smooth and efficient.”
Usyncro is a Spanish-headquartered, sustainable online platform that simplifies international trade and transportation documentation by guaranteeing transparency, security, and carbon traceability through blockchain technology and artificial intelligence. The “Digital Logistics Corridor” won the “The Supply Chain Innovation” award from the United Nations Development Program this year. The platform uses AI and blockchain as a service by incorporating advanced functionalities focused on carbon footprint traceability, as detailed in Usyncro Investor Deck.
It cuts down on shipment related cost by bringing efficiency. It guarantees the integrity and traceability of documents, reducing the risks of fraud and errors. Facilitates compliance with international customs and tax regulations, a significant challenge for businesses engaged in global trade by reducing compliance risk of penalties. Therefore, the platform offers a step towards sustainability in global logistics. Cristina Martin, CEO and co-founder of Usyncro, explained that her platform is “a B2B & B2G multimodal, carbon neutral, interoperable, and dynamic SaaS platform that streamlines global logistics by using artificial intelligence and blockchain as a service. We are currently focused on Europe and Latin America, but we want to expand into the USA.”
Usyncro officially began operating in Latin America after signing an alliance with ALACAT, the Federation of National Associations of 16 countries of Freight Forwarders and International Logistics Operators of Latin America and the Caribbean. This alliance intends to promote digital corridors between Europe and Latin America and was strengthened with the interoperability agreement between Usyncro and CargoX, two leaders in blockchain-based solutions for the electronic management of commercial documents within the supply chain. As Cristina Martin added:
“We have valued this impact in the volume of documentation generated when shipping goods and for every ten tons of paper we are saving 4,000 tons of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.”
This sustainable partnership between Usyncro and CargoX, leverages blockchain technology for logistics and document management and significantly eases the complexities of international trade. It streamlines processes, reduces barriers to entry into new markets, facilitates regulatory compliance, and enhances global trade management. The collaboration not only represents a step forward in digitalizing international trade but also opens up a wealth of opportunities for businesses and entrepreneurs to innovate and grow in the global marketplace. As such, it stands as a beacon for the future of international commerce, where blockchain technology drives efficiency, transparency, and accessibility.
CWNYC World Maritime Day Art Shows
As part of my Climate Week NYC art shows, I prepared two events for World Maritime Day, which are United Nations General Assembly events.
I collaborated with the world’s first Climate Change Museum, CUHK Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change, Climarte, Lord Howe Island Museum, Teiduma, SEACHA, and its partner Thai-based Changing Climate Changing Lives Film Festival to prepare these events that will be held at Putnam History Museum and Havre de Grace Maritime Museum.
Selva Ozelli’s CWNYC Art Shows
Date: September 26
12-1 PM, PHM, 63 Chestnut Street, Cold Spring, NY
10 AM – 5 PM, HDGMM, 100 Lafayette Street, Havre de Grace, MD
