Sotheby's proudly unveils a curated assortment of prominent Bitcoin Ordinals. Explore these thoughtfully selected highlights, including works by celebrated artists Shroomtoshi, XCPinata, Des Lucrece, FAR, Nullish, the 21st ordinal ever inscribed among other notable contributors.

Uncover top highlights of the Ordinals auction, a highly curated selection representing some of the most significant digital works on Bitcoin.

Ordinals Highlights 

Inscription21 directly references one of the most important and symbolic numbers in Bitcoin culture. The total supply of Bitcoins that will ever be available for mining is 21 million. This number also relates to Shroomtoshi's celebrated BitcoinShroom, an ode to Bitcoin that features 210 unique Shrooms and 12 Protoshrooms. Early inscriptions are highly sought after as they represent the experimental beginnings when Ordinals started, and only a handful of early believers understood the innovation and its potential to revolutionize non-fungible assets on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Shroomtoshi is a leading digital artist within the Ordinal ecosystem responsible for creating some of the earliest inscriptions in addition to creating the first collection on Ordinals, BitcoinShrooms.&nbsp;

Shroomtoshi: Early Works

Generative art is one of the most celebrated movements since the rise of the art on the blockchain. Each blockchain offers different mediums that give artists a vast array of possibilities to accomplish their art. Generative works by Nullish, Rudxane, FAR, Asprey Studio, and Jennifer and Kevin McCoy are outstanding examples.

Generative art is one of the most celebrated movements since the rise of the art on the blockchain. Each blockchain offers a different medium, giving artists a vast array of possibilities to accomplish their art.

Generative Art

Artists can seamlessly blend different techniques, combining hand-drawn elements with computer-generated imagery or mixing 2D and 3D approaches to produce visually captivating and conceptually rich artworks. Artists can experiment with various styles, mediums, and approaches without the constraints of physical materials. Digital tools enable them to manipulate, refine, and revise their work endlessly, fostering a more iterative and exploratory creative process. Whether it is unique provenance or significant Satoshi’s, the works offered tell unique stories.

Digital figurative art often blurs the boundaries between traditional art forms, incorporating elements of painting, drawing, sculpture, and even animation.

Digital Figuration

Cord, from Ana María Caballero’s prize-winning forthcoming book Mammal, probes how the inescapable rhythms of our physicality govern our emotional hunger.

Ana María Caballero is a Colombian-American literary artist whose work explores how biology delimits societal and cultural rites, ripping the veil off romanticized motherhood and questioning notions that package sacrifice as a virtue.

Cord by Ana María Caballero 

In the rapidly evolving world of cryptocurrency, rare sats represent a bridge between the digital and the collectible, marrying the technological innovation of blockchain with the timeless human interest in rarity and history. Rare Sats, named after Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto, are a fascinating development in the realm of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Traditionally, Bitcoin is viewed as a fungible asset, where each satoshi is identical in value and function to another. However, the concept of rare sats introduces a layer of uniqueness and rarity, transforming ordinary satoshis into collectible, historical artifacts. As such, they stand as more than just a component of Bitcoin's blockchain; they are a new form of digital asset, combining monetary value with historical significance.

In the rapidly evolving world of cryptocurrency, rare sats represent a bridge between the digital and the collectible, marrying the technological innovation of blockchain with the timeless human interest in rarity and history.

Sotheby’s Sat Hunt

The Ordinals protocol was introduced to Bitcoin in early 2023 at a most opportune time. Bitcoin had nearly two years of low transaction fees from the lack of demand to actually send Bitcoin transactions. Bitcoin is considered to be the most secure blockchain in the world, but that security depends on miners who receive their revenue from transaction fees and block rewards. As part of the predetermined supply schedule, the block rewards are expected to be halved around April 2024 which would further drastically cut the miner revenue. To support the miners, Bitcoin needed something new to spur growth, and that was Ordinals. Ordinals drove huge demand to send Bitcoin transactions. Over $100 million (USD) worth of transaction fees have been spent so far this year just to create inscriptions, one type of transaction attributed to Ordinals.

The Ordinals protocol was introduced to Bitcoin in early 2023 at a most opportune time.&nbsp;

Ordinals Overview 

Vice-President, Contemporary Art Specialist & Head of Digital Art and NFTs

Michael Bouhanna

Head of Sale

Davis Brown

Digital Art Sales, Contemporary Art

Jaclyn Lavy

Associate, Digital Art, Contemporary Art

Minzee Kang

Meet our Specialists

For assistance with bidding and registration, please contact: +1 212 606 7000 
 
 <a class="Link" href="mailto:enquiries@sothebys.com" target="_blank">ENQUIRIES@SOTHEBYS.COM</a>

Stay informed with Sotheby’s top stories, videos, events &amp; news.

Sotheby's is thrilled to present Natively Digital: An Ordinals Curated Sale. This special curation will be a deep dive into the world of Ordinals on Bitcoin, featuring several notable collections and artists including FAR, XCPinata, Nullish, Rudxane, Jennifer and Kevin McCoy, Popoki, Shroomtoshi, Des Lucréce, Ana María Caballero, Claudia Hart alongside notable early inscriptions and rare sats. The online auction will be open for bidding on Sothebys.com from 12–22 January.