Doodling to Earn? A User-Painted NFT Sells for 0.36 Bitcoin
24th June, 2023
Bitcoin protocol Ordinals shook up the crypto-art scene on June 14th with the release of its Recursive Inscription protocol, allowing interconnected inscriptions, where a single inscription can be composed of multiple recursive elements. Within days, projects such as Recursive Frog and Recursive Punk arrived, boasting high-definition SVG images as their key selling point.
Just three days after the Ordinals launch, a refreshingly different website known as rcsv.io went live. The platform, named Recursive Doodinals, provides a digital canvas where users can freely doodle with hundreds of available elements.
Initially, users seemed to be casually doodling on the platform. On Father’s Day, for instance, a charming image drawn by a five-year-old for his dad made waves. However, the whimsical tone shifted drastically two days later with the debut of a stunning rendering of “The Girl with a Pearl Earring.” This jaw-dropping masterpiece, composed of 1,253 recursive elements, saw a gas fee payment of 0.025 Bitcoin (approximately $750). The artwork even garnered attention from mainstream Ordinals platforms like Ord.io.
Following the buzz, Doodinals announced that it would feature a total of 2,100 user-created artworks. 200 of these pieces have already been launched on MagicEden. The rendition of “The Girl with a Pearl Earring” sold within just an hour of being listed for a staggering 0.36 Bitcoin (about $11,000). Another piece, a recursive work based on Van Gogh’s “The Scream,” was also purchased for 0.25 Bitcoin.
The incident sparks an intriguing question: Can casual doodling now be monetized? With transaction prices soaring, Twitter has seen a surge of artistic creativity, with pieces like “Satoshi Nakamoto” (@GYY89137171), “Unicorn” (@web3_paddy), and “Bored Ape” (@mfoldm) expected to make the cut for the second batch of works.
So what does the Recursive Protocol bring to the Bitcoin network? Beyond the obvious concept of high-definition graphics, NFT project owners can now provide just the recursive elements, leaving the creative process to the users and embodying the decentralized ethos of the Bitcoin network. High-quality designs or innovative ideas may command higher values, shifting the concept of the ‘floor price’.
Could this new paradigm of “Inscription” + “Recursive” + “Co-creation” disrupt the current NFT market? As of now, Recursive Doodinals still has over 1,000 slots open for inclusion. You might want to try your hand at doodling — after all, it’s the first opportunity to etch your artwork onto the Bitcoin network.
