Presenting HaCKittieZ: Hackatao x AsyncArt x CryptoKitties

The future of art is personal, digital, and interactive — here are two ways you can make your mark right now

Roham Gharegozlou
Dapper Labs
3 min readOct 23, 2020

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“Despite everything, we live in the most incredible of times.
You just need to know how to live it”
–– Hackatao (EradiGirl)

Our lives today are increasingly digital, bringing us closer and teasing the possibility of an infinite future––a metaverse free for anyone to explore, play with, and build on.

Almost exactly on queue, crypto or blockchain technology is giving us the building blocks to make this vision a reality: real digital ownership; transparent global markets; permissionless development platforms; and new business models for digital creators.

We started CryptoKitties to highlight what’s possible with blockchain technology beyond just currency. At the end of the day, blockchains are the first public computers, open to be programmed and used by anyone with no need for intermediaries or middlemen. Three years later, people are making the most incredible things –– and the movement is just getting started.

HaCKittieZ is an unprecedented collaboration between top artist duo Hackatao, programmable art platform AsyncArt, and CryptoKitties.

Each “layer” is an individual dynamic artwork that can be changed at will by its owner. The sum of all layers make up the master, a constantly evolving social masterpiece powered by a smart contract that ties everything together:

An Async artwork is comprised of layers (cats) and a master file. Each layer (cat) is a 1 of 1 NFT that allows the owner to customize its traits. Bidding is open now through Saturday 10:00am PT.

These pieces of programmable art are living, breathing, and are the sum of their components!

The artist Hackatao themselves will keep control over the seventh layer, the Crown, which they will award on a rolling basis to their favorite user-influenced creation among the other layers. Everything is tracked immutably on the Ethereum blockchain, each art-piece a unique non-fungible token (NFT) that can be traded on any number of digital marketplaces.

Now that I have your attention, there are two ways to get involved:

  1. Bid on AsyncArt: Bidding will close on October 24th 10:00 AM PT on all six 1/1 digital art “layers” as well as the master piece — head over now 🚀
  2. Breed Purrstige Kitties: Make your own art by breeding limited edition CryptoKitties that can only be bred October 24–31. More details below!

Purrstige What?

In CryptoKitties, there’s a particularly special kind of Cattribute called Purrstige Traits. They’re challenging, rewarding, and create some of CryptoKitties’ coolest looking cats.

Purrstige Traits combine with your Kitty’s own unique genetics to create some of the most distinctive and sought-after kitties in the game. This is a way for anyone to make their own unique digital works of art; no artistic talent necessary!

Join the CryptoKitties Discord and tune in for our livestream Saturday 10AM PT to join the party.

For a detailed guide on how to get started:

About the Crew

🎨 The artistic diptych Hackatao was born in Milan in 2007 thanks to Sergio Scalet and Nadia Squarci. “Hack” for the pleasure of going under the skin and discovering what’s hidden inside; “Tao” for Yin and Yang, their creative dynamic balance. Hackatao’s creations have taken crypto art by storm.

📈 AsyncArt is pioneering #ProgrammableArt, digital paintings split into “Layers” which owners can use to affect the overall image. AsyncArt pieces can be programmed to evolve with time, react to their owners’ actions, track public information like the weather or stock prices, or any number of designs that are yet to be explored.

🐱 Three years ago, we wrote the first Non-Fungible Token (NFT) standard and built CryptoKitties to change the narrative of what’s possible with crypto. Since then, 100,000 collectors have given rise to a more than $40 million dollar economy of digital Kitties though trading and breeding. We also operate NBA Top Shot on the Flow Blockchain.

Join Us

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Roham Gharegozlou
Dapper Labs

Founder @AxiomZenTeam, CryptoKitties, and Dapper Labs. Former VC. Relentless optimist. https://axiomzen.com