PixelChain 256 alpha launches on October 14th
We are launching PixelChain 256 this Friday! Join the allowlist and start creating 16x16 Black & White pixel art 100% on-chain!
Hi there, pixel lovers!
We are very close to the launch of our new PixelChain product, called PixelChain 256!
PXC 256 is a decentralized app that allows artists to create 16x16 black and white pixel art 100% on-chain. But it comes with a unique twist! ✨
The NFT artworks created with PixelChain 256 are encoded entirely in the tokenID. That means every NFT made on the platform is essentially a 1/1 and can never be replicated.
We’ll be launching a premium alpha on October 14th at 12 PM EST / 6 PM CET where NFT artists will be able to mint the first-ever PXC256 artworks.
If you want to be among the first users to mint and artwork con PXC 256, you can apply to the allowlist in the link below.
There are limited spots in the allowlist, so hurry up and register before they are gone 👇
On top of that, we are limiting the PXC 256 collection to 2048 artworks that will live forever on the blockchain.
The platform will be fully open to the public starting on October 17th, so be sure to mint yours before the collection closes forever.
Here’s everything you need to know about PXC 256, its innovative approach, and why it is a big thing for artists, NFT art collectors, and blockchain enthusiasts.
PixelChain’s approach to NFT art
As you know, most NFT projects use IPFS or external servers to store the NFTs’ metadata and images. Without those services, platforms like OpenSea wouldn’t be able to display the assets.
If for whatever reason, that storage goes out of service, that metadata could be lost forever, making NFT artwork obsolete.
On the contrary, PixelChain products do not depend on servers or IPFS. They store the NFTs’ metadata entirely on the blockchain. That means the artworks created with the PixelChain Dapp are preserved forever.
What is PixelChain 256 ▚
PixelChain 256 allows users to create 16x16 pixel art 100% stored on-chain.
The artworks are encoded entirely in the tokenID, making each NFT unique and impossible to be replicated by others.
One key feature of PixelChain 256 is that it doesn’t depend on any backend to display the visuals. The image generation is done entirely by the smart contract, and all the metadata is stored on the Ethereum blockchain.
At the same time, because of how we built the project’s technology, we were able to significantly reduce the gas costs of minting an asset on the platform, considering the NFTs are minted entirely on the blockchain.
No other pixel art project approaches NFT creation this way, allowing users to create NFT artworks encoded in the TokenID integer.
To ensure a super exclusive pixel art collection, we’ve decided to limit the PixelChain 256 minting to 2048 NFT artworks. That means the community will only be able to mint 2048 pixel art NFTs that will live forever on the blockchain.
How does it work?
To explain how PixelChain 256 works, I need to get a little bit more technical. But bear with me, I promise all will make sense in the end.
What does the 256 mean?
uint256 is one of the most used value types in Solidity, the programming language used to develop smart contracts. Token IDs are commonly generated based on this data type.
In Solidity, int is a signed integer and uint an unsigned integer.
A signed integer can represent positive and negative numbers, whereas an unsigned integer can only represent non-negative numbers (zero or positive values).
256 is the maximum amount of data that can be stored in bits in this value type. In this sense, 256 bits means we can generate 256 digits in a binary system (0s and 1s)
In PixelChain 256, the NFT’s metadata is entirely contained in the tokenID. That tokenID is made of a unique 256-character string of 0s and 1s.
When we place this sequence on a square frame, we can create a canvas of 16 x 16 values.
We assigned the color black to the value 1 and white to the value 0.
Using the PixelChain editor, artists can create black & white pixel art, where each pixel on the canvas is represented by a bit.
When minting an NFT, the platform transforms that particular arrangement of black-and-white pixels into a unique tokenID, encoding the image into the ID of the NFT.
How the technology works behind the scenes is actually pretty simple:
On the frontend, we convert the image into a BigNumber:
const convertPixelsToBigNumber = (grid) => {
const number = new Web3.utils.BN(0);
const bits = grid.reduce((acc, row) => {
const dataRow = row.reduce((acc, n) => {
acc.push(n); // n is either 1 or 0
return acc;
}, []);
return acc.concat(dataRow);
}, []);
bits.reverse().forEach((n, i) => number.setn(i, n));
return number; // This is the tokenId
};On the Smart Contract, we mint the tokenId:
function mint(uint256 _tokenId) external {
_mint(msg.sender, _tokenId);
incrementalIds[_tokenId] = mintedTokens;
mintedTokens++;
}This correspondence between the tokenID and the NFT image implicates that a particular arrangement of pixels can only be registered once in the blockchain.
What this means is that each NFT in the PXC 256 collection is essentially a 1/1 and cannot be minted again.
Gas costs optimized
Since the NFTs’ metadata is entirely contained in the tokenID, we were able to reduce gas costs significantly.
On-chain projects usually have to deal with a big challenge: minting an NFT 100% on-chain is more expensive than minting an asset whose metadata is stored on IPFS or an external server. This makes the massive adoption of a fully on-chain project way harder.
PixelChain 256 optimizes gas costs because the NFTs’ metadata is fully encoded into the token ID, which reduces the amount of information that has to be registered on the blockchain.
At the same time, since 256 bits is a fixed value, all the NFTs across the collection will have the same minting gas cost.
Technology at the service of Art!
After a user mints a specific pattern of black and white pixels, no other person will be able to replicate that same artwork on the platform.
The reason is that there cannot be two NFTs with the same Token ID in the collection. That means there will only be one PixelChain 256 artwork with this pattern:
Or with this pattern:
Or any other you can think of.
Join the Premium Alpha for NFT Artists
If you are an NFT artist and want to join the premium alpha for PixelChain 256, fill out this form:
Be sure not to miss this awesome opportunity to create your own pixel art and have it forever living on the blockchain.
The alpha mint stage starts on October 14th at 12 PM EST / 6 PM CET
Selected Artists Mint
We will be opening a special minting stage for a group of some of the most influential artists in the crypto space, including Pak, Hackatao, XCOPY, Skeene, and more.
These OG artists will have the chance to access the platform a bit earlier on October 14th and mint some artworks with their own artistic style.
They will help us promote PixelChain 256 on social media, allowing the project to gain more traction and letting more people know about PXC 256 and try it out.
Token Minted by PixelChain
The PixelChain team will reserve the right to mint the PixelChain 256 logo.
This NFT has a significant symbolic value for us as a team, and we want to keep it to be able to display it in our Metaverse art galleries in the near future.
PXC 256 for Everyone
PixelChain 256 will be fully open to the public on October 17th at 12 PM EST / 6 PM CET.
Remember that we are limiting the total amount of tokens that can be minted in the platform to 2048.
So get ready, and be sure to mint yours before the collection closes forever! https://pixelchain.art/.
Royalties for PixelChain Artists
We are working on a new system to give PixelChain artists access to NFT royalty payments. Since all PXC artworks are minted through the PixelChain platform, we cannot currently set royalties individually for each artist on OpenSea.
However, we are exploring different ways to ensure artists can receive royalties from the secondary sales of their artworks. We will reveal more info on this subject in the coming weeks.
Be sure to join our new Discord server to be up-to-date with PixelChain latest news 👇
Start creating pixel art now!
We envision PixelChain 256 as a way to put technology at the service of art, using NFT technology to ensure an artist’s work is forever preserved on the blockchain and can not ever be plagiarized.
In this sense, the uniqueness of PXC 256 NFTs is determined by the project’s technology rather than by a product decision.
If you want to start creating your own PixelChain 256 art, go to 👉 https://pixelchain.art/.
And unleash your inner artist!
