Update: Charity on Chain — 300k to 2.3 Million
Back in May, I wrote the first Charity on Chain article about three artists and their projects that raised 85Ξ, or around $300,000 at the time. Believe me when I tell you I was ecstatic to write that article. The numbers blew me away, and I had a hard time believing the community could rally around great art AND support important work around the world.
But I felt I had to update the community on what we’ve seen since then because it is truly staggering. Art Blocks is growing rapidly, and while we are adjusting to new dynamics, we think it’s important to take a step back and appreciate the great things we accomplish together.
What’s happened since May?
In May, Jake Rockland, Daniel Calderon, and Jeff Davis were responsible for raising ~85Ξ. Jake raised 16.2Ξ for Give Directly (which Art Blocks matched), Daniel raised 26Ξ for Every Shelter, and Jeff raised 20Ξ for No Kid Hungry.
Since then, a wave of artists has picked up the mantle and donated a significant portion of their projects to charity. As a result, the total money raised for charity has grown to ~2.3 million dollars.
Note: There are market fluctuations and logistics behind donating cryptocurrency to charity, so the numbers may not be exact.
NimBuds — Bryan Brinkman ($1,700)
Ok, ok. I should’ve included this in the last list, but back in March, Bryan Brinkman donated NumBuds #332 to The Art Gallery Auction House and raised 1.25Ξ ($1,700) for carbon offsets.
Libertad Parametrizada — zJorge ($10,000)
For his factory project, Libertad Parametrizada, zJorge allocated a portion of primary sales to start a Creative Coding program within the Olga Sinclair Foundation — a local Panamanian charity. The total donation amount was ~4Ξ ($10k) which is enough to run the program for 18 months while he is in charge of the curriculum. You should check out this article by zJorge that explains why this initiative is important to him and his neighborhood.
Gizmobotz — Mark Cotton ($14,000)
Mark Cotton created the fun Factory project, Gizombotz. The project was open for nearly 6 hours and generated $14,000 that was split between charities, domestic violence assistance, and cat shelters in Mark’s community. They also said their next project will benefit cancer support organizations like Alex’s Lemonade Stand.
Enchiridion — Generative Artworks ($16,271.84)
Alex and Stephen, the dynamic and cryptic Art Blocks duo, raised $16,271.84 with their project Enchiridion back in July for Cool Earth. Cool Earth works with rainforest communities to halt deforestation and its impact on climate change. Given the environmental impact of crypto, donations like theirs help to neutralize our environmental footprint while creating beautiful art for the community to enjoy (and amazing community events).
70s Pop Summertime Fun + Pop Ghost Bonus Pack — Daniel Catt ($28,000)
Daniel Catt, the local plotter legend, donated 100% of primary sales from 70s Pop Summertime Fun and 70s Pop Ghost to Women Who Code. The total raised was $28,000, which supported 1040 WWCode members for a FULL YEAR giving them access to technical development events and access to life-changing coding scholarships. Daniel Catt plans to continue giving to WWC since the donation is helping so many women close the gender gap in tech.
CENTURY — Casey Reas ($16,000)
Nearly 20 years ago, Casey Reas created Processing to teach non-programmers the fundamentals of coding visually. In 2012 the Processing Foundation was established to support the growing art community using Processing. Casey is a generative art OG and paved the way for some of your favorite artists to thrive in the generative world. For his project, CENTURY, Casey donated 9Ξ ($16k) to the Processing Foundation.
Speckled Summits — Jake Rockland ($44,000)
Rockland made the first attempt at a Dutch Auction on Art Blocks for his project, Speckled Summits. The price started at 0.44Ξ per piece and would decrease by 0.05Ξ every 15 minutes until it reached 0.24Ξ. It sold out in about a minute at the starting price of 0.44Ξ. Rockland has committed to donating 50% of all projects to charity but decided anything over the final price (0.24Ξ) would go 100% to charity. So, when the project sold out, Rockland donated 20Ξ ($44k) to the Give Well Maximum Impact Fund.
Fidenza — Tyler Hobbs ($61,500)
As if the story of Tyler Hobbs and Fidenza couldn’t get any better, Tyler made a major difference for three charities with proceeds from his curated project. He donated $21k to the Processing Foundation, $21k to Girls Who Code, and $19.5k to AGE of Central Texas. Each of these organizations is doing fantastic work and is personally meaningful for Tyler.
Cells — Hevey ($194,095.63)
Hevey’s project, Cells, was a Dutch auction that started at 1Ξ and dropped by 0.1Ξ every 10 minutes until it reached its resting price of 0.2Ξ. The project sold out in a little over an hour, generated 78.17Ξ ($194,095.63) for Food for Life, and will feed 388,191 children.
The Ringer Fund — Dmitri Cherniak ($250,000)
Dmitri Cherniak’s Ringers has established itself as a historical piece in the current wave of generative art. You can find a Ringer in your favorite collector’s wallet, and it most likely isn’t moving for a long time. But Dmitri doesn’t take anything for granted and is always on the front line fighting for artists inside and outside of the community. To that end, Dmitri has donated a total of $250,000 this year alone to causes he finds important.
1. Processing Foundation — $200,000
2. Algorithmic Justice League — $10,000
3. Worth Rises — $10,000
4. Critical Resistance — $10,000
5. Coders of Color — $10,000
6. Black Girls Code — $10,000
Rinascita — Stefano Contiero (~$750,000)
For Stefano’s Playground drop, Rinascita, he donated 25% of the primary sales proceeds to charity. The Dutch Auction started at 1.11Ξ and decreased by 0.1Ξ every 24 hours. However, the project sold out at the starting price, and ~277Ξ, or ~$750,000*, was raised for charity. Stefano chose to support a charity focused on ocean wildlife conservation. Because of the donation size, he is currently going through the red tape but hopes to donate to The Ocean Cleanup.
*~277Ξ was raised, and until the Ethereum is converted to fiat currency, the price fluctuates around $750k.
Flowers — RVig
Last, RVig’s project, Flowers, was an open edition Factory project available for 1 hour at 0.1Ξ per piece. The project sold a total of 6158 pieces in the hour and generated ~277Ξ for charity (before taxes). He plans to split the donation across three charities:
1. 70% to Swiss-Solidarity.org
2. 20% to MyClimate.org
3. 10% to a local mental health charity
Where is it going?
The generosity of these artists is significant. They are donating large sums to charities that have seen their donor pools shrink because of COVID and general economic uncertainty. Our ability to come together as a community and support these projects, the artists, and the charities they care about is unlike anything I’ve seen before. In the last article, I mentioned the unique position we’re in to provide economic empowerment to charities and foundations we care about. The support for artists and the causes they support is doing just that. We went from $300k raised to $2.3m raised in a few short months — I cannot wait to see how much more we can do together.
