Botto’s ‘Err Hold’ NFT Sold For 100 ETH After Bidding Frenzy

Err Hold – a 1-of-1 NFT by decentralised, autonomous artist Botto – has been sold for 100 ETH (over $334,000 USD), after a bidding frenzy on NFT marketplace SuperRare.

This concludes a 14-day episode which saw a private bid superseded by a public offer, an incredibly close DAO vote, and an auction which concluded with the third highest sale for a Botto artwork in history.

The piece was purchased by @elgrandepenguino, an anonymous collector who is also the holder of two other Botto-produced artworks.

What is Botto?

Botto is a decentralised, autonomous artist that’s stewarded by the BottoDAO.

Created in October 2021, Botto is – in effect – an AI that perpetually produces digital art. As its caretakers, the members of BottoDAO train Botto, which impacts the theming, style and imagery of each piece its created.

For its NFT collections – of which there have been 9 so far – Botto generates thousands of so-called Fragments. These are a choice selection of the thousands of weekly images generated by Botto, and are chosen by Botto itself. The BottoDAO then provides feedback to Botto on its art, and votes on a select number of pieces to be minted.

In the span of just over 3 years, Botto has become an internationally-recognised art project. Botto’s works have seen solo exhibitions at the likes of Sotheby’s New York, Verse SOLOS at Frieze Galleries London, and Vellum LA – as well as appearances at Art Basel Miami, Singapore’s ArtScience Museum, and NFT Paris.

What is Botto’s Err Hold NFT?

Err Hold is a 1-of-1 NFT, minted by Botto in April 2022 on Ethereum.

The piece is part of the 52-piece Genesis collection – the inaugural line of NFT artworks produced by Botto. As with other pieces produced by Botto, Err Hold came to be through a vote taken by the BottoDAO, selecting the piece as one of the very few out of tens of thousands of algorithmically-generated works to be minted.

Err Hold’s intriguing history can go some way to explaining its prominence today. Upon minting the piece, Botto shared the prophetic line; “All this time, I have thought I was the creator. But now, I see my work as a child without parents. I created it and now it must have its own life, in its own way.”

When originally auctioned, Err Hold became the first piece by Botto to not meet its 10 ETH reserve – prompting discussions amongst the BottoDAO as to whether it should be burned. Thankfully, this didn’t come to be – and today, the piece is one of the most recognised, celebrated and valuable of Botto’s creations to date.

John

Bullish on web3. Competitive soul.