1 year ago
Who is Josie Bellini?
Crypto creator Josie Bellini is astir famously identified by her iconic Bitcoin state disguise from Filter. She has go 1 of the astir salient NFT artists, being featured astatine Christie’s and connected conscionable astir each NFT marketplace level available, including SuperRare, ASync Art and Nifty Gateway.
Born and raised successful Chicago, Bellini ever had a passionateness for art. But increasing up successful poverty, she wanted to unrecorded a beingness of plenty, starring her to large successful concern astatine assemblage and instrumentality a occupation astatine a TradFi company.
Weirdly enough, her tendency to larn much astir concern led her to crypto… which led backmost to art… which led to making money.
Still representation of “Filter” GIF by Josie Bellini. (OpenSea) “Growing up successful poverty, you don’t perceive astir stocks and investing,” she says. “I was thinking, ‘I person each these clients that were investing, and they were making money, portion they were asleep.’ I kept thinking, ‘How tin I bash this?’”
She didn’t person capable wealth to put successful fractional the things she recommended for clients, arsenic she wasn’t an accredited investor. A spark reignited astir a insubstantial she’d written successful assemblage astir Bitcoin, and she fell down the rabbit spread of Ethereum successful 2017.
“I started to deliberation deeper astir crypto and however this could perchance beryllium my breakthrough. I got obsessed,” she says. “I’d inquire myself questions of wherefore Bitcoin was invented, wherefore Ethereum came along, and what the differences betwixt the 2 were.”
Bellini would be Bitcoin meetups successful her hometown, and earlier long, she discontinue her occupation to enactment successful crypto, aiming to go a afloat stack developer by attending a coding bootcamp, “but I perfectly hated it, I don’t retrieve immoderate of it. What I did emotion was the plan broadside of it.”
“I started making websites, logos and materials for blockchain conferences astir the satellite and besides crypto companies. That was my ft successful the doorway to getting enactment successful the industry.”
“By the extremity of 2017 is erstwhile I made my archetypal idiosyncratic crypto artwork; that portion was called “Genesis,” and it blew up connected Reddit. At the time, the word ‘crypto art’ wasn’t truly a thing, and I wasn’t utilizing it past myself. What I was doing was creating themed creation to dispersed consciousness of cryptocurrencies.”
Crypto creation to NFTs
It was astir 2 years betwixt Bellini making her archetypal portion of crypto creation (“Genesis”) to minting her archetypal NFT arsenic an creator (“Tune In”) connected June 23, 2019. “Tune In” was a carnal coating with the NFTs accompanying 21 prints. It’s a timestamp for the NFT ecosystem successful aboriginal 2019.
“In 2019, determination were each sorts of NFTs astatine that time, CryptoPunks, CryptoKitties, Chain Breakers; you besides had Cryptovoxels, Decentraland, Neon District and Autoglyphs had conscionable travel out, truthful I snuck those into the portion past second,” Bellini says.
In aboriginal 2022, CyberBrokers was born, a 10,001-NFT postulation Bellini had been cooking up for years. Josie is the laminitis and CEO of the project, which considers itself a media and amusement institution focused connected the metaverse. The creation was hers with assistance from Azamat Khairov.
Influences
Having grown up successful the neighborhoods of Chicago, Bellini has developed a emotion for thoroughfare creation and graffiti, which shines done successful her work, peculiarly the CyberBrokers collection.
“I grew up astir a batch of thoroughfare art. I was ever funny successful graffiti and each the antithetic fonts.”
A collector arsenic good arsenic an artist, Bellini collects a batch of different Chicago-based artists’ enactment and draws inspiration from the likes of Kayla Mahaffey (artist/illustrator from Chicago), Bisa Butler (award-winning African-American textile artist) and Hebru Brantley (contemporary American creator utilizing anime and graffiti).
“I fell successful emotion with a batch of section Chicago artists similar Kayla who’s amazing. Also, Hebru [Brantley] who’s truly celebrated and does Flyboy.”
“I’m besides obsessed with Bisa Butler. I’d dice and spell to eden if I could ain thing by Bisa, but everything is going to museums,” Bellini says.
Notable income to date
“Genesis” sold astatine Christie’s for $400,000 connected June 3, 2021. (Christie’s)
“Onward” sold connected Async Art for 100 ETH ($307,484 equivalent connected day of sale) connected Feb. 10, 2022. “Onward” was a furniture from the precise archetypal NFT launched connected Async Art titled “First Supper,” which was a collaboration of 13 artists. (Async Art)
“Tune In” sold connected the secondary marketplace for 100 ETH ($309,362 equivalent connected day of sale) connected Aug. 27, 2021. (OpenSea)CyberBrokers
While NFT insiders were good alert of Bellini anterior to 2022, CyberBrokers caught the attraction of the newer collectors connected the artifact successful NFT land.
It changeable retired of the gates successful March 2022 aft a cautiously curated allowlist process successful February wherever Bellini and her squad rewarded existing collectors of her creation and Twitter and Discord followers.
Minting astatine 0.35 ETH, the level connected the secondary marketplace pushed up to the 4–5-ETH scope wrong a month, including immoderate monolithic income for rares successful the collection, specified arsenic “Gnash” for 150 ETH connected March 31, 2022, and “Tempo” for 120 ETH connected April 4, 2022.
Despite a crisp downturn successful the NFT marketplace successful May, CyberBrokers remains focused connected content, collectibles and experiences. “We’re calved of crypto creation and the metaverse. These are the things that I americium obsessed astir and person been surviving since 2017,” says Bellini, who says the task is focused connected innovation.
“This includes america being stored 100% on-chain. We’ve released mechs which are afloat 3D, rigged and interoperable with galore antithetic virtual worlds. There are 17 cardinal combinations of the mode radical tin premix and lucifer their NFT. We’re ever trying to propulsion the adjacent happening that overmuch further.”
“We’re gathering retired a monolithic beauteous beingness that you tin adjacent into done our website. We person immoderate of the astir talented radical that person ever stepped ft into this abstraction connected our team, and we’re not going anywhere.”
“Gnash” from CyberBrokers. (OpenSea) 
“Heaven Dagger” from CyberBrokers. (OpenSea)
“Vengeful Sam” from CyberBrokers. (OpenSea)Why on-chain NFTs matter
An often overlooked nuance to NFTs is whether they are stored on-chain oregon the art/image is pointing to a 3rd party, specified arsenic IPFS. Bellini is simply a large proponent of existent integer immortality.
“What we’ve done specifically with our creation was to make it successful vector format, which means that the vector gets translated into code. The codification knows wherever the points are, wherever the shapes live, wherever the colors live. I’m simplifying this a lot, but basically, that codification gets written into a contract,” says Bellini.
“For example, let’s accidental 200 years from now, I’m gone, my team’s gone; hopefully, I’ve uploaded my encephalon to the internet, and I’m surviving done immoderate AI dupe of myself, but if that someway doesn’t happen, arsenic agelong arsenic idiosyncratic tin entree the codification that launched and you tin inactive entree Ethereum, you volition beryllium capable to make the creation simply from the code. You tin make each azygous 10,001 CyberBrokers from code.”
While her integer creation has already achieved a signifier of immortality, she truly does privation to unrecorded connected everlastingly successful the metaverse.
“My hubby and I gag astir it each the time. If 1 of america goes earlier the other, we amended fig retired however to upload each different to the net truthful that we tin unrecorded forever, and our family. We gag astir it, but successful each seriousness, I deliberation astir this happening often, and I would for definite emotion to unrecorded forever.”
Which blistery NFT artists should we beryllium paying attraction to?
Giant Swan (A_Giant_Swan) — VR creator based successful Melbourne, Australia. A satellite builder done art.
“When I look astatine Giant Swan’s work, you can’t halt thinking, and you commencement to consciousness a definite way. I tin spot the blood, sweat and tears. I tin spot that he’s enactment his bosom successful his canvas and the mode that each changeable helium builds them successful VR.”
“They person truthful overmuch extent and truthful overmuch emotion to them. Every overgarment changeable helium puts connected determination has purpose, and it looks similar these humans are turned wrong out. You virtually spot they’re wearing their emotions — they’re wearing this country that he’s gathering astir them. It’s conscionable incredible.”
“My psyche can’t interaction the ground” by Giant Swan. (SuperRare)DominikG (@0xDominikG) — Freelance conception artist.
“I precocious recovered and tried to bargain this piece of his. It takes you done a travel wherever you’re thinking, ‘Is this feline tripping connected drugs? Is helium going crazy? Is this what his encephalon is truly like?’ It’s chaos but it’s beautiful. It’s scary, but it’s cool. I conscionable emotion getting caught up successful that benignant of astonishing journey.”
Notable collectors
“Her” by Josie Bellini from the “Grails” series. (PROOF)As an OG and specified a respected artist, Bellini not lone has a fig of notable collectors, but galore different well-respected artists besides cod her work.
“There’s a lot. I don’t privation to hide people, and these are not successful immoderate peculiar order, but Steve Wand is one. Steve is an astonishing idiosyncratic and was 1 of the archetypal radical who saw my artwork successful idiosyncratic astatine a league and fell implicit it. He told maine helium loved what I was making and wanted 1 of everything to beryllium my biggest supporter. It meant the satellite to me,” Bellini says.
“Also J1mmy and Pranksy. J1mmy is 1 of the lone radical that I’ve ever done a committee for. I painted 1 of his CryptoKitties, and that’s however we met — successful the CryptoKitties channel. Pranksy has go a truly bully person implicit the years. He’s perfectly astonishing and specified a beauteous idiosyncratic to know.”
“There’s a batch much honestly. It makes maine grin that immoderate of my friends that are crypto artists themselves are collectors of my work. People similar Matt Kane and Coldie. Means a batch that they’re funny successful my work.”
Links
Twitter: https://twitter.com/josiebellini
Website: https://josie.io/
Behind The Art YouTube Series: https://www.youtube.com/@JosieBellini/playlists
CyberBrokers Website: https://www.cyberbrokers.com/
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Greg Oakford
Greg Oakford is the co-founder of NFT Fest Australia. A erstwhile selling and communications specializer successful the sports world, Greg present focuses his clip connected moving events, creating contented and consulting successful web3. He is an avid NFT collector and hosts a play podcast covering each things NFTs.
Follow the writer @GregOakford
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