[2018-12-21] ‘Black Swan’ Art piece by Cryptograffiti Sells For $0.000000037

[ruthbabe]

A ‘Black Swan’ art piece by Cryptograffiti has auctioned to the lowest bidder for a milli-satoshi or just $0.000000037 thanks to the Bitcoin Lightning Network, making the winning likely the world’s cheapest auction.

THE ‘BLACK SWAN’

A Reddit user going by the name Cryptograffiti shared his story of creating and auctioning a tiny piece of art called “Black Swan.”

The piece is exactly what you would expect it to be – a black swan sitting next to what seems to be a pond of leaves. Interestingly enough, though, the artist only used pieces from a fiat dollar bill and counterfeit detector pen ink to create the piece.

Its dimensions are impressively tiny. The piece measures 1.44 in x 1.75 in (3.55 cm x 4.44 cm).

More interestingly, though, was the way the artist decided to sell the piece. Cryptograffiti explained:

Yesterday I auctioned this piece to the lowest bidder to help promote the lightning network and poke fun at MSM’s focus on Bitcoin’s price.

And so, the piece has been sold for 1 milli-satoshi or $0.000000037 through the Lightning Network, which makes it possible to send a fraction of a Satoshi, the lowest possible amount that could be transferred otherwise on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Many Reddit users immediately recognized the significance of this milestone as it is possibly the world’s cheapest auction ever to be held.

LIGHTNING NETWORK’S POTENTIAL

Cryptograffiti also shares his excitement for a future time where micropayments are possible and omnipresent.

" I’m excited about a future where micropayments are omnipresent. Artists paid by the view…writers by the poem…musicians by the
   listen. Everyday interactions complemented by positive monetary reinforcement such as tipping someone who let you merge into
   traffic. […] Hopefully, this micro auction inspires others to think big about the future of Bitcoin. – He writes.

The artist has his own online merchandise store where users can purchase all kinds of crypto-related designs from t-shirts to mugs. In an interview for Bitcoinist, Cryptograffity explained the inspiration for his artwork, saying:

" Well my art, as well the merch, is all about spreading the movement…awareness. I see each shirt as little mini billboards. And I
   think it’s important to bring a little humor into the mix even with something as important and disruptive as cryptocurrency/blockchain.

This isn’t the first instance of showcasing the capabilities of the Lightning Network to successfully carry out microtransactions.

In June, Bitcoinist reported on the release of a new platform called Poketoshi which enables users to play the popular Pokémon game, paying 10 Satoshi per move ($0.00040447). Before that, creative developers allowed users to paint on a digital canvas called Satoshi’s Place. It’s comprised of 1 million pixels, each one of which cost 1 satoshi to paint.

Source:  https://bitcoinist.com/lightning-network-black-swan-cryptograffiti/

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[coolcoinz]

I heard about it a few days ago and immediately thought that it was a great idea to propagate LN and prove that BTC is ready to be a micropayment system. Contrarians used to say that Bitcoin works only for big transfers and with its fees will never be used to buy coffee. It's basically a charitable work from the artist to help spread the word, because just the time he put into this is worth hundreds of dollars, not a fraction of a penny. Great job!

[1Referee]

I like the media attention it has been gaining so far, because that's what average joes need to see. Lightning isn't something that requires years of more work before you can finally use it, which really seems to be the general mindset of people.

Even Roger Ver seems to fit in that category;

Roger: I’ll bet you that in 18 months from now there will be less than a thousand merchants in the world accepting LN payments for physical goods … If I’m right you can wear a Bitcoin Cash shirt, and we’ll do a little video about what happened … and if I’m wrong, and there’s more than a thousand shops accepting LN I’ll wear a LN, Blockstream shirt or whatever shirt you want, and we can talk about how I was wrong…

https://ethereumworldnews.com/charlie-lee-and-roger-make-a-friendly-bet-about-lightning-network/

Roger lost the bet since Coingate alone allows like 4000 merchants to utilize LN payments.

[BitHodler]

Even Roger Ver seems to fit in that category;

Roger: I’ll bet you that in 18 months from now there will be less than a thousand merchants in the world accepting LN payments for physical goods … If I’m right you can wear a Bitcoin Cash shirt, and we’ll do a little video about what happened … and if I’m wrong, and there’s more than a thousand shops accepting LN I’ll wear a LN, Blockstream shirt or whatever shirt you want, and we can talk about how I was wrong…

https://ethereumworldnews.com/charlie-lee-and-roger-make-a-friendly-bet-about-lightning-network/

Roger lost the bet since Coingate alone allows like 4000 merchants to utilize LN payments.

I can't wait to see him wear a blockstream shirt. I hope they'll record the next meeting in a place where Lee can buy Ver a cup of coffee through LN, because that's impossible according to him.

I'm seriously tempted to buy myself a physical casa lightning node now the momentum around LN is pumping hard. It's a bit expensive at $300, but well, the experience alone will likely make it worth its while.

We're at a point at which almost 50% of Bitcoin's nodes are operating within the LN, which I only expect to grow further as time goes by. One day I'll add my node to the list as well.

[btyco]

What is a milli-satoshi? Could have been sold for 1 sat to make things easier to understand, but good to see something real being sold on the lightning network. This opens that path for coffee shops and confectionery as well

[pixie85]

I can't wait to see him wear a blockstream shirt. I hope they'll record the next meeting in a place where Lee can buy Ver a cup of coffee through LN, because that's impossible according to him.

They should make him wear a t-shirt with a Bitcoin sign and a text: I'm sorry Bitcoiners, I was wrong, LN rocks. He said any t-shirt!

I'm seriously tempted to buy myself a physical casa lightning node now the momentum around LN is pumping hard. It's a bit expensive at $300, but well, the experience alone will likely make it worth its while.

We're at a point at which almost 50% of Bitcoin's nodes are operating within the LN, which I only expect to grow further as time goes by. One day I'll add my node to the list as well.

At $300 it isn't cheap but it's raspberry pi based so the hardware alone and the case had to cost close to 100. Wish they were selling it cheaper because at that price i'd rather set it up on some old scrapyard pc.

[Betwrong]

What is a milli-satoshi? Could have been sold for 1 sat to make things easier to understand,

Millisatoshi is one hundred billionth of one Bitcoin, and that was the idea, selling this low, because it shows what micro-payments you can make with the Lightning Network.

but good to see something real being sold on the lightning network. This opens that path for coffee shops and confectionery as well

This has not been done for the first time ever. Numerous of purchases were already made using LN. Check out the article below for one of the famous examples:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/original-pizza-day-purchaser-does-it-again-with-bitcoin-lightning-network