Crypto Artist Sells Tiny Artwork for $0.000000037 via Bitcoin’s Lightning Network

A cryptocurrency artist going by “cryptograffiti” has recently sold a tiny piece of artwork in an auction made to promote bitcoin, the flagship cryptocurrency, and its second-layer scaling solution, the Lightning Network (LN).

According to a recently published Reddit post, cryptograffiti revealed he sold his piece of artwork – that measures 1.44 x 1.75” – for the lowest bid received of one milisatoshi, currently worth about $0.000000037. The artwork is a “black swan” made out of fiat and a counterfeit detector pen.

black swan is here! watch the vid to try and catch him…#cryptoart #bitcoinart pic.twitter.com/7BfcDeyNJ3

— cryptograffiti (@cryptograffiti) December 19, 2018

 A milisatoshi is notably a term used for the equivalent of one thousandth of a satoshi, the smallest unit transactable on bitcoin’s blockchain. It’s possible to transact in milisatoshis only via the Lightning Network. Per cryptograffiti’s post, he sees micropayments as an exciting possibility and, as such, created his artwork to promote them.

The artist’s profile on the Blockchain Art Collective website details he is “dedicated” in getting cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology out there, and notes his work is a reflection of these goals. Cryptocurrencies, it adds, can help artists benefit from alternative revenue channels.

Cryptograffiti’s work is made out of materials from industries he believes blockchain technology will disrupt. The profile reads:

cryptograffiti’s current work repurposes materials from industries being disrupted by the blockchain.  These materials will shortly become scarce even though the monetary systems from which they were derived are not.

Since the artist sold his payment for way less than $0.01, it may potentially be the cheapest piece of art ever sold. As CryptoGlobe covered the Lightning Network has been going throughout the bear market. Back in November it surpassed a $1 million capacity and the 14,000 mainnet payment channels mark.

Earlier this month, it was revealed the network had actually grown 300% in only a month. Currently, available shows it has a 495 BTC capacity ($1.95 million) and 15,100 open channels. As covered, the second-layer scaling solution partly only started taking off thanks to funds from Twitter founder Jack Dorsey.