Christie's sells its first Ordinal Bitcoin made by Ryan Koopmans and Alice Wexell

A digital artwork inscribed in bitcoin's Ordinals protocol titled “Ascend” sold for $57,450 at Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art Day, surpassing its low estimate of $39,000.

bitcoin Ordinal “Ascend” by Ryan Koopmans and Alice Wexell sold for £44,100 or equivalent to $57,450 on October 10 at Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art Day sale. The piece was initially estimated to sell for £30,000 or $39,222.

This is the first time that an Ordinal bitcoin has appeared in a live auction at Christie's, one of the oldest and most historic auction houses in the world, founded in 1776.

The artwork captures the beauty of a revitalized Iveria sanatorium in Tskaltubo, Georgia. The structure, built between 1952 and 1962, has fallen into ruins and has since been revived thanks to the digital work of Koopmans and Wexell.

“Ascend” is part of Koopmans and Wexell’s “The Wild Within” project, which combines visual photography with 3D technology to bring abandoned structures back to life.

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Christie's Digital Art Sales Manager Sebastián Sánchez spoke about how bitcoin Ordinals differ from nfts on ethereum, presenting a new challenge for artists looking to create within that realm.

“Ordinals have different limitations, such as requiring a much smaller file size than is possible on ethereum, so we typically don't see a lot of high-quality art. However, artists are working within these limitations and pushing the limits of what is possible,” Sánchez said in an email to crypto.news.

He explained that Ordinals add an extra layer of protection that external databases lack. External servers that are left down risk permanently deleting the image files stored inside. While Ordinals attach images and videos to an individual Satoshi, the smallest unit of bitcoin, without using external links.

There is a downside though, as Sánchez believes Ordinals have a “steeper learning curve” in terms of technicalities compared to nfts and are therefore more difficult to introduce to the mainstream art community.

Furthermore, he stated that more and more artists are experimenting with digital and physical artworks and combining the two worlds.

“We have seen artists create digital native works where the owner has the right to receive a print signed by an artist, as well as physical works that have Certificates of Authenticity on the blockchain,” he said.

Both Wexell and Koopmans are no strangers to the world of traditional fine art and photography.

In September 2024, artworks from his acclaimed digital art series called “The Wild Within” were installed in the former Royal Villa of Durres at the first International Biennale of Contemporary Art in Durres, Albania.

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Another of his works of art. x.com/ryankoopmans/status/1830592163735883805″ target=”_blank”>“'The thought of you” It was created from an abandoned villa in Italy. The piece was exhibited at Enter Art Fair in Copenhagen, Denmark, from August 29 to September 1.