On August 10, South Korean animator DeeKay Kwon and pseudonymous patron of digital art Cozomo de’ Medici announced the launch of Kwon’s first-ever open-edition artwork on Base, in partnership with Coinbase L2 and Friends with benefits (FWB). The drop has already made $100,000 in its first hour of launch, according to a tweet from NFTStatistics.
The coin is available for 24 hours and ends Friday, August 11 at 9:00 AM PT, and allows individuals who may not have ETH or Base ETH to use a credit card. Those with ETH can bridge their ETH to Base on the coin site.
“Our goal is not to create new hype within our bubble; instead, it’s about getting a new frenzy on board in the world of digital art collecting. And we do this through Coinbase’s new chain, Base, where anyone can mint with their credit card, making the coin price super affordable so we can welcome our normie frens as much as possible. This means I finally have my friends IRL to own my art,” Kwon said in a tweet.
Kwon’s art style is heavily influenced by Korean culture, having grown up half his life in Korea and the other half in America.
“I wanted it to be affordable enough that people would care less about the money and focus more on the art,” Kwon now told nft.
Cozomo also took to Twitter and shared their vision of creating an “affordable coin to hopefully bring a lot more digital art on board.” Cozomo, which took its name from the Florentine banker who helped finance many foundational works of art during the early Italian Renaissance, first entered the digital art scene in 2021.
Since then he has amassed a huge collection of digital art, including works by Kwon, XCOPY and Sam Spratt.
His weekly Twitter and email newsletter, Medici minutesdocuments and shares his collecting journey and insights as the digital art space evolves.
And the community seemed super excited with the surprise announcement:
Kwon will also appear in The Gateway Korea. He will present a recently sold one-of-one called “Am I Dreaming”, a self-portrait that visualizes how he creates his work.