New Generative Art NFT Marketplace Archipelago Backed By Tyler Hobbs

Archipelago has announced the launch of its new Ethereum-based generative art NFT marketplace. The platform will allow users to access and buy generative art NFTs from over 200 independent artists. What’s more, Tyler Hobbs, the artist behind the famous Fidenza collection, has backed the platform. Read on to know what the Archipelago NFT marketplace is all about.

What is the Archipelago NFT marketplace?

Archipelago is a “next-generation” NFT marketplace that offers curated generative art NFTs. It aims to create a more efficient market for generative art. Therefore, it provides features such as low fees to increase accessibility. It will have its first public launch in the early summer of 2022.

Moreover, the Archipelago NFT marketplace has a clean and art-centric design. Besides, it has introduced a new “trait bidding” feature. To explain, this feature allows collectors to bid on certain traits of generative art collections. All this at low transaction costs compared to existing generative art platforms. 

Apparently, Hobbs considers Archipelago as the best place to view his Fidenza collection. He added that the platform has “great tools for filtering images by traits”. Already, Fidenza boasts secondary sales worth over $177 million.

Who created the Archipelago NFT marketplace?

William Chargin, Ian Darrow, and Dandelion Mané founded the NFT marketplace in November 2021. In fact, Archipelago was born out of the founders’ wish to develop an improved generative art marketplace. 

Chargin is a computer scientist who has previously worked at Google, Protocol Labs, and Khan Academy. Meanwhile, Darrow is a self-taught programmer with experience working with the likes of Protocol Labs and LedgerX. Finally, Mané previously worked with Protocol Labs, Google Brain, and Palantir Technologies. 

“We wanted to create a marketplace focused on our favorite type of NFTt: fully on-chain generative art,” said Mané. “On-chain generative art is a transformational step forward for art in [the] 21st century that is increasingly defined by and created with software. And, because the software creating the art can be fully stored on a blockchain, the provenance and durability of generative art NFTs is unmatched.”  

How is art curated on the platform?

Usually, generative art NFT marketplaces have an open submission process. However, Archipelago believes this process can “overwhelm” users and even lead to NFT scams. Therefore, the platform carefully curates generative art NFTs, including projects from Art Blocks. 

“We built Archipelago because we understand the exact features that are compelling to other generative art collectors like ourselves,” said Darrow.

All things considered, the Archipelago NFT marketplace is an interesting new addition to the burgeoning generative art space. How it fares against existing platforms like Art Blocks, remains to be seen. That said, the backing by experts in the space, like Tyler Hobbs, will likely give it an initial boost. For now, learn more about the marketplace on its website.