Interestingly enough, some of the platforms mentioned here in part 2 have direct ties to fxhash in one way or another. They also help to highlight my other point about curation: That it’s still extremely valuable, even in — or perhaps especially in — a fundamentally permissionless art market.

This also means that part 2 includes some Tezos-based platforms, whereas the ones in part 1 were all (mainly) for Ethereum NFTs. You’ll also find a couple of launchpads for AI art, one for photography, and a few honorable mentions at the end because I couldn’t contain myself. Enjoy!

Grails by PROOF

Grails by PROOF is a fascinating art platform. In each season, the PROOF team curates 20 leading NFT artists to create a so-called “grail” artwork, to be launched exclusively as part of Grails. These artworks are revealed and shared one by one leading up to the official mint day each season.

What’s not revealed, however, is the artists behind the art! This only happens after all the collectors have minted their favorite artworks. You can imagine the level of speculation and excitement in the NFT community leading up to the big reveal.

The Grails website lets you browse all the amazing artworks and artists from the three seasons

In order to collect a Grail, you first need to own a mint pass. These are given for free to PROOF Collective members and holders of Moonbirds with the Grail trait. In season III, which just took place in January 2023, these mint passes traded for around 3 ETH (~$4,500) prior to the mint.

Assuming you’re able to pick the most valuable pieces, the price of the mint pass is justified though. Grails by Grant Yun, Erick Calderon (aka Snowfro), Matt Kane, Tyler Hobbs, and Dmitri Cherniak all trade for more than 9 ETH (almost $15,000) on the secondary market.

Season III introduced some interesting changes like limited editions and curated series. This means that some collectors actually got completely unique pieces, rather than one of multiple identical works.

To get a better sense of the concept and production quality, check out the 1,5 hour-long artist reveal from season III. Even as someone who has never owned a Grail, I always have a great time watching these.

Blind Gallery

Blind Gallery is similar to Grails in many respects. It’s built on the Tezos blockchain though, and also lets collectors participate at a much lower price point.

The concept has evolved quite a lot since its inception, but the core idea has remained. When the minting window of a new season opens up, collectors can exchange a mint pass for a piece of art. Only after the window closes will you learn who created the art.

Season III just concluded with four different collections of a maximum of 256 NFTs each. What made this season so unique and interesting was that each collection was generative and minted on fxhash. All artworks in the two first seasons were editions of identical pieces.

Blind Gallery’s third season consisted of four projects that all launched on the fxhash platform

So where most of the art in Grails is still editions of identical pieces, every single artwork minted through Blind Gallery in season II was unique. And while the art is world-class, the artists don’t command nearly as high of a premium as those curated by Grails.

Leading up to the launch, mint passes to Blind Gallery went for around 1/60 the price of a Grails mint pass, i.e., 68 TEZ ($80), on the secondary market. Blind Gallery Club members were able to get two passes for 35 TEZ each.

Full disclosure: I’m a Blind Gallery Club member and have participated in all three seasons so far. I just exchanged my season III mint passes for two pieces from the ‘Brutal Infection’ collection by DistCollective. And I love the outputs!

BrainDrops

BrainDrops is another launchpad for generative art. You can see some samples but won’t know exactly how your piece will look until you mint it. What sets BrainDrops apart from most other launchpads is that all the art is created with artificial intelligence.

Since its inception in late 2021, BrainDrops has launched 15 collections of 500 or 1,000 editions each. The cheapest pieces from ‘Genesis’ by Claire Silver, one of the leading AI artists in the space, are currently trading at 14 ETH. It minted for 0.1 ETH in April 2022.

BrainDrops has gained a lot of traction recently with the extremely popular ‘Life In West America’ drop

Existing BrainDrops holders get early access to new drops before they open up to the public. The latest drop, ‘Life In West America’, sold out in seconds after reaching the public sale. The cheapest pieces in the collection now go for more than $15,000 (~9 ETH).

Whether you’re interested in AI or not, you can find some amazing art on BrainDrops. And if you are into AI art, acquainting yourself with this platform is a must.

Mirage Gallery

Mirage Gallery is another platform dedicated to AI art. A new curated collection drops every few weeks, usually as an edition of 100 to 250. Everyone can access these new drops in the public sale, but Mirage Gallery members have a clear advantage.

You can choose between two different membership tiers: ‘Sentient’ and ‘Intelligent’. Both of them get you early access to new drops but ‘Sentient’ gets you a free mint on top. If you’re interested, you can buy a membership pass on the secondary market.

‘Synthetic Horizons‘ is one of many astonishing AI collections that have launched on Mirage Gallery

I’m personally a big fan of Mirage Gallery and its founder, August Rosedale. I also own a couple of MG pieces. If you want to learn more about the backstory and the historic AI art August created before launching the curated drops, check out this piece I wrote a while back.

Quantum Art

Quantum Art is first and foremost known as the premier platform for curated NFT photography. It was co-founded by Justin Aversano, one of the top photographers in the space. A photograph from his ‘Twin Flames’ collection will currently set you back almost $150,000.

More recently, however, Quantum Art has expanded into a wider selection of digital art. Notable NFT artists like Nicolas Sassoon and Sasha Stiles have launched on the platform. ‘Math Art’ by the legendary Herbert W. Franke also launched on Quantum Art in May 2022, shortly before his death.

Quantum Art is the premier platform for NFT photography but also covers a wider spectrum of digital art

Some collections are launched as part of ‘Quantum Unlocked’ which are exclusive free mints for Quantum Key holders. These keys are traded as NFTs with a supply of 1,076. They expire by the end of March 2024.

A Quantum Key also gives you access to an exclusive collectors’ lounge in Quantum Art’s community hub in LA. The 3,800 sq ft space also features an immersion room and an NFT gallery and a minting center store. Definitely worth checking out if you’re based in LA.

GEN.ART

GEN.ART is another cool generative art launchpad. What makes it even more interesting is that it’s operated as a DAO (decentralized autonomous organization). DAO members get early access to monthly drops from a curated selection of NFT artists.

The platform is still a bit under-the-radar and many of the drops haven’t yet sold out. If you’re in it for the art rather than a quick flip, you may want to spend some time browsing the selection.

GEN.ART offers an incredible selection of digital art, much of which is still available to mint

The most recent drop is a 100-piece collection called ‘SOBEL’ by notable NFT artist Galo Canizares, aka itsgalo. The mint is currently open to the public at a price of 1 ETH a piece.

If you’re interested in becoming a member, you can buy one of the 5,000 ‘Standard’ or 100 ‘Gold’ membership passes on the secondary market. As I’m writing this, the lowest tier will only cost you around 0.06 ETH (less than $100).

TENDER

What’s interesting about TENDER is that they primarily focus on fxhash, a platform known for its lack of curation. Many users, myself included, love fxhash for its openness, but it also makes it time-consuming and difficult to find the best projects. TENDER helps out in a couple of different ways.

First up, you can find the team’s curated list of fxhash projects on the ‘Drops’ page. You can sort by launch date, number of editions, and editions left to be minted. When you find something you like, you can even mint it directly on the TENDER website.

TENDER is a great resource for fxhash curation and amazing artist collaborations

The ‘Icons’ page is another interesting resource. It shows some of the most iconic long-form generative artworks of all time. With more than 250 works and counting, primarily from fxhash and Art Blocks, there’s plenty for you to discover and admire.

What makes TENDER a true curated launchpad, however, are the TENDER Collabs. These are generative projects of a few hundred editions each, co-created by TENDER and some of the best artists in the space.

Some of the community favorites include ‘Love’ by Tyler Boswell, ‘adrift’ by Jacek Markusiewicz, and ‘Emotional Shell’ by William Watkins. Every mint of a new Collab drop is reserved for TENDER Pass holders. You can buy one of these passes for around $880 (740 TEZ) on the secondary market.

Closing thoughts (and a few more launchpads)

The NFT space is evolving and maturing at an incredibly rapid pace. New artists, collectors, and curators enter the scene every day. And so do new platforms on which the digital art market operates. It’s a fascinating and extremely exciting space to be a part of.

Because of that, I also know I’m missing some noteworthy platforms in this guide. And I’ll certainly be missing some if you read it a few months from now. That being said, I firmly believe that most of the launchpads I’ve covered will still be relevant years from now.

Lastly, I just want to mention a few launchpads that I don’t know well enough to include in the main guide. One of them hasn’t even launched yet. They’re at least worth checking out or keeping on your radar.

AOTM, short for Art of This Millennium, works closely with some of the superstar artists of the NFT space. Their latest drop was a 1/1 by Sam Spratt which sold at auction online for almost 155 ETH (~$260,000).

Tonic just announced their second-ever drop, Intimità by Stefano Contiero, for February 23, 2023. It will mint as a Dutch auction, starting at 1.5 ETH and resting at 0.33 ETH. All minters will get a free print. They have also teased an upcoming drop by the incredible William Mapan on March 10.

Iconic Moments has been working with the world’s top cultural institutions for more than 8 years. Now, they’re bringing these partners into the NFT space with digital art drops and other initiatives. It’s been underway for a while and I hope to see the results of their efforts soon.