///// ART Token ($ART) /////

Whitepaper

Abstract /////

Creativity is the most important tool we have as humans. Without artists and creatives, the
world we live in would be a much worse place to be. Yet, those who choose to be artists are
disrespected, underpaid, and mistreated. This has been proven on a global scale, with arts
organisations closing for good due to lack of government funding. This has compounded the
struggle of the artists, many of which now lack opportunities to receive funding for their
practice.

Blockchain technology has solved problems across many industries. Now it’s time to fix the
arts industry. The Ethereum blockchain has become a go-to location to purchase, sell, and
trade digital art. This is made possible using the ERC-721 and ERC-1155 token standards to
produce “non-fungible tokens”. The demand for these non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, has led
to the creation of many marketplaces to trade them.

Although many marketplaces are open platforms, meaning anyone can join and trade NFTs,
several are closed to the general public. This can result in difficult application processes for
artists, and more fees for crypto art collectors. Many of these closed platforms have ERC-20
tokens designed to reward both artists and collectors, yet no token exists for open platforms
and general use. The goal of the $ART Token is to establish a platform-independent
payment system in the field of digital art to reward artists and collectors. The token will also
feature specific provisions to help artists in need.
The State of the Cryptoart Market /////
To fully understand the power of the $ART token, it is important to look closely at the current
events in the crypto art and NFT market as a whole. The creation of open and closed
platforms means that collectors have focused their attention on certain platforms. This has
resulted in a power imbalance between platform creators, collectors, and artists.

For example, suppose a platform is offering a reward token on top of any NFT purchase on
their platform. Many NFTs are not art, and instead are assets such as digital land or
collectibles. Every seller moves their NFTs to be sold on the platform, resulting in a steep
price increase of the reward token but less of the token being used to purchase art. Artists
on the platform would find it more difficult to sell their art, as the marketplace would be
saturated with non-art NFTs. Artists off the platform would find it more difficult to sell their art,
as “whales” and collectors would leave the platform to seek the reward token.

It is clear that people can manipulate the art market using their financial power. This puts
artists under unreasonable pressure, which is detrimental to the new crypto art industry.
Similarly, large numbers of collectors can move at once, with no recourse for the artists but
to move platforms with them. This stifles creativity in our industry, as it removes
opportunities for some platforms to flourish and experiment, and artists become less able to
choose their favorite platform. Acting in self-interest is a normal part of any market, but it
cannot be understated how important it is to make sure every person in the market has
power.

There are efforts by platforms, individuals, and artists to create their own tokens. However,
there is no token that is platform-independent, democratic, and specifically for the art
community. By creating one, we can improve the balance of artists in the space.
The $ART token /////
The $ART token’s main application is to improve the stability and power of artists. $ART
does this in three ways:
● Being an accepted payment token on as many open and closed platforms as
possible
● Being the first token project with a provision for support artists during times of
hardships
● Being backed by the value of artwork that artists produce

These three applications are closely intertwined. By increasing the value of $ART by backing
it with art, then using that value to support artists, $ART is proven to be of value and is worth
accepting on open and closed platforms and marketplaces alike. ERC-20 tokens can be
accepted anywhere Ethereum is, so most platforms will be able to accept $ART.

The $ART Token Project will be purchasing art in two time periods:
● Ongoing Purchasing: To continue to increase the value of $ART, the community will
agree upon the purchase of more art on an X number of weeks schedule.
● Emergency Purchasing: In times the art market or global economy is struggling, the
community will agree on the purchase of more art on a one-off basis.

By pledging to purchase art during times of economic austerity, $ART will be able to support
artists during times of hardship. The art purchased during this period will then appreciate in
value, improving the value of the $ART token. By selling some of the artwork purchased
during this time when the market recovers, the $ART token community can ensure they can
perpetually support artists during hardship.

Once the $ART token has become well-distributed, artists will have a token they can rely on
to reduce the difficulty of hardship. This will allow artists to be more independent in the art
they produce, instead of producing art based on market trends.

We recognize that NFT options exist outside of the Ethereum blockchain, but there is
nothing stopping artists selling their art peer to peer and receiving their final payment in
$ART on the Ethereum blockchain. This applies to services artists provide also.
All artworks in the $ART Vault are considered community property.
$ART as a Governance token /////
To ensure the longevity of $ART, we are striving to integrate the greater art community into
decision-making processes as much as possible. As mentioned before, $ART will support
artists by buying artwork during certain periods. The decision of what and when to purchase
and sell artworks is given to the community.

The process is as follows:

● An artwork is offered to the community, priced in $ART.
● The asking price is listed publicly for the community to see.
● The community votes on the purchase by voting FOR or AGAINST the purchase.
● After the voting period finishes, the purchase is made if FOR has a simple majority.

$ART’s vote is calculated by looking at which wallets held $ART in a certain time period
before the vote. Each $ART is worth one vote. For example, if you held 500 $ART in the
time period, you would have 500 votes. To prevent voting manipulation, the community will
decide on a minimum amount of time a voter needs to hold $ART. This prevents the
purchase of $ART on a short-term basis just to strengthen a voter’s vote.

The $ART vault is a two-way system, where collectors can purchase from the vault using
$ART. This can occur in one of two ways:

● A motion is made for an artwork from the vault to be sold by the community. This is
most likely to happen when an artwork has appreciated in value significantly.
● A buyer approaches the community and offers a price they would be willing to
purchase the artwork for.

In both cases, a vote is created FOR or AGAINST the sale of the work. The sale is decided
based on a simple majority.
Airdrops /////
$ART will be distributed free of charge to the art community, with a 1:1 distribution to both art
buyers and artists at the start of the program.

$ART is inherently cross-platform, and as such there will be no consideration made based
on where the artwork was sold. The $ART Token Project sees itself as an independent
organisation and is striving for acceptance of $ART on both open and closed platforms.
The two airdrop periods are as follows:
● The 1st airdrop period will airdrop 10% (7,500,000 $ART) of total $ART in one
airdrop. This first airdrop is designed to allow existing members of the art community
to obtain $ART quickly.
● The 2nd airdrop period will airdrop 15% (11,250,000 $ART) of total $ART. This will
happen once every month or every other month for a period of 3 or 6 months for
buyers and artists who bought or sold artwork during each period.

These two airdrops will give $ART to almost all artists and collectors on the Ethereum
blockchain. This will encourage adoption and usage of $ART, which will provide the first
opportunities for the $ART Token Community to purchase art using $ART.

To meet the criteria of the airdrop, a buyer or artist must have bought or sold art on a
platform that allows the $ART Token Project to prove that only art was sold. This is to avoid
a situation where $ART is handed out to buyers who have purchased other NFTs and not
artwork. Before the airdrop period starts, we will be determining which platforms allow for us
to manage this, and platforms which don’t will be removed from the airdrop pool. As we
progress through the 2nd airdrop period, we may decide to allow these platforms regardless
through a community vote of existing $ART holders.

We will be diligent in finding and removing people attempting to manipulate the system to
receive more $ART from the airdrop than they should. This includes manipulation attempts
such as trade-washing.

If gas prices are too high for monthly airdrops, we reserve the right to combine airdrops. So,
theoretically, there may be only one more airdrop reflecting the sales of the last 6 months.
Distribution of $ART token /////
Total quantity: 75,000,000 $ART. This amount cannot be increased.

The 1st Airdrop Period: 10% (7,500,000 $ART)

The 1st airdrop period will airdrop 10% (7,500,000 $ART) of total $ART in one airdrop. This
first airdrop is designed to allow existing members of the art community to obtain $ART
quickly.

The 2nd Airdrop Period: 15% (11,250,000 $ART)

The 2nd airdrop period will airdrop 15% (11,250,000 $ART) of total $ART. This will happen
once every month or every other month for a period of 3 or 6 months for buyers and artists
who bought or sold artwork during each period.

The $ART Reserve: 30% (22,500,000 $ART)

To kickstart the $ART Token Community art purchasing initiative, we are starting the reserve
at 30% (22,500,000 $ART) of total supply of $ART. This will allow us to start the governance
initiatives instantly, including the purchase and sale of art. We plan to hold at least 15%
(11,250,000 $ART) of the supply of $ART to allow for governance at all times. In times of
hardship, we will potentially hold less than 15% of the total supply.

Operating Costs: 18% (13,500,000 $ART)

Crypto projects cost a lot of money to run. To alleviate this, we are allocating 18%
(13,500,000 $ART) of the total supply of $ART to be sold to cover operating costs. They will
be used to cover the running costs, staffing, development and technology and to place the
token in exchanges and platforms.

Liquidity Mining and Exchanges: 25% (18,750,000 $ART)

25% (18,750,000) $ART is allocated to promote the adoption of $ART and to support
liquidity mining. Liquidity Mining will take place on Uniswap and the following rewards will be
paid out:

1st month: 2,000,000 $ART/month

2nd month: 2,000,000 $ART/month
3rd month: 1,000,000 $ART/month
4th month: 1,000,000 $ART/month
5th month: 500,000 $ART/month
6th month: 500,000 $ART/month
7th month: 250,000 $ART/month
8th month: 250,000 $ART/month

Increases or changes as needed.

Additional Costs: 2% (1,500,000) $ART)

To ensure all of the needs of the $ART Token Community are met, we are using 2%
(1,500,000 $ART) of the total token supply to cover costs pertaining to the community,
marketing, and additional airdrops.
Distribution Chart /////
Roadmap /////
- Autumn 2020: $ART is officially announced. Community engagement and marketing
campaigns are started.

- December 2020: The 1st airdrop period commences.

- January/February 2021: The 2nd airdrop period starts

- January/February 2021: Start Governance and buying artworks

- Spring 2021: Placement of $ART on Exchanges and Platforms.

- Summer 2021: Large adoption of $ART in the wider crypto art community, with the airdrop
period finishing.
Key Team Members /////

Mark Hutchings, Artist and Entrepeneur

Gabriel Goncalves Castro, Artist

Logan Spruson, Artist

Summary /////
The goal of the $ART Token is to establish a platform-independent payment system in the
field of digital art to reward artists and collectors. Here are some quick facts on how this
works:

● There are 75,000,000 $ART tokens

● $ART is on the Ethereum blockchain
● $ART is on the ERC-20 standard, making it easy to accept
● Each $ART is worth 1 vote
● $ART is backed by digital art purchased for the vault
● The community can vote on which art to buy and sell from the vault
● $ART will hold 11,250,000 million tokens to purchase art with in times of hardship
● Art will be liquidated into $ART to maintain this level of tokens
● $ART is built by the art community, for the art community, and is designed only to be
used by the art community
● There will be airdrops where artists and art buyers will be rewarded in $ART