Art Blocks shifts to curated marketplace

This marks Art Blocks shifting from a trading event into an actual art marketplace. When factory projects stay live instead of vanishing in minutes, buyers can browse, compare, and mint what they like, which is much closer to how collecting works in practice. That also lowers the pressure to chase Dutch auctions at any price, and helps Art Blocks absorb a growing backlog of artists without turning every release into a speculative stress test.

• Art Blocks’ core product is mint on purchase generative art. The artist uploads the algorithm, sets the edition size, and the final output is created only when a collector buys. Keeping inventory available lets collectors shop among still live projects instead of fighting through a single drop window.
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• This is also how a curated specialist separates from broad NFT bazaars like OpenSea. General marketplaces win when users want constant trading across many NFT types. Art focused venues win when the buyer wants a slower selection process centered on the work itself, not instant resale momentum.
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• The economics support this calmer state. Art Blocks takes 10% of primary sales and 2.5% of secondary sales, while Dutch auction prices had already settled lower as speculative expectations cooled. A market where pieces mint over time can still monetize, but with less bubble behavior and better artist discovery.
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The next step is a larger always on shelf of generative art, with Art Blocks acting more like a trusted gallery with software attached. If that model keeps working, the strongest NFT art platforms will look less like exchanges and more like curated stores where buyers return to discover work, not just flip it.