The Bitcoin Angel by Trevor Jones: Reimagining a classic as an NFT
Everyone finds something different in digital art. But for Scottish artist Trevor Jones it became a real salvation and a ticket to a happy life. Thanks to NFT art he turned from an unknown traditional artist, painting on oil on canvas, into one of the most wealthy creators of tokenized masterpieces. Trevor Jones’ work has been a hit at sites such as SuperRare, Nifty Gateway and MakersPlace. His work The Bitcoin Angel set a record as the most expensive open edition art, grossing $3.2 million in just seven minutes! More than 4,000 copies of this collection were sold at Nifty Gateway for $777 each.
In today’s review, we will pay attention to the creative path of this amazing person and tell you what one of his most significant works is.
The Bitcoin Angel Official Links
- Official website https://www.trevorjonesart.com
- Twitter @trevorjonesart – over 81k followers,
- Discord @trevorjonesart – over 1.5k members,
- Instagram @trevorjonesart – over 11k subscribers,
- YouTube @TrevorJonesArtist – over 500 subscribers.
What is The Bitcoin Angel?
The Bitcoin Angel is a piece of digital art based on the sculptural group The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by the famous Italian master Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini. The token depicts an angel with an arrow pointing at the heart of Saint Teresa, with a golden Bitcoin visible behind the two characters.
Trevor Jones prepared a surprise for everyone who purchased the open edition of The Bitcoin Angel in the form of participation in a drawing of his portrait of Conor McGregor, which is a 1/1 NFT. Furthermore, users who purchased one of the fifteen packs of 1/1 NFTs and the actual painting of The Bitcoin Angel were invited to enter a drawing for an original oil portrait of Conor McGregor.
And that wasn’t all. When Bitcoin was supposed to reach $77,777, each owner of a Bitcoin Angel Open Edition token could participate in a drawing, the winner of which would receive his portrait or a portrait of his loved one by Trevor Jones.
The Bitcoin Angel in numbers
- The collection was released on February 24, 2021.
- During the minting, which lasted 7 minutes, 4,813 editions of the collection were sold on the Nifty Gateway platform. The price of each token was $777 (0.3666 ETH at that time).
- According to the artist, the number “7” was not chosen by chance: it is a symbol closely associated with biblical motifs. There is also a “777” on the NFT itself.
- The total volume of secondary sales exceeded 7k ETH (more than $15 million at the current exchange rate). Taking into account the total amount of initial sales, the total sales amount to more than $18 million.
- Floor price is 0.24 ETH (about $500).
- Average sales range from 0.15 ETH to 1.5 ETH.
- In terms of all-time historical data, the average sale price is 1.04 ETH.
- The most expensive #1 sold on March 2, 2021 for 12.7299 ETH ($27k at the time of sale).
- Total 2,305 unique holders (48%). This shows the low chances of whales interconnection within the project. Thus, the risk of artificial project management from the inside is minimal.
- About 8% of the collection is for sale, among them the offers range from 0.24 ETH to 4.2 ETH.
Data (including exchange rates) are given at the time of publication (April 14, 2023)
Who created The Bitcoin Angel?
The founder of The Bitcoin Angel collection is the artist Trevor Jones, who is deservedly included in the TOP of the best NFT artists. At first, he was catastrophically unlucky with his career. He was the most ordinary artist, not giving much hope. But in 2012 he started to experiment more with his works, putting into them QR codes and elements of augmented reality.
Over the next few years Trevor Jones continued to explore the possibilities of integrating technology into his art. He created a series of portraits of world leaders and organized a stealth augmented reality exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Finally, Trevor Jones began to receive more and more attention. He has gained an especially large following, particularly among crypto enthusiasts, with his Most Influential series, which has captured the imagination of many art lovers.
Trevor Jones’ journey into the world of NFT began when he invested in Bitcoin in 2017. But, alas, he was greatly disappointed: 2018 was marked by a major collapse of cryptocurrencies, as a result of which Jones lost all his savings in the digital currency. Nevertheless, he was not going to give up and continued working on his personal exhibition CryptoDisruption. Here is an example of one of the works shown at it:
'The Hodler', 1 of only 12 paintings from my 2018 exhibition Crypto Disruption now an #NFT on @KnownOrigin_io. Current bid 17 ETH.
Bid đ https://t.co/nWbvthxBGm
Symbolism đ https://t.co/c8zbwf09Et
12 paintings đ https://t.co/9kYH0JZlGh
Media đ https://t.co/cacb7tgoAA pic.twitter.com/4AjxSEwNBG
— Trevor Jones đ¨ (@trevorjonesart) March 7, 2020
After hearing that other artists were successfully selling their works on KnownOrigin, Jones decided to try his luck in this area too, but he went his own way with SuperRare, and this turned out to be the beginning of a successful journey. In collaboration with his friend Alotta Money @money_alotta he created an animated work called EthGirl inspired by the works of Pablo Picasso.
EthGirl (2019)
1/1 genesis nft on @SuperRarehttps://t.co/RxAujIWa8NA collab with @money_alotta đ¤ pic.twitter.com/deWjx7YdS9
— Trevor Jones đ¨ (@trevorjonesart) January 2, 2022
After its release, EthGirl broke the current record on SuperRare, raising just over 72 ETH ($10,000) in December 2019.
Trevor Jones’ popularity began to grow by leaps and bounds. After another record sale of The Bitcoin Bull on Nifty Gateway, he quickly became known as one of the most famous artists in the NFT world.
Trevor’s iconic work, along with Bitcoin Angel, is Ethboy. In this case, it is based on Pablo Picasso’s famous painting “Paul as Harlequin”, which depicts Picasso’s son dressed as Harlequin. Trevor Jones reworked this work in the style of new age art. The diamonds on the suit are in the style of the Ethereum cryptocurrency symbol, and it’s easy to recognize Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, in the face of the man depicted on the digital masterpiece.
Amazing to see my collaboration EthBoy Chapter 4: TRANSCEND with digital artist @trevorjonesart art on Oxford Street @W1curates outside @flannelsfashion.#DJSasha pic.twitter.com/I8Moh4yQUd
— sashaofficial (@sashaofficial) February 2, 2023
Why is The Bitcoin Angel popular?
The Bitcoin Angel project is of interest to users for several reasons:
- The author of the project is Trevor Jones, one of the most famous NFT artists of our time.
- For painting enthusiasts, The Bitcoin Angel is a way of a real integration of oil, paint, and canvas into a digitized form. This kind of art is not often found in the digital art market.
- Exclusive Stirling Castle Party crypto events in the heart of Scotland. The last such event was held on July 30, 2022, and was open to Bitcoin Angel holders, as well as such iconic guests as DJRT, @ClanadoniaBand, magicians Dusty the Magician and Jody Grieg and other famous guests.
The world's first #cryptoart NFT castle party tomorrow. Doors open 7pm. Welcome #BitcoinAngel collectors to Stirling, Scotland. #CastleParty2022 đ°đ´ó §ó ˘ó łó Łó ´ó ż
Who wants to come to #CastleParty2023? đ pic.twitter.com/FkDGSP9hiX
— Trevor Jones đ¨ (@trevorjonesart) July 29, 2022
- Meeting people in real life and building friendships is special and you hold on to these for your whole life. The artist’s opinion.
- Token holders can receive a special Bitcoin Angel mask developed in collaboration with Apollo NFT @ApolloNft and Satoshiverse @Satoshiverse_io.
What do you think of these? The Bitcoin Angel masks designed and sponsored by @ApolloNft @Satoshiverse_io are ready to go! We'll definitely need to get a group photo of all the #CastleParty2022 guests wearing their masks at Stirling Castle next month. đ°đĽł pic.twitter.com/XMeDLq95QJ
— Trevor Jones đ¨ (@trevorjonesart) June 15, 2022
- Angel Hoodies. A merchandising item in the form of a designer-quality hoodie is made for owners of The Bitcoin Angel. The item features the Trevor Jones artist logo on the chest, an embroidered Bitcoin Angel logo on the sleeve, and a pair of angel wings on the back.
The Bitcoin Angel Idea
Trevor Jones aims to achieve the same level of recognition as the artist Jack Vettriano @jack_vettriano. According to Jones, his creations Bitcoin Bull and Bitcoin Angel have the potential to accomplish such a mission.
As the NFT art space accelerates and Bitcoin continues to rise in value the legacy art world will eventually sit up and takes notice. Once this happens, I do believe these paintings will be recognisable outside of the NFT art space and internationally. Here is what the artist says about this.
Trevor Jones aims to show, in particular through his work The Bitcoin Angel, that classical art starts to play new colors when it is reworked according to modern canons and when AR elements are added to famous masterpieces. At the same time, Trevor Jones is aware of the fact that many users cannot afford physical works of art. That’s why he gives everyone the opportunity to become owners of his NFT creations for a nominal fee, in particular, a token from The Bitcoin Angel collection.
The Bitcoin Angel Roadmap
The Bitcoin Angel project does not have a roadmap, as this collection is a solo one and is a project for the sake of art. That said, the plans of Trevor Jones are not known to us for certain; for sure, he will still prepare many surprises related to the collection.
The Bitcoin Angel Ecosystem
The Bitcoin Angel does not have its own ecosystem. As mentioned above, this project does not involve developing infrastructure, and the community consists of fans of the artist and his work, as well as forward-thinking NFT investors. They understand that the art created by a famous contemporary artist is not in the mainstream, and in the future the value of these works will only increase.
How much does The Bitcoin Angel cost?
The collection was released on February 24, 2021 via Nifty Gateway. During the minting, which lasted 7 minutes, 4,813 editions of the collection were sold. The price of each token was $777 (0.3666 ETH at that time).
In the same month, the collection began to be traded in secondary markets, where it was in great demand.
As of April 14, 2023, the floor price is 0.24 ETH. On average, the latest sales range from 0.15 to 1.5 ETH. In terms of all-time historical data, the average selling price is 1.04 ETH. And the total volume of secondary sales amounted to more than 7k ETH (more than $15 million at the moment). Taking into account the total amount of initial sales, the total sales amount to more than $18 million.
The most expensive sales of The Bitcoin Angel
NFTs within the collection do not have an individual appearance, since the entire project is the story of one digital painting. That said, the trading activity was different throughout the entire period.
And here are the most expensive sales:
- #1 sold on March 2, 2021 for 12.7299 ETH ($27k at the time of sale),
- #2 sold on October 28, 2021 for 12.2584 ETH ($26k at the time of sale),
- #13 sold on March 25, 2021 for 10.1513 ETH ($21.5k at the time of sale),
- #2372 sold on April 4, 2021 for 8.3911 ETH ($17.7k at the time of sale).
Where to buy The Bitcoin Angel?
Currently, The Bitcoin Angel can only be purchased on the secondary market, on marketplaces such as OpenSea, Nifty Gateway and SuperRare.
How to buy The Bitcoin Angel?
- Remember that initially you need to connect your crypto wallet with self-storage to the marketplace of your choice.
- Next, find the official collection using the search bar on the marketplace.
- Analyze and choose the NFT you want to buy; click on it and then on the “Buy” button.
- Or you can bet on the token you like. Make sure you leave enough ETH for gas or transaction fees. If the seller approves your bid, the deal goes through.
Should you invest in The Bitcoin Angel?
Interesting fact: many crypto enthusiasts, who last year got into the NFT idustry, admit that they came there thanks to Picasso Bull, a work created by Trevor Jones. But that’s not the only reason the project is worthy of investors’ attention. Here are more considerations why The Bitcoin Angel is worth a closer look:
- The success of the collection at the launch stage. High popularity plus a large number of minted items create the prerequisites for a decent level of liquidity on the market.
- Access to the private Discord channel (for owners of Bitcoin Angel and Bitcoin Bull).
- The opportunity to participate in unique events, such as the Stirling Castle Party, and to meet Trevor Jones himself.
- A successful collaboration with the famous crypto maker Pak, earning $1.4 million, which significantly increased the credibility of Trevor Jones and his works.
- Also worth mentioning is Trevor Jones’ collaboration with Ice Cube, which, with the help of AI, resulted in real digital masterpieces. This can also be considered a factor that could potentially raise the value of the artist’s work in the eyes of investors.
Speaking of #AIArtworks my collab with @icecube
đ¤đ¨ https://t.co/mS45RaCbBg
5×5 foot oil painting created with AI images of Cube from pens & his hand written lyrics transformed into an AI animation also made up of his hand writing. Music produced by Cube for the artwork. pic.twitter.com/7a4xak3hDU
— Trevor Jones đ¨ (@trevorjonesart) March 28, 2023
In any case, do your own in-depth analysis and research when investing in NFTs, and then make your own decision.
Opinion of NFTmetria
Despite the fantastic success Trevor Jones has achieved, he is still a simple guy who is not touched by the star fever. He still goes shopping at the cheapest grocery store and does not even have his own car. Friends and colleagues confirm: fame has not changed the modest Trevor Jones.
As for the creative side, his digital works, particularly The Bitcoin Angel, are amazing in their craftsmanship and attention to detail. Jones turns to classic creations, reinterprets them and breathes new life into them. And given the revenue his projects collect, we can say that Trevor Jones’ artworks have not only a high spiritual value, but also a significant financial one.
