Cryptocurrency
Sotheby’s blockchain Gen Art program shows tech taking a back seat to art

Sotheby’s is making moves. The same fine art auction house behind several recent major nonfungible token (NFT) sales has just made the Met Breuer’s old Madison Avenue building its home, and on July 26, it’s launching an on-chain Gen Art Program powered by generative art platform Art Blocks.
A sale of NFTs by early algorithmic artmaker Vera Molnár will christen the program. She worked with artist and coder Martin Grasser to produce Themes and Variations, the sale’s series of 500 unique generative artworks. Altogether, it “expresses the seamless integration of letters as pure abstract forms,” a release says, “as well as Molnár’s affinity for embracing disorder.”
“The Sotheby’s Gen Art Program is powered by Art Blocks Engine,” Art Blocks founder and CEO Erick Calderon told Cointelegraph, “which gives access to Art Blocks’ smart contracts and rendering infrastructure for partners to create their own generative projects.”

“All Gen Art Program sales will be fully on-chain and in ETH only,” Sotheby’s head of digital art and NFTs, Michael Bouhanna, told Cointelegraph. “With the integration of the Art Blocks Engine, the Gen Art Program will mark our first digital art auctions to be held exclusively in ETH. Since moving Sotheby’s metaverse to fully on-chain in May, when we announced our new secondary market, it felt like a natural progression to begin exploring more sale options that can be fully on-chain,” he added. Last week’s announcement also predated a Web3 summit at Christie’s by just days.
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Art Blocks has previously partnered with traditional art heavyweights like the New York gallery Pace. The platform connected with Sotheby’s last fall “but didn’t immediately have a project in mind,” Calderon said. “It came to light that [Art Blocks] Engine would be a perfect fit for building out their [Sotheby’s] generative art platform after they committed to working with Vera Molnár early this year.”
Sotheby’s will conduct this inaugural sale as a Dutch auction for the first time in the house’s 300-year history. Art Blocks has historically used that model across its platform. Unlike a more traditional auction, where prices start low and climb high, a Dutch auction’s prices start high and go low. The first offer wins the lot, so there’s no dramatic bidding wars here. Sotheby’s say the model introduces new psychologies. The ceiling price for works across this week’s Molnár sale is 20 Ether (ETH).

With high-profile strategic partnerships, Art Blocks has built a business strong enough to withstand NFTs’ noted volatility. Sotheby’s, meanwhile, has transformed the downfall of one of crypto’s largest institutions into huge profits. This spring, it hosted a series of sales auctioning off Three Arrows Capital’s fabled blue chip NFT collection, which smashed estimates.
Most notably, Ringers #879 “The Goose” by Dimitri Cherniak — who made his auction debut with Phillips last summer — sold for $6.2 million, despite its $3 million high estimate. Many take those estimates with justified skepticism, but Cherniak’s work proved to be the second-most expensive digital art ever sold. “Editions from the same series sold for less than $200,000 each only moments later,” Forbes pointed out.
This Spring’s financial successes showed that now’s the time to launch the Gen Art Program, Bouhanna said. “We held our first auction dedicated to generative art in April 2022, and given the strong results from that sale, it was clear that collectors could see the art historical lineage of generative art and why it is so important not only to digital art but to contemporary art.”
“The Gen Art Program will open up many new opportunities for us, namely the ability to now work directly with leading artists to present exclusive new sales,” he continued.
The initiative also expands the house’s growing Web3 presence. Specifically, this program will focus on elevating long-form generative art — large series of works from a central algorithm.
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Calderon believes respect for the medium is rapidly increasing across the art world: “Part of the reason for that is blockchain technology itself is taking a back seat to the content that’s being created […] We will see less and less talk about the technology behind generative art and more about the art itself.”
“After decades of exploring how systems and computers can generate artistic outputs, I see this collaboration with Sotheby’s and Art Blocks as a culmination of those efforts,” Molnár herself said, “providing a new way to generate never-before-seen, unique abstract forms that are defined by the controlled randomness of machine programming — the essence of the algorithm.”
Cryptocurrency
Top Cardano (ADA) Price Predictions as of Late

TL;DR
- Analysts cite bullish chart patterns to envision potential price breakouts above $3 and even a new all-time high of over $4.
- A rising outflow of ADA from exchanges to self-custody wallets suggests strong holding behavior, while Grayscale’s proposed spot ETF (now awaiting SEC approval) could open the floodgates to mainstream investment if approved.
Time for Another Pump?
Cardano’s ADA has been underperforming over the past two weeks, with its price dropping by 5% during that period to the current $0.77 (according to CoinGecko’s data). Despite the downtrend, many market observers remain optimistic in their predictions.
Hardy, an X user with more than 70,000 followers, thinks ADA looks solid at its ongoing level. Furthermore, they argued that the asset’s “epic bull run” has not yet started.
$ADA looks solid here, hold above this purple box, we will continue higher.
If you’re in SPOT currently, you’re golden, the epic bull has not started for Cardano. pic.twitter.com/iqMe1aOzu8
— Hardy (@Degen_Hardy) July 31, 2025
X Finance Bull described ADA as “one of the biggest sleeper gains in crypto right now. The X user believes the valuation is poised to surpass $3, adding that a new all-time high is closer than some might think.
Smith also chipped in, spotting the formation of a “monstrous cup and handle” on ADA’s price chart. This is a bullish pattern that signals the potential for a major rally. Smith believes the valuation could explode above $4 once it exceeds the breakout target of $0.92.
Those interested in exploring additional price forecasts for Cardano’s native token can refer to our previous dedicated article here.
The Bullish Indicators
According to CoinGlass’s data, there has been a significant shift of ADA tokens from centralized exchanges toward self-custody methods in the past several months. This is considered bullish since it reduces the immediate selling pressure.
The potential launch of a spot ADA ETF can also positively impact the price. The leading digital asset manager, Grayscale, displayed its intentions to introduce such a product in the USA in February of this year. The decision is now in the hands of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Such an investment vehicle will give investors additional and simplified options to gain exposure to ADA. After all, buying a spot ETF is like purchasing regular stocks, all done via standard brokerage accounts. In the aftermath, Investors own shares, while the fund holds the actual cryptocurrency on their behalf.
According to Polymarket, the approval odds before the end of 2025 stand at 83%.
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Cryptocurrency
Ethereum’s Low Funding Rates Signal ‘Full-Fledged’ Rally Ahead: Analyst

Ethereum’s ten-year milestone has been marked not just by reflection but by a steady rally that has investors bracing for what could be the cryptocurrency’s next big breakout.
With ETH trading at $3,800 at press time, still 24% below its all-time high, pseudonymous CryptoQuant analyst CoinCare says its subdued futures funding rates and deep-pocketed accumulation suggest the uptick is far from over.
The Funding Rate Divergence
According to CoinCare, Ethereum’s ongoing four-month rally is quite similar in magnitude to a previous surge that happened between the start of Q4 2023 and the end of Q1 2024. However, unlike that run, where funding rates became overheated, today’s futures funding levels remain near pre-rally lows.
“In the current rally, there has been no overheating in funding rates,” wrote CoinCare. “In fact, the current funding rates are closer to the levels seen before the October 2023 rally began.”
CoinCare believes this is a sign that “a cooldown after a short-term surge is essential,” following which ETH could “enter a full-fledged rally” driven by renewed speculative interest.
Beyond derivatives, fundamental and on-chain forces also support Ethereum’s potential breakout. For instance, heavyweight Ethereum investors recently acquired 220,000 ETH, worth an estimated $850 million, in just 48 hours. This boosted their holdings to 23.5% of the asset’s supply, a record high that should lessen market liquidity and amplify an upward push.
At the same time, spot ETH ETFs have attracted roughly $5 billion in just 17 days, adding steady demand from regulated investment vehicles. Meanwhile, exchange balances have plunged to a near-decade low of 19 million ETH, with more than 1 million coins withdrawn in the past month alone, potentially reducing immediate sell-side pressure.
Price Momentum
Looking at the market, ETH has gained 1.7% in the past 24 hours, 7.9% in the last week, and 57% across 30 days. It is currently trading within a tight $3,708 to $3,874 range, with $4,000 as the next key resistance level and $3,500 providing critical short-term support.
Analyst Ali Martinez believes going above $4,100 could trigger “the real breakout” for ETH, marking a major psychological shift and potentially opening the door for a run towards its 2021 all-time high.
Despite short-term warning signals, such as an overbought RSI and a potential pullback toward $3,300 highlighted in CryptoPotato’s latest analysis, the bigger on-chain picture remains decisively bullish. If CoinCare’s funding-rate thesis proves accurate and institutional demand continues to grow, ETH’s next chapter could be written not with caution but with new highs.
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Cryptocurrency
FTX Stakes $79M in ETH, Whales Are Buying, BlackRock’s ETHA Keep Growing

TL;DR
- FTX staked $79M ETH after withdrawing $75M, signaling renewed activity from major crypto players.
- BlackRock now holds 2.5% of all ETH, adding $375M more through its growing Ethereum ETF.
- Eleven new whale wallets added 722K ETH since July, with most already staked for the long term.
- Ethereum ETFs saw $5.41B in July inflows, beating combined gains from the last eleven months.
FTX Moves ETH From Bybit, Then Stakes It
On-chain data tracked by Lookonchain shows that FTX and Alameda Research staked 20,736 ETH, valued at around $79 million, within the past few hours. The move follows a previous withdrawal of 21,650 ETH from crypto exchange Bybit. That withdrawal, carried out between December 17, 2024, and January 9, 2025, totaled $75.3 million at an average price of $3,478 per ETH.
FTX/Alameda staked 20,736 $ETH($79M) an hour ago.
Between Dec 17, 2024, and Jan 9, 2025, FTX/Alameda withdrew 21,650 $ETH($75.3M) from #Bybit at an average price of $3,478.https://t.co/RBSW7DEx21 pic.twitter.com/5E0ku6WGni
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) July 31, 2025
At the time of writing, ETH trades at $3,860. The price has increased 1% in the last 24 hours and 7% over the past seven days. These ETH transfers and staking actions add to a trend of growing market activity around the asset.
BlackRock and Other Firms Continue ETH Accumulation
BlackRock added $375 million in ETH to its holdings this week. The firm now controls about 2.5% of Ethereum’s total circulating supply, which translates to over $11.4 billion in ETH, based on current prices.
In addition, the iShares Ethereum ETF, launched in 2024, has now acquired more than 3 million ETH, according to Nate Geraci’s recent post. Since July 12 alone, it has added another 1 million ETH.
BLACKROCK BOUGHT $375M OF ETH THIS WEEK
THEY CURRENTLY HOLD 2.46% OF THE ETH SUPPLY WORTH $11.32B
THE LARGEST ASSET MANAGER IN THE WORLD IS BUYING $ETH pic.twitter.com/BksJOvUjdQ
— Arkham (@arkham) July 31, 2025
The Ether Machine, a company focused on ETH accumulation, bought 15,000 ETH this week for $56.9 million. This brings its total ETH holdings to over 334,000.
Meanwhile, it also confirmed that additional capital remains available for further ETH purchases. With this latest transaction, The Ether Machine now holds more ETH than the Ethereum Foundation.
SharpLink, a Nasdaq-listed company, made yet another purchase earlier today, adding 11,359 ETH, which brings its total to 449,276 (worth $1.73 billion). A significant portion of the newly acquired ETH has already been staked.
Whale Wallets Enter the Market With Billions in ETH
Eleven new wallets have acquired a total of 722,152 ETH, worth $2.77 billion, since July 9. Three of those wallets added 73,821 ETH, worth $283 million, in the past 24 hours. The data was tracked by Crypto Rover.
BREAKING:
WHALES KEEP BUYING MORE $ETH.
3 FRESH WALLETS JUST ACCUMULATED ANOTHER 73,821 $ETH ($283M).
SINCE JULY 9, A TOTAL OF 11 FRESH WALLETS HAVE ACCUMULATED 722,152 $ETH ($2.77B). pic.twitter.com/rnywoQdg07
— Crypto Rover (@rovercrc) July 31, 2025
Most of these new wallets are staking their ETH. This reduces the circulating supply and signals long-hold strategies. These new holders are joining a broader trend of long-term ETH accumulation by large entities.
ETF Inflows Surge in July
As we recently reported, Ethereum ETFs brought in $5.41 billion in net inflows during July. That figure is higher than the $4.21 billion combined inflows from the 11 previous months. Since their launch in July 2024, ETH ETFs have received $9.62 billion.
Earlier in the year, flows were more uneven. The first quarter of 2025 saw low inflows and a brief outflow in March. By contrast, November and December 2024 saw stronger interest, with inflows of $1.05 billion and $2.08 billion, respectively.
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