What is on-chain art?

Most NFTs store their data off-chain, meaning off the blockchain, because storing data on the blockchain itself is expensive. The token holds an identifier that points to a description of the artwork and its visuals somewhere else. If that server or database goes down, the art disappears with it. This contradicts the ethos of immutability a distributed ledger should uphold.

On-chain art is the answer that emerged among smart contract developers and artists: code, artwork and/or metadata stored directly on the blockchain, permanent and immutable for as long as the Ethereum network exists. Working within the constraints of the Ethereum Virtual Machine has in turn stimulated creativity.

0xchain.art documents these projects. The dataset is that documentation as one JSON file, the same records the collection pages are rendered from.

How it is made

The dataset is based on user submissions. Anyone can submit a collection; submissions are then curated by hand before they are listed. Descriptions, dates, ratings, storage notes and license claims are collected on a best-effort basis from public sources and from what submitters tell us.

The dataset is provided as is, without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to its accuracy, completeness or fitness for any purpose. We do not verify license claims, contract behaviour or ownership, and we accept no responsibility or liability for any error in the data or for anything done in reliance on it. Use it at your own risk, and if you plan to use, remix or redistribute a project's artwork, verify the license with the project itself. See also the site-wide disclaimer.

License

The dataset is dedicated to the public domain under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0). Use it for anything, anywhere, with or without credit.

The dedication covers ONLY the JSON metadata in this file. It does not cover the artworks, the thumbnails of them shown on this site, or anything else the data points to. Those belong to their artists under whatever terms each project has set; the dataset only reports those terms, it does not grant them.

Download

211 collections. A zip with dataset.json, README.md and the CC0 LICENSE.