XCOPY is a London based digital artist associated with crypto art and NFTs. His real identity is unknown.[1] He creates digital glitched artworks usually concerning death, dystopia and apathy through flashing imagery and distorted loops, with hints to the cryptocurrency community regarding concepts, mood and terminology. He is one of the highest selling NFT artists.[2]
Background and rise
XCOPY started his digital artist career posting on the social media platform Tumblr, in August 2010. He posted more than a thousand individual works (other than August 2014[3]) for more than a decade.[4]
XCOPY is known as one of the earliest digital artists to make NFTs out of his artworks. His artworks were first turned into NFTs in 2018. XCOPY's art became more popular both in and out the Crypto communities, gaining further recognition, consistently ranking amongst the top selling NFT artists and establishing record sales amongst digital and traditional art.[5]
CC0 License
On August 1, 2022 XCOPY released his work under a Creative Commons CC-zero license,[6] relinquishing copyrights to his works which were not collaborations or derivative content, and dedicating those rights to the public domain. CC0 licensing has been used to increased artwork visibility and usage, incentivizing people to remix his work and create derivatives.[7]
Notable works
Right-Click and Save As Guy

Right-Click and Save As Guy is one of XCOPY's best known artworks. The piece started receiving attention on 13 March 2021, in a BBC World News article.[8] It was bought for about $7,000,000 on 9 December 2021, making it one of the highest selling digital artworks.[9]
Grifters
On 3 March 2022, XCOPY launched via the NFT platform "Async" the collection "Grifters", 666 different images commonly used as avatars/online identities amongst the cryptocurrency communities.[10]
Gallery
-
All Time High in the City (2018).
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A Coin for the Ferryman (2018). The associated NFT sold for $6 million USD. [11]
-
Cracked (2018)
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Last Selfie (2019)
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Some Asshole. The associated NFT sold for $3.8M USD[14]
Art shows and features
- “Lugano NFT Week” exhibition at Villa Ciani in Lugano, 2021[15]
- "CryptOGs": The Pioneers of NFT Art" at Bonhams, 2021[16]
- “DART2121” exhibition at Museo della Permanente in Milan, 2021[17]
- “Milano Art Week 2022” exhibition in Milan, 2022[18]
References
- ^ "XCOPY Fortune NFTy 50 Fortune". fortune.com.
- ^ "A look at nine most expensive NFT deals so far". cnbctv18.com. 24 February 2022.
- ^ "XCOPY: Archive". CRYPTO X ART.
- ^ "Sotheby's Metaverse". metaverse.sothebys.com. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
- ^ "Top Selling NFT Artists in 2024". gothammag.com.
- ^ "Creative Commons - No rights reserved".
- ^ "Museums in the Digital Age: Opening up at Birmingham Museums Trust". Europeana PRO. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
- ^ "XCOPY on Twitter:..." twitter.com.
- ^ "The 10 Most Expensive NFT Artworks of 2021, From Beeple's $69 Million 'Everydays' to XCOPY's $3.8 Million Portrait of 'Some Asshole'". artnet.com. 27 December 2021.
- ^ "Crypto artist XCOPY's NFT project Grifters". news.cnyes.com (in Chinese).
- ^ "The 11 Most Expensive NFTs Sold in 2021 You Need to Know About". Yahoo Finance. 2022-02-03. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
- ^ Whiddington, Richard (2023-02-24). "So-Called 'Open Editions' Are Suddenly Reigniting the Wintry NFT Market. Here's Why They've Become So Popular With Collectors". Artnet News. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
- ^ "PAK to XCopy: 10 NFT artists from across the world you need to know". 26 October 2022.
- ^ Cowley, Mark (2022-05-20). "The Most Expensive NFTs Ever Purchased". SlashGear. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
- ^ "Lugano NFT Week: Non-Fungible Tangible". Assodigitale.it (in Italian). 12 November 2021.
- ^ "Bonhams x SuperRare present: CryptOGs: The Pioneers of NFT Art". FAD Magazine. 2021-06-18. Retrieved 2021-12-15.
- ^ "Al Museo della Permanente di Milano "2121", la più grande mostra sulla Crypto Art". Artribune.com (in Italian). 24 November 2021.
- ^ "Art Innovation Gallery presenta NFT. Digital Art Exhibition". ilgiornaleditalia.it (in Italian). 31 March 2022.
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