A living piece of the internet

What is PixelBid?

A 1,000 × 1,000 canvas — one million pixels — where every pixel can be purchased, coloured, and owned by anyone. The catch: the price doubles every time someone outbids you.

How it works

Three simple rules

01

Pick a pixel

Open the canvas, zoom in, and click any pixel. You'll see its current price, owner, and color.

02

Buy it

Pay the listed price via Stripe. Choose any colour. Ownership transfers to you the moment payment clears.

03

Hold or lose it

Anyone can overbid your pixel by paying double. You receive the overbid amount. The buyer takes the pixel.

Pricing model

Price doubles on every sale

Each pixel starts at €1. Every time it changes hands, the next purchase price doubles. The formula is simple: €1 × 2ⁿ, where n is the number of times it has been sold.

Price progression

Sale #11
Sale #22
Sale #34
Sale #48
Sale #516
Sale #632
Sale #764
Sale #8128
…and so on×2 each time

💡 For buyers

You know exactly what you pay before you commit. The price is always displayed on the pixel tooltip and purchase modal. No hidden fees.

💰 For sellers (previous owners)

When someone overbids your pixel, you receive the amount they paid. If you bought at €4 and someone pays €8, you profit €4 automatically.

Ownership

What ownership means

What you get

  • Your name (or username) is permanently linked to that pixel on the canvas.
  • Your chosen colour is displayed for everyone to see.
  • Your pixel appears in your public profile and dashboard.
  • You receive a notification and payout if someone overbids you.
  • Full history of your pixel is on the public ledger forever.

Ownership transfer

Ownership transfers happen instantly and atomically. The moment a new buyer pays:

  1. The transaction is recorded on the ledger with a SHA-256 hash.
  2. The pixel's colour, owner, and price are updated.
  3. The previous owner receives a notification.
  4. The new price (×2) is set for the next potential buyer.

Transparency

Built on a tamper-proof ledger

Every purchase generates a unique transaction hash — a cryptographic fingerprint computed from the buyer, seller, pixel, price, timestamp, and the previous hash. These hashes form a chain: alter one record and every hash after it breaks.

// Each transaction hash is computed as:

SHA256( tx_id | x,y | seller | buyer | unix_epoch | price | prev_hash )

FAQ

Common questions

Can an admin steal my pixel?

No. Admin actions are fully logged publicly and there is no database policy allowing admins to insert transactions on behalf of users. Every pixel transfer requires a real purchase.

What happens to my money when I'm overbid?

You receive the amount the new buyer paid. The payment goes to you automatically as part of the transaction settlement.

Can I buy multiple pixels at once?

Yes — use Selection Mode on the canvas to select multiple pixels and purchase them all in a single atomic transaction.

Is the pixel ownership forever?

The ownership history is permanent on the ledger. As long as no one overbids you, your pixel stays yours indefinitely.

Need help?

Have a question, found a bug, or want to get in touch?

Contact support