At BitBlockBoom in August 2021, American Hodl urged the public to think about how we, as the wealthy elite of the future, will allocate our resources for the benefit of future generations. His main point of view was to stress the importance of making wise investments in a healthy cash economy because if someone squanders their bitcoin on reckless projects, they will not be able to get that bitcoin back. Although American Hodl did not share his own thoughts on the kinds of things Bitcoiners should invest in to advance humanity, his question was an important inquiry into the values of Bitcoin users and his speech received a standing ovation.
Similarly, on the latest episode of the “What Bitcoin Did” podcast, Parker Lewis shared, “The main difference [between Bitcoin and the current monetary system] It is, in order to get bitcoins, you have to offer value in the free market. If you are going to make money in this monetary system, you have to offer value to someone on the other side. In the Federal Reserve System, 80% of all dollars created since 2008 have been created. So, in the dollar system, this is fundamentally not true. You can either get dollars by offering someone else value and get compensation or the Fed will step in and allocate the dollars.” The current system does not incentivize value creation with the Fed as a buyer of last resort. When we move to a bitcoin-denominated system, those who create will be rewarded Value Only As Bitcoin clients, we will have the opportunity to allocate our resources to projects that align with our principles and provide value to the world.
So what are the core values of bitcoin users?
Bitcoins come from all walks of life and have many different values. However, the fundamental value system that all bitcoin seem to have in common is a system of individual sovereignty, financial responsibility, and a preference for low time by saving money.
Combined and then realized in the form of Bitcoin money, these values will generate a complex financial wealth and power that can be distributed to support creative and innovative technology, electricity production, and art. Much has been written regarding Bitcoin’s innovative technology and energy use. Bitcoiners prove once again that the power usage of the Bitcoin network not only encourages innovations in renewable and efficient electricity production, but also improves the security of the Bitcoin network to protect the first truly open and decentralized financial system. If you are interested in reading more about Bitcoin’s energy use, I recommend looking at Nic Carter’s writing or Lyn Alden’s article. Since there are countless articles explaining this feature, the goal of this article is to present another benefit that Bitcoin will bring to humanity: a major return for all mediums of art as well as the flourishing of modern infrastructure.
The early stages of what appears to be a revival of art are gaining popularity in the Ethereum community with NFTs. I think this is a false equivalence to collecting artwork and instead is like collecting baseball cards, stamps and action figures. People spend millions of dollars on great JPEGs. Bored monkeys are another fad in NFT where people are willing to spend unreasonable amounts of money on rare releases. Getting a monkey bored rarely seems to be comparable to opening a pack of Pokemon cards and finding a hologram Charizard card, even though bored monkeys are created digitally using software-generated rare features rather than propagating through traditional means of physical production and distribution. Original physical art can be minted into symbolic NFTs and NFTs can be converted into physical art.
While there may be some intrinsic value to NFTs due to their digital rarity, especially when they are made by artists using original pieces of art, there is a common joke among cynics that they right-click to save the image and “own” it. This frenzy of digital scarcity is an example of a misplaced low time preference as it relates to art. as Eric Voorhees He tweeted, “The value of NFT is due to aesthetic and cultural desires and scarcity.” Yes, there are current cultural desires for these aesthetics but are they as timeless as ‘Mona Lisa’ or ‘Starry Night’? Will the rare CryptoPunk be shown to someone in a museum someday? My guess is that the enthusiasm for this type of art is going to wane and we won’t see these NFTs on display anywhere except perhaps at a niche Comic Con event. With less preference for time, the Bitcoin elite will have an incentive to sponsor artists whose work can and should continue so that future generations will appreciate and admire them.
Return to BitBlockBoom. At the conference, Marisa Jane Angeli showcased her amazing Bitcoin-themed work. It was the first original non-digital artwork I saw related to Bitcoin and many of its pieces sold out over the weekend. Another Bitcoiner I met designed Hodlsmith Watches, a limited-edition series of high-end and custom watches that can fit Casascius (spent or unspent) coins in the back. Michael Saylor appears frequently in video interviews and podcasts sitting in front of a full knot statue dropping mouth by FractalEncrypt. These very limited sculptures capture historical snapshots of time during the history of Bitcoin. These are just a few examples of the amazing Bitcoin artwork that people are willing to spend big on. Just days ago, a statue in honor of Satoshi Nakomoto was unveiled in Budapest, Hungary. The idea was implemented by a Hungarian Bitcoin team. This statue is a preliminary representation of how a group of people who want others to appreciate and realize the value created by others are willing to give up some of their precious session in order to fund a project that will be shown to the public.
This artistic revolution is not limited to fine art and sculpture. Another great example of a different artistic medium is the documentary “This Machine Greens” presented by Swan Bitcoin last week. The movie is entirely Bitcoin-funded by the Bitcoin community and focuses on the energy innovations mentioned earlier. Bitcoin’s utility is making its way into other mediums as well. Music about Bitcoin is already on streaming platforms, with rappers being one of the first people to make songs about it. Although he did not compose songs about it, rapper Nipsey Hussle (RIP) was one of the first Bitcoin users and spoke about the benefits of Bitcoin to XXL magazine. Breez Wallet and Sphinx Chat discovered how to support creators directly by allowing listeners to broadcast sats directly to podcast creators. This will have a huge impact on artists’ ability to create and directly benefit from original content, rather than receiving $0.004 per Spotify stream.
Once we get to hyperbitcoinization, when Bitcoin is the primary medium of exchange and unit of account, how much money are Bitcoiners willing to spend on art not directly related to Bitcoin? Otherwise, how will a Bitcoin-based community create opportunities for the arts to flourish? It is possible that we will witness another period similar to the Renaissance when wealthy families, especially the Medici family, patronized artists by paying them commissions in advance. It is not hard to imagine how low time preference appreciation would encourage individuals to invest in works of art that will last beyond their lives.
With wealthy bitcoiners ready to dedicate resources to the arts, we can move toward a more aesthetically pleasing future that includes more than traditional art styles. The Medici family’s patronage extended beyond that of artists to facilitate the completion of important architecture, resulting in the construction of galleries, gardens, chapels, and courtyards. Many bitcoin customers often talk about living in a community within bitcoin “castles”. The idea is that bitcoins will live with other like-minded families in a protected structure. The design and construction of these buildings can be created in the future with the support of leading architects who take into account the production of renewable electricity and heat generation. For example, supplying ASICs with hydroelectric power and using the heat produced by miners to heat homes, hot tubsgreenhouses and others. We are barely starting to scratch the surface on how to use these tools in harmony with design principles to manufacture completely grid-independent and self-reliant systems. Imagine a world in which the byproduct of bitcoin mining could provide an additional use beyond securing monetary support for a global financial system.
Thinking about the future, what kind of world do we want to develop, create and enhance? Who will design castles? How will we decorate the walls? What skills add real value to our lives? We must start thinking now about the question of how to allocate resources. When excessive forex trading occurs, we need to be prepared to use our accumulated wealth in measured and wise ways. Not only investing in the things that make us more Bitcoin but also by supporting causes that will make the world a more beautiful place. Artwork, architecture and general innovation aligned with our individual values is a great area to focus on. I, for example, look forward to seeing how art thrives in a bitcoin-denominated world.
Will Clemente Summarizing these beliefs eloquently, “Fiat stimulates short-term thinking, subconsciously creates materialism/instant gratification. Bitcoin stimulates long-term thinking, which leads to innovation and innovation. Now apply this framework from the individual level to the whole of society. The renaissance of Bitcoin is imminent.”
Note: The title of this piece is based on the “Fuck Your Great Reset” episode of the “Wake Up Podcast”.
This is a guest post by Craig Deutsch. The opinions expressed are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC, Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.