I had just spent 6 months pouring my heart and soul into building an amazing installation to inspire real change for something few seemed to care about. Then, Bitcoin Twitter noticed the #SkullOfSatoshi, and the rollercoaster began.
Here’s my story :
I’ve been doing environmental art projects for yrs, in parallel to orgs like GP, calling out corps & fighting single-use plastics. I create art installs w/ the hope to inspire and create change. For the first time, GP offered to commission an art install from me. I was stoked.
The piece was never meant to be anti-Bitcoin.
It was an optimistic hope that Bitcoin could shift away from the needless burning of fossil fuels without losing all the other features that make Bitcoin safe, secure, and decentralized.
https://t.co/l9SjijMV6h
I made the Skull believing that Bitcoin Mining was a simple black-and-white issue. I’ve spent my entire career trying to reduce real-world physical waste, and PoW felt intuitively wasteful.
Of course, I was wrong.
Few things in the world are black and white. Dumb me. /4
The last two days have been spent in private conversations with both GP and pro-env bitcoiners like @level39 @thetrocro @DSBatten. I’ve discovered a whole new world of initiatives that fill me with hope.
The #SkullofSatoshi is a phenomenal accident.
It represents, literally, what both sides believe to be true: That Bitcoin has the potential to be more environmentally friendly; a force for good for the environment.
Greenpeace believes that human ingenuity and innovation will prevail and that a “better” version of Bitcoin exists in the future that has all the upsides and none of the environmental downsides.
Bitcoiners believe that Bitcoin will never change its code unless an existential risk exists for the network.
Instead of fighting it, join it and improve it from within. Work within the system of existing incentives.
Make the system more sustainable.
There are people on both sides who believe that the other is naively optimistic, misguided, and misinformed.
But here’s what really gets me excited.
The only solution that can win is the best one anyways.
Rather than fighting each other, prove the other wrong.
If BTC miners help to invest in renewables like wind & solar to move the world off a reliance on fossil fuels then the GP campaign will have nothing to run on.
If Bitcoin wants to take down GP USA’s campaign, tweeting won’t make a difference.
But transitioning BTC mining from coal and making initiatives like @vespene_energy, @CryptoClimAcc, @sustainablebtc irresistible and mainstream might.
With the right support, responsible miners might be able to crowd out miners who don’t make the environment a priority.
I’m excited to learn from the Bitcoin community on how we can make this happen and trend Bitcoin towards becoming CO2 negative by the end of the decade.
The #SkullofSatoshi has taken on a life of its own, and is now completely out of my control.
In the real world, GP will use it as a symbol for why Bitcoin needs to change its code.
Online, it’s become a mascot for Bitcoin’s environmental potential - and I LOVE that.
In the meantime, I will continue to learn and focus on becoming a bridge whenever I can.
Right now, I’m trying to figure out what it would take for GP to bring the #SkullofSatoshi to @Thebitcoinconf and engage in a good-faith debate.
At the end of the day, I’m not driven by profit. I’m driven by the desire to make a difference.
So many of you have offered to send me tips, but that would make it seem like I’m just trying to profit from this unexpected fame and status.
If you want to send support, use it to support your version of the best solution to this problem on behalf of the skull and tell me about it!!
Love y’all.
Keep calm, meme on, and long live the #SkullofSatoshi !