Environmental art activist and creator of ‘Skull of Satoshi’, Benjamin Von Wong took to Twitter to promote sustainable art and show optimism about bitcoin mining using green energy. He defended his publication in the face of mounting criticism.
The Canadian artist released the ‘Skull of Satoshi’ artwork on March 23. The release was part of Greenpeace’s ongoing “Change the Code, Not the Climate” campaign.
Wong Says Piece Not ‘Anti-Bitcoin’
Benjamin Von Wong tweeted that his ‘Skull of Satoshi’ artwork was never anti-Bitcoin.
“It was an optimistic expectation that bitcoin could do away with the unnecessary burning of fossil fuels…” Wong expressed optimism about the switch without bitcoin losing its security and decentralization.
Amid the ongoing debate over the negative effects of bitcoin mining, the commissioned artwork attracted the attention of the meme army.
Wong defended his work by claiming that he created the scalpel, believing that bitcoin mining was a straightforward, binary problem. The creator avoided calling it a black-and-white issue. However, he added that the PoWs were ‘comfortably feeling powerless’.
However, Wong acknowledged that “Satoshi’s skull” shows that bitcoin has the potential to be more eco-friendly.
A push for renewable mining
At the time of the artwork’s release, Greenpeace said it was a visual reminder to supporters of bitcoin about its environmental impact. The organization said it will use Satoshi’s skull to urge Bitcoin to change its code and insist that financial institutions uphold their climate commitments.
Wong explained that Greenpeace thinks there will eventually be an “improved” form of bitcoin with all the benefits and none of the environmental drawbacks. In light of this, the artist urged, “Instead of fighting it, join it and rectify it from within. Work within the system of existing incentives. ,
Wong argued this despite the belief of some bitcoiners that the network will only change its code if there is an existential threat to the network. He explained, “The GP campaign will have nothing to run if BTC miners help to move the world away from dependence on fossil fuels by investing in renewable energy such as wind and solar.”
BeInCrypto previously noted, citing research by ARK, that a 4.6x increase in solar capacity could meet more than 99% of customer demand. All this while maintaining the profitability of bitcoin.
On March 27, a clean bitcoin renewable energy offset was effectively mined as a normal NFT. The Carbon Credit Exchange said in a release that the product will be traded as Clean Bitcoin (CBTC).
Last year, Ethereum transitioned from PoW to Proof of Stake (PoS) via The Merge on its mainnet.
disclaimer
BeInCrypto has reached out to the company or the person involved in the story for an official statement regarding the recent development, but has yet to hear back.