The latest salvo by environmental group Greenpeace against Bitcoin (BTC) has seen a commission for a piece of art meant to highlight its climate impact. Instead, the artwork has been widely praised by Bitcoiners, who want to adopt it as their mascot.
On March 23, the climate activism group associated with art activist Benjamin Von Wong for his ongoing “change the code, not the weather” campaign that seeks to turn Bitcoin’s consensus mechanism into a proof-of-stake (PoS) model.
Greenpeace unveiled its artwork dubbed “Satoshi’s Skull,” a 3.3-meter (11-foot) tall skull with the Bitcoin logo and red laser eyes, a popular meme embraced by Bitcoin supporters.
Some climate activists think #Bitcoin it’s just fake internet money that they can safely ignore.
The truth? Bitcoin is causing dangerous amounts of pollution in the real world due to its voracious consumption of fossil fuels, all due to its outdated code.
The solution? #ChangeTheCode pic.twitter.com/7wa7BMCzV5
— Greenpeace USA (@greenpeaceusa) March 23, 2023
The “smoking stacks” sit atop the skull, which is made of recycled electronic waste, supposedly to represent the “coal and fossil fuel pollution” caused by Bitcoin mining and the “millions of computers” used to validate Bitcoin transactions. network.
Greenpeace’s marketing efforts took an unexpected turn as Bitcoin supporters expressed admiration for the artwork, with some already adopting it as a quasi-mascot.
NEW: #Bitcoin it is causing HUGE amounts of pollution and has become a major obstacle in our fight to phase out fossil fuels. So we partner with @thevonwong to create this giant with laser eyes to help us raise awareness and bring about change.
WATCH AND SHARE: pic.twitter.com/Av0IORyV5b
— Greenpeace USA (@greenpeaceusa) March 23, 2023
Will Foxley, the director of media strategy at crypto miner Compass Mining, called the artwork “badass” and changed his Twitter profile picture to an image of Satoshi’s Skull.
so rude honestly pic.twitter.com/z68XVws6by
— Will Foxley (@wsfoxley) March 24, 2023
Nic Carter, co-founder of Coin Metrics tweeted on March 24 that the art is the “most metallic bitcoin artwork to date.”
Related: Eager to Work: Bitcoin’s Switch to Proof of Stake Remains Unlikely
Meanwhile, others tore apart the images Greenpeace chose, with one Twitter user saying the chimneys in the skull’s head resembled nuclear cooling towers, emitting steam.
Are they demonizing nuclear power now? Those are nuclear cooling towers that emit water vapor. pic.twitter.com/pJdhFgoeOC
— magic internet money (@notgrubles) March 23, 2023
Greenpeace’s campaign was launched about a year ago along with other climate groups and Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen.
His goal is to put pressure on key Bitcoin developers, miners, and governments and claims that 30 “key” entities could take Bitcoin out of proof-of-work if they agreed to the change.
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