Environmental art activist and the creator of the ‘Skull of Satoshi,’ Benjamin Von Wong, took to Twitter to promote sustainable art and show optimism about Bitcoin mining using green energy. He also went on to protect 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 continuing “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 meant to be anti-Bitcoin.
He said, “It was an optimistic hope that Bitcoin could shift away from the needless burning of fossil fuels…” Wong expressed optimism about the switch without Bitcoin losing its safety and decentralization.
Amid the ongoing debate over the negative effects of Bitcoin mining, the commissioned artwork caught the attention of the meme army.
Wong defended his work by claiming that he created the Skull, assuming Bitcoin mining had a straightforward, binary problem. The creator refrained from labeling it a black-and-white issue. However, he stated that PoW ‘felt intuitively wasteful.’
However, Wong acknowledged that “Skull of Satoshi” suggests that Bitcoin has the potential to be more environmentally friendly.
A Push for Renewable Mining
At the time of the artwork release, Greenpeace said it was a visual reminder to Bitcoin’s supporters about its environmental impact. The organization said it would use the Skull of Satoshi to urge Bitcoin to change its code and insist that financial institutions uphold their climate commitments.
Wong pointed out that Greenpeace thinks there will eventually be a ‘better’ 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 improve it from within. Work within the system of existing incentives.”
Wong made the plea despite some Bitcoiners believing that the network will only alter its code if there is an existential threat to the network itself. He explained, “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.”
BeInCrypto previously noted, citing ARK’s research, that increasing solar capacity by 4.6 times could satisfy over 99% of customer demand. All this while keeping Bitcoin’s profitability.
On March 27, a clean Bitcoin renewable energy offset was effectively minted as an Ordinal NFT. The Carbon.Credit exchange said in a release that the product would 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 company or individual involved in the story to get an official statement about the recent developments, but it has yet to hear back.
