No bulls? Bitcoin named ‘apex predator of money’ with shark statue

New York’s charging bulls have been a sharp corner near Wall Street for decades, but nationwide Bitcoin Last week, it got its own mascot, sporting hundreds of razor-sharp teeth.

At Bitcoin Alpha’s “Unconference” in Santa Monica, California, entrepreneurs unveiled an art piece that recognizes the spirit of Bitcoin, featuring a great white shark suspended inside a glass box.

The sculpture glowed under orange lights throughout the two-day gathering and served as a backdrop for dozens of private discussions. According to a museum-style placard, the “apex predator of money” is named “Bitcoinius Maximus.”

Bitcoin Alpha organizers plan to make Bitcoinus the centerpiece of a pop-up installation called “Living with Bitcoin,” Ben Sigman said. decryption. Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, with its many vacant storefronts, would be a natural location, he added.

Sharks are one of the oldest species on Earth, and their multimillion-year track record reflects the potential for Bitcoin to outlast assets such as cash and gold, Sigman said. Additionally, some sharks need to constantly swim to breathe, which mirrors Bitcoin’s 24/7 uptime.

“They are ruthless, calculating and patient predators,” Sigman added.

Throughout Bitcoin’s history, fans of the asset have sought analogies to the natural world. For example, 2013 saw the emergence of crypto entrepreneur Roger Ver, known as “Bitcoin Jesus.”contributed to the spread of Ratel appears as Bitcoin’s spirit animal on a billboard in Santa Clara, California.

Sigman said about himself and Fred Krueger, a Ph.D. He has a PhD in mathematics, is a former prop trader, is interested in Bitcoin ETFs, and is proposing the shark as a symbol for Bitcoin rather than declaring it as one. “That’s not how Bitcoin works,” Sigman explained.

Originally, Sigman and Krueger were interested in carving a shark’s dorsal fin, inspired by the cover of their latest book, Bitcoin One Million. But the last piece is more similar to Damien Hirst’s “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of the Living.” The artwork depicts an actual tiger shark suspended in a formaldehyde solution.

Great white sharks can weigh more than 5,000 pounds, but Bitcoinius weighs a tenth of that, including his 9-foot-by-4-foot shark enclosure. Sigman said the process from concept to showcase took less than a few months.

Earlier this year, some Bitcoiners welcomed The discovery of an orange nurse shark off the coast of Costa Rica was an “auspicious sign”. Scientists said the shark suffered from several incredibly rare skin diseases. national geographic.

In 2022, a £3,000 bronze statue was unveiled at the Bitcoin Conference in Miami. Modeled after New York’s Charging Bull, the statue leans toward a cyberpunk aesthetic while featuring laser eyes. At the time, it symbolized the region’s growing influence as a financial and technology center.

Sigman said compared to land animals, sharks are a fitting symbol for Bitcoin because the asset has the potential to engulf more than traditional finance.

“Cryptocurrency is much bigger than Wall Street,” he says. “It’s really the ocean.”