In an increasingly digital world, digital communities become more important than geographic ones, and they spread their culture more rapidly than any other has in history. Crypto communities, built with a digital-first mindset, are seeing the same success: People with a shared financial interest and a passion for seeing a change happen in the world are disseminating their ideas, values, and cultural norms in real time. And through NFTs, crypto communities have created not only a unique distribution method, but a preferred place to store their cultural artefacts. 

I’m energized every day by the new creative work I see coming from the Bitcoin NFT community, and I’m eager to share what I have learned from them in this post, as well as share some of my favorites. 

The Bitcoin NFT Renaissance 

Bitcoin is the largest crypto community connected through a shared purpose of bringing sound money to the world. Even though NFTs originated on Bitcoin (e.g., Rare Pepe), the Bitcoin community has been disconnected from modern NFT platforms and activity.

Modern Bitcoin NFTs are taking off through Stacks, which enables smart contracts for Bitcoin. In the past few weeks, artists and communities who love Bitcoin have started representing various stories and symbols of Bitcoin culture as NFTs. This movement is organic, like culture itself. We’re seeing major waves spread through the Bitcoin community as a result; even Satoshibles are moving to Bitcoin via Stacks now. 

I’ve noticed several aspects of Bitcoin culture getting represented as Bitcoin NFTs. Below are some examples, including everything from commemoration to speculation. (Side note: While I admire these pieces, I do not own any of the following.)

Bitcoin Pizza

The Bitcoin community celebrates Bitcoin Pizza Day on May 22 to commemorate the first use of Bitcoin in a commercial transaction. Over a decade ago, a developer named Laszlo Hanyecz spent 10,000 BTC in 2010 (worth $600M today) to buy two pizzas from Papa John’s. The Bitcoin NFT series Bitcoin Pizzas memorializes this.

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Crash Punks

In 1992, Snow Crash predicted digital currencies like Bitcoin and has become an essential read in the community, which explains why many eagerly await the release of Crash Punks, which will be minting November 14.

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The Bitcoin Citadel

The Bitcoin Citadel is an infamous dystopian post on Reddit (2013) that paints a picture of Bitcoin’s future from the perspective of a time traveler. The community has created Bitcoin Citadels as NFTs.

Phases of Satoshi

No one knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is nor their gender. In place of one visual representation of Satoshi, the community has algorithmically created faces in NFT form using elements from different cultures and genders.

Beyond Owning to Creating Digital Cultural Artefacts

The above Bitcoin NFTs are just a few examples of the shifts in our cultural recordings. Aspects of Bitcoin culture such as honey badgers and bulls are also getting expressed as Bitcoin NFTs. These NFTs are minted at Bitcoin blocks; their ownership and transfers are defined by hashes on Bitcoin, through Stacks contracts.

There is something beautiful about owning a little piece of Bitcoin culture. NFTs make my connection to this community stronger and our shared stories and symbols more meaningful.

Beyond curation is creation, however. And Hiro has made it easy to create your own NFT project in 6 steps with our NFT tutorial.  

We’re eager to see what you dream up. Need more help? Join us on Discord and head to the #dev-general channel with your questions.