3 min read
The Bitcoin Awareness Game is an initiative that encourages people to share Bitcoin stickers, signs and its logo around the world, a move designed to spread awareness of the cryptocurrency on a global level.
The crypto space has poured a lot of effort into mainstreaming digital assets. Attempts range from accepting international standards on money laundering, to offering Ethereum NFTs based on Hollywood blockbusters. Now, Bitcoiners have their own intuitive strategy to spread the word of crypto’s marquee asset: street art.
“We receive pictures from all over the world from Bitcoiners who want to earn some satoshis for spreading the word about Bitcoin,” pretyflaco, the pseudonymous organizer of the Bitcoin Awareness Game, told Decrypt.
A Bitcoin Awareness Game sticker in Basel, Switzerland. Image: @btcstreetart
According to the organizer, the Bitcoin Awareness Game also takes Bitcoin’s relationship with art to another level. “Other Bitcoin artists have joined the Bitcoin Awareness Game with their designs that before were confined either to the internet, or sold to private collectors,” adding that “public places are the best place for art—where everyone can see it.”
The aim of the Bitcoin Awareness Game is simple. To buy or print the group’s stickers and spread them across public places around the world in order to help grow Bitcoin’s global presence.
But it’s not a thankless task; participants are awarded for their efforts. According to pretyflaco, more than 1.5 million satoshis—the smallest unit of Bitcoin—have been awarded to participants from Germany, the US, Romania, and New Zealand to name a few. Contributors can receive these satoshi rewards either through microlancer.io, or BTCStreetArt’s Telegram channel.
One of the goals of the community is to promote Bitcoin’s reputation. “Many people haven’t heard of Bitcoin. What’s worse, those who heard of Bitcoin enter one of the many misconceptions: Bitcoin is dead, it’s a money tool for criminals, it will never work, the list goes on,” the organizer said.
One of the Bitcoin Awareness Game's stickers in Kuala Lumper. Image: @btcstreetart
To encourage a better image for the famed crypto asset, some participants have even come up with their own iterations of Bitcoin art, sending their creations to the BTCStreetArt Twitter account where the pictures are shared publicly.
At the very least, the Bitcoin Awareness Game is designed to get people who aren’t in the crypto community engaged with the asset. “If 5 of 100 actually start thinking about what they are reading on that sticker, that’s a great result,” pretyflaco added.
However, sometimes these efforts generate some unexpected reactions.
The Bitcoin Awareness Game has proven popular around the world, but not all those outside the crypto community appreciate the initiative.
According to pretyflaco, there have been accusations of vandalism on Twitter. This, in turn, can be dependent on culture, rather than an opposition to Bitcoin itself. “South America has a very vibrant street art culture, so does Germany and other parts of Europe. In Japan on the other hand, street art is frowned upon and submissions have been very few,” the anonymous Twitter admin of BTCStreetArt told Decrypt.
And yet they remain gently optimistic. The organizer added, “We do not think about the pushback really. We are moving forward. We are claiming the only free space left in societies, the space of art.”
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