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Commenting on the high cost of bitcoin, artist Peter Weiler placed an oversized bill worth $ 18,894,650,000 around the statue’s neck. Despite his enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies, Weiler said he felt it necessary to raise public awareness of how much energy Bitcoin mining consumes.
“So much wealth has been created by cryptocurrencies and we have to see at what cost,” Weiler said in a post on Facebook.
He added that change is necessary and will soon come with energy-efficient and cost-effective solutions. It is because of these environmental concerns that he advocated using Tezos for NFT mining.
Reflecting on the rising electricity prices that come with winter, Weiler said he would donate proceeds from NFT to a homeless shelter in Budapest.
“I thought my guerrilla action at the Satoshi sculpture in Budapest could be useful, too,” Weiler said.
Statue of Satoshi
In September, the world’s first statue of bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto was unveiled at Graphisoft Park in Budapest, Hungary. It is symbolic that the face of the statue has a reflective surface, so viewers can see themselves in the role of Nakamoto.
BeInCrypto spoke with the creator of the statue, András Györfi, after the statue’s opening was announced in the summer. Györfi said that he created the statue inspired by the significance of blockchain technology and the artistic qualities of NFT. He added that his ambition is for the statue to become famous all over the world.
It was this perspective that prompted Györfy with regard to the social commentary presented in his work.
“I’m glad that the statue has a life of its own, that people think of it when they think of Satoshi, but trolling someone’s work is not good,” he said. “But Bitcoin does have a power issue and the mining community needs to figure it out.”
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