In March 2021, Greenpeace partnered with art activist Benjamin Von Wong for its “change the code, not the climate” campaign to convert Bitcoin’s consensus mechanism to a proof-of-stake (PoS) model. The campaign aims to pressure Bitcoin developers, miners, and the government to move Bitcoin from proof-of-work to PoS to reduce the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining.
As part of the campaign, Greenpeace commissioned an art piece called the “Skull of Satoshi,” an 11-feet-tall skull made of recycled electronic waste featuring the Bitcoin logo and red laser eyes. The smoking stacks on top of the skull represent the fossil fuel and coal pollution caused by Bitcoin mining.
Unexpectedly, the art piece was widely praised by Bitcoin supporters, with some even adopting it as a quasi-mascot. Will Foxley, the media strategy director at crypto miner Compass Mining, called the art piece “badass” and changed his Twitter profile picture to an…
