The Role of International Art Scene in BitCoin Popularization

When it comes to using BTC as money, the process of word-of-mouth information sharing produced the best results. With it, the path from being an unknown Internet phenomenon to becoming a global financial power player has not been easy or short for BitCoin, but it was spearheaded by users who were passionate about it.

The same people shared what they perceived as its benefits to friends who then gradually started to become more and more interested. BitCoin, as a P2P network, demands and thrives on the notion of connectivity. Now, the same conversation is gradually going viral and becoming a global thing. But, there is a group of users that was always interested in it and these are the artistically minded individuals.

These range from less known figures and small collectives but also include venture capitalists from the hip hop domain like 50 Cent and Nas. Naturally, this trend is not surprising. Thanks to their ability to think outside of the box, artists were always drawn to emerging concepts and ideas. Here, thinking differently today can very well mean a heavy profit tomorrow.

BitCoin, which is by default a forward-thinking concept, made a lot of sense to many artists long before the wider public even heard about it. Naturally, there is a strong interplay of financial incentives and the need to stay ahead of the pack here. From one perspective, artists crave to reach and cross new frontiers, but from the other vantage point, services like Etsy often come with large transaction fees when used with traditional currencies.

An option that allows them to sell their art where the transaction fees are minimal or even completely missing is a strong incentive. For a very similar reason, the option of betting online using BitCoin also became exceedingly popular.

But, are the artists who are heavily engaged in BitCoin also willing to transform a part of their passion into activism or become figures that will popularize the digital currency? So far, it seems that this process is not translating into a user growth.

The Need to Connect

Poesy Liang, Lindsey Nobel, and Karen Zahray are three different artists, but all of them got interested in BitCoin thanks to their friend and positive facts that they learned from them. From a geographical standpoint, these are located in vastly different locations: two reside in the US (LA and NYC) while the third is based Malaysia. But, all three believe that there is a bright future in cryptocurrency.

Lindsey Nobel heard about BitCoin when she visited an art collector she was acquainted with. For her, both technology and art play an important role in her creations and offer the ability to stay connected to the world. Nobel stated that she perceived the world as a singular entity which moved in unison, even though there are borders and other physical divisions between people. This made BitCoin something that proved to be fascinating, especially how the idea of moving funds easily and with no transaction fees allowed people to get connected.

Liang is active in several different art disciplines, including fashion design, jewelry, and writing, but for her, the personal connection was also important when it comes to the way she discovered BitCoin. At that time, according to her, she was connected and surrounded by many developers and startup founders. When people talked about BTC and the network, she believes that she simply paid attention.

Now, Liang’s art is available for purchase using BTC and the way she blends modern ideas with traditional Chinese disciplines like calligraphy makes it attractive to a huge audience. She sees her art as elements that work their way to create a big unified picture, which is also in line with the BitCoin concept.

Getting the Big Picture

To Zahray, it was the mystery of the BitCoin that caught her attention, but also the chance to revert a part of her life to a domain of higher standards of privacy. She examined that the intriguing elements of the digital currency made her interest spark up, but it was its relevance to her everyday life that kept her interested.

In a world where everything happens online with a lot of wanted and unwanted transparency, the offer of a completely anonymous BitCoin network provided an interesting release valve for this type of pressure. At the same time, Karen Zahray remains very aware that her job demands publicity and the ability to engage people using social media. But, in spite of this BitCoin offers a small but important refuge from the regular ebb and flow of personal information delivery.

Here, the idea of the big picture is seen as a dominant force, where an entity like BitCoin willingly decided to include things that no one asked for directly, like the anonymity factor. As the modern world develops, it becomes apparent that this is more than necessary and not just a perk, but the key reasons why so many use it, from huge businesses to E-Sports contestant and ordinary people.

Today, people are only beginning to recognize this trait of BitCoin, but it seems that artists all over the world figured it out sometime before the rest of the public.

The Pull of the New and Unknown

All three artists provide an interesting tapestry of reasons for using BitCoin that is both cognitive and emotional. But, as always, the issue of user acquisition remains the essential choking point for the digital currency, even on this miniature sample. From the three artists, two are using BitCoin while the third has a digital wallet set up but still is not employing BTC.

Here, in this small but poignant example, the notion of BitCoin power is seen, but also, the apprehension people have about employing it, even those who have an exceedingly positive opinion about it. As it develops, the role of artists will be exceedingly important, especially when it comes to planetary household names, but also small independent creators.

The first one will lead the process of raising public awareness about the BitCoin benefits. The other group might not have the same promotional reach or capacity but will play a crucial role when it comes to bringing more artists abroad the BitCoin concept.

Like always, humanity is keen to see its most creative members as trailblazers, even if it does not always agree with them. In the case of BitCoin adoption, their role could be even more important than any startup or developer application that operates in the digital currency.

Source: CoinDesk