The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has become the sixth host of Valentina Picozzi’s “disappearing” Satoshi Nakamoto statue, marking a striking shift from just a few years ago when crypto was still taboo on Wall Street.
Installation Details
The NYSE, long seen as a bastion of traditional finance, called the installation “shared ground between emerging systems and established institutions” in an X post on Wednesday.
- The statue was installed by the Bitcoin firm Twenty One Capital, which began trading this week.
- The design is the work of artist Valentina Picozzi, who, writing on X under her Satoshigallery handle, said that seeing her latest piece in such a high-profile setting is “mind-blowing”.
- Picozzi added that placing the statue of Satoshi Nakamoto at the NYSE is such an achievement that she would not have considered it possible even in her “wildest dream”.
- The NYSE installation is the 6th of 21 planned statues.
- The installation coincides with the anniversary of the Bitcoin mailing list, which Nakamoto launched on December 10, 2008.
Bitcoin’s Journey to the Mainstream
The statue’s presence reflects Bitcoin’s journey from a thought experiment to a mainstream asset:
- Genesis Block: Satoshi Nakamoto mined the genesis block on January 3, 2009, minting the first 50 Bitcoin in history and planting the seeds for the crypto industry.
- First Purchase: On May 22, 2010, programmer Laszlo Hanyecz made the first documented purchase of goods using Bitcoin, paying 10,000 Bitcoin for two Papa John’s pizzas.
- Historical Challenges: In the intervening years, institutions and banks shunned Bitcoin, and governments allegedly attempted to suppress cryptocurrency through efforts such as Operation Chokepoint 2.0.
- Shifting View: However, the asset has since turned a corner, as skeptics like BlackRock CEO Larry Fink have changed their minds about the technology, and institutions and Wall Street have rushed to invest through vehicles like exchange-traded funds and by holding Bitcoin directly in their treasuries.
- Holdings: Public and private companies, countries, and ETFs now collectively hold more than 3.7 million Bitcoin, worth more than $336 billion.
More Satoshi Statues Incoming
- Picozzi has five other Nakamoto statues around the world, located in Switzerland, El Salvador, Japan, Vietnam, and Miami, Florida.
- Picozzi said she is committed to placing 21 statues around the world, which is a possible reference to the theoretical 21 million Bitcoin maximum supply.
- Picozzi explained that the statue is meant to give the viewer a feeling of disappearance, and the sense that the inventor “exists in the lines of the Bitcoin code, allowing humanity to have the first decentralized payment system”.
