The Bitcoin art movement is still young, yet every week it grows a little richer. This week we bring you a series of works by Blu3baer, along with his words to accompany them.
THIS WEEK’S FEATURE
Bitcoin Changes the Way You See the World by Blu3baer
One of the things I like about Bitcoin is how it changes the way you look at things. It inspired me to revisit old passions, and that meant getting back into painting more, and connecting it with something else I loved growing up: movies.
This year I finished three paintings, all connected to movies that were a big part of my childhood: The Matrix, Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. Watching these movies again with a different perspective was surprisingly interesting. Scenes I barely noticed as a kid suddenly seemed to have a different, often deeper, meaning.
Bitcoin has its own language of memes and references. Simple images can be used to transport meaning, and at the same time create that feeling of shared understanding between people who know the reference
These three paintings are my attempt to connect those worlds.
Real Money
Real Money, Acrylic on canvas, 40 × 50 cm
“Government credits? Government credits are no good out here. I need something more real.”
A collector and friend of mine, Tom, brought this idea to me at Bitcoin Las Vegas 2025. He showed me the scene, and I immediately liked the idea for a painting. It is from Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, where Watto refuses to accept the government currency offered to him. As a trader and merchant, he wants something he considers real and valuable instead.
When I first watched the movie as a kid, I barely paid attention to this part. Rewatching it years later, through a Bitcoin lens, made the scene feel different. Scenes like this exist in many movies and stories, and sometimes you only start noticing them once you have a different perspective on money and life.
As part of the painting process I also edited the original movie scene myself and used an AI voice to change the dialogue and adapt it to Bitcoin. Click here to see my adaptation.
Work in progress
Truly Be Free
Truly Be Free, Acrylic on canvas, 40 × 50 cm
“They will never be as sovereign or as free as you can be.”
This next one is based on the famous scene from The Matrix, with the woman in the red dress. In 2022 Guy Swann made a great Bitcoin video meme, adapting the original scene, called Exit Fiat, Enter Bitcoin – A Matrix Meme
The original image meme (the still frame from The Matrix with the Bitcoin text) appeared on r/Bitcoin around March 2014
I loved the idea and wanted to take the meme to canvas, while changing a few things. Instead of Neo, there is Anon. The gun was replaced by a surveillance camera.
I painted this at the same time as Real Money, and I wanted the two paintings to work together visually as well. Both are head-and-shoulder portraits, and when placed next to each other they look toward the center, almost directly at the viewer.
They also use complementary color schemes. Truly Be Free has a warm character against a cold background, while Real Money does the opposite, with a cold character against a warm background.
Work in progress
Magic Internet Money
Magic Internet Money, Acrylic on canvas, 30 × 40 cm
This painting is part of the Midwest Bitcoin Summit , September 23-24.
I have always loved The Lord of the Rings. For me, it is one of the great movie trilogies, especially because so much of the power of those films came from practical work, sets and craftsmanship rather than relying heavily on CGI. Real Proof of Work! So, connecting it with Bitcoin was a lot of fun.
The starting point was the old “Magic Internet Money” meme, one of the earliest Bitcoin memes associated with the r/bitcoin community. The original was basically a Microsoft Paint drawing of a wizard holding a Bitcoin staff in one hand and fire in the other.
I wanted to revisit that image, but paint it in a more classical style. Naturally, Gandalf became the wizard.
There are some details that are more obvious than others. The Bitcoin B sits hidden at the top of the wooden staff, while the fire in his other hand is actually outside the frame of the painting, only showing itself through the warm light it casts across the scene.
That was something I enjoyed with this piece: making the Bitcoin reference a little less obvious. Someone who knows the meme will recognize it, while someone who doesn't can simply see Gandalf with a staff.
For me, that is part of the fun of combining Bitcoin, movies and painting. You can take something familiar, look at it again from a completely different angle, and discover that it means something new.
Work in progress
Thank you for being on this journey with us.
Onward,
Asanoha
SUBSCRIBE TO THE BITCOIN ART MAGAZINE NEWSLETTER