Cash Out of the Matrix

About the art

This laser‑etched wooden poster marks the very first public gathering of The Los Angeles Bitcoin Mint. It is 546 bits of bitcoin made permanently physical using The Bitcoin Mint’s Minting Standard. Here's how we did it:

1. Unique Visual Pattern

Every natural object has a one‑of‑a‑kind visual signature. Our Minting Standard contains an algorithm we used to translate the poster's unique visual pattern into an equally unique final destination Bitcoin address. Because the algorithm and its parameters are public and immutable, anyone with that same image can reproduce the exact address on their own computer.

2. Inscribe on‑Chain

We then minted 546 bits of bitcoin into this poster by sending them to its mint address. Since the address is derived directly from the poster’s pattern and not a public/private key pair, those coins become inseparable from the physical object.

3. Public Record

That defining transaction is permanently recorded on Bitcoin’s blockchain and cataloged in The Los Angeles Bitcoin Mint’s open Ordinals collection. You can confirm it yourself by clicking the address link above or pasting it into any blockchain explorer.

By combining physical uniqueness with public, verifiable blockchain records, this piece transforms a simple wooden poster into a living, tactile fragment of bitcoin history.

How to Authenticate

Use the “Natural Standard”

The original image file used to generate the poster’s address is called the Natural Standard.

Re‑run the Algorithm

Locally: Download our Minting Standard software from the Bitcoin blockchain file and feed it the same image—if you get the identical address, it proves the link between wood and bitcoin.

Online: Upload the Natural Standard image to our verification tool on this site. If it outputs the same Bitcoin address, you know those bits of Bitcoin can never be anything other than this exact poster.

BITCOIN MINT ADDRESS: 1BtcMinteef7ed187d51eadfaa7XWESedj

NATURAL STANDARD: Image File

MINTING STANDARD: Blockchain File

Verification Tool

Collection Information

COLLECTION: The Los Angeles Bitcoin Mint

The Los Angeles Bitcoin Mint is an open, on-chain archive of art and writing created at our live meetups. Each event—called a “Satoshi Event”—is recorded under a unique satoshi (bit of bitcoin) on the blockchain. The transactions of bitcoin minted into physical works at an event include a text receipt that catalogs the transaction under that bit of bitcoin. This text file does not include an image of the work. Instead, it signals that the work in question must be seen in person to be fully appreciated. At the same time, any literature shared at the gathering is published as a downloadable print file and inscribed on-chain for anyone to access. Together, these live-action mints and accompanying zines form a vivid, permanent ledger of the community’s creative experiments in making bitcoin tangible. You can view this archive directly on chain through the links below:

SATOSHI EVENT: 1984312533731716

PHYSICAL BITCOIN RECEIPT: SAT 1984312545123276

ZINE ISSUE 01: SAT 1984312545123276

About the Artist

John B Mint is the pseudonymous founding member of The Bitcoin Mint. He is a crypto journalist who discovered the physical potentiality inherent in the cryptographic rules that govern bitcoin, and developed the minting standard that translates physical objects into final destination bitcoin addresses. You can read more about his discovery and work at his Nostr profile and purchase more art through The Bitcoin Mint ETSY shop.