This $28K Pixelated Avocado Could Add to Bitcoin’s Raging Censorship Debate

There’s
a

debate
raging
among
Bitcoin
users
and
developers
over
whether
to
filter
out
transactions
in
NFT-like
“inscriptions”
minted
using
the
Ordinals
project,
since
they’re
not
a
core
financial
use
in
keeping
with
many
advocates’
vision
for
the
original
blockchain.

But
over
at
the
auction
house
Sotheby’s,
some
of
the
images
are
considered
high
art:
In
an
online
auction
that
started
this
week,
two
low-resolution
cartoon
characters
and
a
pixelated
avocado
are
already
fetching
bids
in
the
10s
of
thousands
of
dollars
each.

The
three
digital
images
come
from
the

BitcoinShrooms
collection
of
Ordinals
inscriptions,
by
the
pseudonymous
artist

Shroomtoshi,
according
to
the
Sotheby’s

website.

Nary
a
trace
of
irony
permeates
the
auction’s
promotional
materials,
penned
in
a
florid
style
of
prose
that
could
just
as
easily
apply
to
a
Renaissance
masterwork.

“Elegantly
weaving
the
nuanced
tapestry
of
Bitcoin’s
history,
culture
and
core
technicalities,
each
unique,
pixelated,
and
hand-crafted
piece
forms
part
of
a
masterful,
yet
playful
guide
to
the
revolutionary
realm,”
the
Sotheby’s
description
reads.
“Shroomtoshi
created
a
standalone
digital
art
collection
that
captures
the
cryptocurrency
zeitgeist
through
nostalgic
and
hyper-referential
modes.”

The
lowbrow-turned-highbrow
project
could
reinforce
just
how
valuable
these
NFTs-on-Bitcoin
might
be,
at
a
time
when
some
longtime
developers
of
the
original
blockchain
are
taking
steps
to
restrict
transactions
involving
them.

Over
the
past
week,
controversy
emerged
on
social
media
after
Ocean,
a

mining
pool
backed
by
Block
Inc.
head
Jack
Dorsey,
who
is
the
former
CEO
of
Twitter
(now
X),
implemented
a
node
software
that
can
filter
out
many
of
the
transactions
involving
Ordinals.

Luke
Dashjr,
a
developer
guiding
the
project,
pushed
back
against
claims
that
the
effort
amounts
to
censorship,
arguing
that
he’s
merely
aiming
to
curb
“spam”
on
the
blockchain.
He
added
that
in
his
opinion,
there’s
a
“vulnerability”
in
the
dominant
Bitcoin
Core
software,
since
it
fails
to
filter
out
these
transactions.

Other
Bitcoin
users
say
the
blockchain
should
be

open
to
uses
beyond
financial
applications.

A
fresh
round
of
acrimony
exploded
Wednesday
and
Thursday
on
X
after
the
Bitcoin
wallet

Samourai

posted
that
Ocean
was
also
censoring
its
“Whirlpool
transactions,”
or
those
that
are
run
through
a
“coin
mixer”
designed
to
enhance
privacy
by
making
the
cryptocurrency
hard
to
track.

Dashjr
responded
that
“this
is
a
bug
in
your
software,
not
an
intentional
policy
on
our
end.”

Whatever
the
case,
a
digital
image
called
“Sovereign
Individual”
–
technically
“Inscription
716”
inscribed
onto
SAT
number
628391241467003
–
had
already
garnered
27
bids
in
the
Sotheby’s
auction
that
runs
through
Dec.
13.
The
current
bid
is
$50,000,
according
to
the
auction
house’s
website,
well
above
the
original
estimate
of
$20,000-$30,000.

The
digital
avocado,
known
as
“BIP39
SEED,”
has
drawn
bids
up
to
$28,000,
and
a
third
image
is
already
at
$42,000.

Screengrab
from
Sotheby’s
website.
(Shroomtoshi/Sotheby’s)

In
a

statement
on
the
Sotheby’s
site,
the
artist
describes
the
collection
as
a
“pixelated
recap
of
the
first
13
years
of
Bitcoin,
a
homage
to
the
8-bit
style
of
art
that
expresses
a
slight
nostalgia
for
the
90s,
a
way
to
soil
10s
of
thousands
of
SSDs
spread
across
the
world
with
my
art
(->next
level
cyber-vandalism),
a
tool
to
raise
awareness
about
Bitcoin
and
what
I
personally
view
as
its
core
principles,
an
ironic
way
to
vent
at
what
I
see
as
its
annoying
pop
elements
and
aberrations.”

The
auction
site
goes
on
to
tout
the
Bitcoin
network’s
“underlying
decentralized
infrastructure.”

“All
assets
transferable
through
the
Bitcoin
blockchain
are
open,
neutral,
censorship
resistant,
and
globally
accessible
for
anyone
to
access
and
interact
with,”
the
website

reads.