French Graffiti Artist Popularizes Bitcoin (BTC) with QR Code Tipping

French Graffiti Artist Popularizes Bitcoin (BTC) with QR Code Tipping

A French street artist, Pascal Boyart, has boosted his fame - and earnings - by including a QR code to a Bitcoin wallet in his most recent artwork. The graffiti, found at the L’Aerosol gallery at Rue de L'évangile 54 in Paris, depicts an ironic rendition of artist Eugene Delacroix, setting a 100 Euro note on fire.

Boyart explained he chose Delacroix, who was depicted on the old 100 Francs bill before the country entered the Eurozone. To add to the anti-fiat rhetoric, Boyart added a QR code to his wallet.

https://twitter.com/CoinhouseHQ/status/1027493333470466048

The artwork of Boyart caused a lively discussion on Reddit, especially as the artwork gathered around 0.11 BTC in tips. The artist, however, received warnings that his painted QR code could be painted over and faked, to divert the tips to another wallet.

Crypto projects to support artists or musicians have surfaced in the past, including the sale of albums for Bitcoin. However, this is a unique case of merging Bitcoin usage as electronic cash to street art. For now, Boyart has admitted most of the tips came from social media displays of his artwork.

Earlier, Boyart took a picture of his stencil, another way to display the public address to his wallet, and perhaps invite donations. The QR code is also photoshopped onto copies of the artwork that spread around social media. Boyart also participates in the Reddit discussion of his artwork.

https://twitter.com/pascalboyart/status/1026943461319172096

Artworks have been offered for a direct BTC payment, through services like Bitcoinart.com. The artworks are not only sold for BTC, but also uniquely registered on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Others base their artwork on blockchain technology, as in the case of “Yellow Lambo”, which was already sold for more than the price of the coveted Lambos:

https://twitter.com/NewArtAcademy/status/1027246066868133888

Other artists use the lively crypto twitter to follow the strategies of blockchain projects, and popularize themselves with giveaways:

https://twitter.com/LynxCollection/status/1026530637644214272

In typical crypto twitter fashion, some even promise rewards if BTC prices hit certain levels by a predetermined deadline. The world of blockchain and Bitcoin payments offers a more flexible way to create economic activity and marketing for artists, and allow anyone to participate in art investments directly.

https://twitter.com/NanuBerks/status/1026590200116469768

Despite the fluctuating price of BTC, which has slid again toward $6,300, exposure and the chance for funding keep supporting a growing community of visual artists riding on the cryptocurrency trend. Artworks are one of the areas where valuable assets are directly exchanged for digital assets, creating a high-end economy, where large amounts of BTC could change hands directly for luxury goods. Similarly, we recently wrote about crypto payments in the real estate sector in California.

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