EP - 93

Bitcoin and Art: A New Frontier

with

Farokh Sarmad & Danny Yang
Founder @ Rug Radio & OnChainMonkey Co-founder

Apr 07, 2025

On this special episode from the Ledger 106, host Farokh Sarmad (Faroke) is joined by Danny Yang, co-founder of OnChainMonkey (OCM), to discuss the burgeoning world of art on Bitcoin.

The conversation explores the evolution of art on blockchains, the unique properties of Bitcoin for creative expression, and the ongoing growth of the Ordinals and Runes ecosystems.

“Art finds its way everywhere, if it’s meaningful, then art will figure out a way”. – Danny Yang

Key Highlights:

Art on Bitcoin: A New Frontier

The discussion centers on the groundbreaking shift of bringing art onto the Bitcoin blockchain, a concept that was impossible before. While Ethereum is a smart contract chain, Bitcoin is described as a very limited scripting language chain, designed primarily for hard money and security.

Despite these differences, the ability to create art on Bitcoin has emerged, leading to an ecosystem that is very new and still in its early days.

People are wrapping their heads around like should you do art on a chain like Bitcoin or not.

The Ordinals and Runes Ecosystem

The Bitcoin ecosystem 2.0, including Ordinals and Runes, is still in its nascent stages. Even those who have been involved for the past two years are still arguing over what are Ordinals good for.

Runes, while part of the Bitcoin ecosystem, are largely characterized as memecoins, serving as an ultimate speculation tool in crypto.

However, he distinguishes art from pure memecoins.

“There’s more to art than just a pure meme coin which anyone can make. It takes like three seconds just to launch a memecoin.” – Danny Yang

The barrier to entry for creating meaningful art on Bitcoin is much different.

OnChainMonkey’s Role as a Launchpad

OnChainMonkey (OCM), initially an Ethereum project, was among the first people to adopt the ordinal protocol and were influential in that process.

A significant part of their mission is to act as a launch pad and help artists launch on Bitcoin. They are actively trying to lower the currently high barrier to entry for artists on Bitcoin, making it easier for them to create art on Bitcoin and take advantage of its unique properties.

OCM has two collections on Bitcoin: OCM Genesis, the original 10K collection, and Dimensions, a limited 300-supply collection. Their next collection will be OCM Katoshi, described as hand painted reimaginations of original OCM genesis monkeys.

Bitcoin’s Tipping Point and Adoption

The conversation touches on the broader state of Bitcoin, with Farokh noting its significant traction and the easing of laws in the United States, citing Michael Saylor as a key figure and “the face of Bitcoin”.

“By 2025, Bitcoin will reach a tipping point where there’s going to be a lot of adoption of Bitcoin by institutions, by countries and by individuals”. – Danny Yang

The approval of ETFs and states considering Bitcoin as a strategic reserve are seen as indicators that if a big country does that then it’s going to be other countries.

This growing mainstream acceptance is contributing to a snowball effect for Bitcoin’s proliferation.

Watch the episode here:

Future Outlook & Expected Developments

Based on the discussions, the coming period is anticipated to be one of continued growth and innovation for art on Bitcoin and the broader crypto space:

Continued Artist Support: OnChainMonkey will continue its efforts to lower the barrier to entry for artists and help people see artists do great art on Bitcoin.
Increased Bitcoin Adoption: The tipping point for Bitcoin is expected to lead to a lot of adoption by institutions by countries and people in 2025 and beyond. This sentiment aligns with predictions that states will adopt Bitcoin as a strategic reserve, leading to a big supply shock.
Evolution of Art on Bitcoin: As the ecosystem matures, further exploration of generative art using recursion and other techniques on Bitcoin is expected.

Reading List

To learn more about the topics discussed, explore the Ledger Academy and other resources on: