Why Oh Why

Sometime in the first few days of 2021, I read an article summarizing the surprisingly strong development during the previous year of several financial assets, including Bitcoin. And this right next to a story that detailed how some artists were coping in innovative ways with the limitations imposed on them by the still ongoing pandemic situation. Thus, the idea was born to create a tribute to resilience.

Originally, my analysis and visualization of Bitcoin prices wasn't intended to become more than a little thought and drawing exercise on my part. However, with the wildly fluctuating prices that Bitcoin has encountered since and the proof not yet delivered that the resilience of this asset is sustainable, I've decided to publish this study as an NFT, as a symbol of hope.

A Python to the Rescue

There's not much to say here, just that I had planned for quite some time to explore Python's suitability for generating computer art. Although in particular the generation of animated GIFs in Python came with some quite steep learning cuve, in the end everything worked out. Daily price and trade volume data go in, are crunched and somewhat processed for artistic effect, and out comes the rendered GIF.

Commercial Arrangements

No. It's not for sale. So far. Sorry. Never say never, but for the moment that's it. But look at the bright side: it's free to look at and enjoy for everyone. Just try not to get hypnotized by the steady beat of an alive and kicking Bitcoin's heart…