The Fiat Matrix Almost Killed His Art
“When I was a small child, I was drawing and doing stuff… But after I graduated, my parents told me you have to do something serious. So I completely stopped doing art because it had no meaning for me.”
Sound familiar? Like many of us, Bartos was convinced that art was not “real work.” He pushed it aside, became a designer, a photographer, and then a pharma marketer.
Then in 2019 he discovered Bitcoin.
Bitcoin: The Art Renaissance
“Starting discovering Bitcoin, it was like a completely new world opened up… I love art, I love Bitcoin, and it was like a very symbiosis.”
He began experimenting with digital art during COVID. But in 2022 he ditched the tablet for pen and paper. His motto: real money deserves real art.
From Dollar Bills to Bitcoin
Before going all-in on Bitcoin, Bartos played with memes on dollar bills.
“I was like drawing all the memes and I wanted to create the dollars on the dollar bill… and with that I just discovered how beautiful the pen can be.”
That is how his wavy, hypnotic line style was born. Not through a grand plan, but through repetition and necessity.
The Economics of Bitcoin Art
He is blunt:
“I can tell you I can’t live from art only. Switzerland is very expensive… they catch you.”
So he keeps the day job, stacks sats, and draws in every spare moment.
- Original pieces cost thousands
- Prints are affordable
- Buyers are mostly Americans
- Discovery happens through Bitcoin conferences and Twitter
Advice for Bitcoin Artists
Bartos does not sugarcoat it:
- Keep your job
- Stack Bitcoin as much as you can
- Use a sketchbook at work and during breaks
- Do not compare yourself to others
- Let your style evolve naturally
His daily medicine against burnout: running. And chocolate.
What His Art Says
His works are bold statements:
- The Phoenix rising from fiat ashes
- Napoleon imagined as a Bitcoiner
- End the Fed in pure pen-and-ink rage
Each piece is slow, deliberate, and impossible to fake.
What’s Next
He dreams of making a professional documentary about Bitcoin artists. Something that captures the same feeling as The Mystery of Satoshi did for Bitcoin education, but through art.
For now, he stays in Switzerland, waiting for Bitcoin to moon before considering a move to El Salvador, where he says he feels safer than in Paris.
The Bottom Line
Bartos is not chasing hype. He is not quitting his job tomorrow. He is simply doing the work: 200 hours at a time, turning Bitcoin into lines, waves, and stories.
“Bitcoin teaches you… it makes you very humble.”
In a world of quick dopamine and shortcuts, Bartos shows us that proof of work can also be proof of art.
Full episode here
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