In an ode to decentralization and those heroes who, with their knowledge and contributions, allowed the conception of the Bitcoin protocol more than 16 years ago, the Blockchain, Trading & Crypto (BT&C) Academy of the Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB) in Venezuela, inaugurated an artistic mural dedicated to the precursors of the digital currency.
The work, unveiled this Monday, March 9 and strategically located in front of the academy, in the fiftieth anniversary building of the UCAB in Caracas, seeks to rescue the history of the movement cypherpunk.
He also wants encourage awareness about the origin of Bitcoin technology within the Venezuelan university ecosystem.
The mural, which was made with vinyl and occupies a space of 4 x 2.30 meters, shows prominent figures of culture cypherpunk and cryptographic. Notable among them are Hal Finney, Eric Hughes, Ralph Merkel, Cynthia Dwork, Adam Back and Len Sassaman.
The piece was created by the institution’s team. All under the premise of consolidating UCAB as an educational and cultural reference in the area of Bitcoin and digital assets.
By placing the piece in an area with high student traffic, the academy is committed to art as a pedagogical tool to transmit the values of decentralization to new generations.
Recognition of the “founding fathers” of Bitcoin
Aníbal Garrido, director of the BT&C Academy, explained to NoticiasVE during the presentation that the mural is an exercise in historical recognition.
«It is about honoring, recognizing and thanking the founding fathers (of Bitcoin); to those people who, through science, technology and knowledge, sowed those foundational seeds,» said Garrido.
The specialist emphasized that the creation of Satoshi Nakamoto was not an isolated event, but the culmination of decades of collaborative work.
Through images, the mural highlights milestones such as the work of Alan Turing, the British man who deciphered German naval codes and contributed to the end of World War II. Your contribution laid the theoretical foundations that allow the existence of decentralized systems like Bitcoin, offering solutions outside of traditional systems.
«Satoshi does not get to this alone, it was impossible for him to get there alone. It is the conjunction of all this; «It is the fact that you, from your trench, give your contribution,» said Garrido.
He added that, in today’s world, Bitcoin technology will contribute to a better place.
[Alan] Turing stopped a war by precisely cracking a mathematical challenge, breaking an impossible task for the time. And Satoshi, with everything he told us, what’s going to stop him? I think in the end what Satoshi is trying to convey to the world is that there is a path different from the traditional paths.
Aníbal Garrido
Honor those who «thought outside the box»
The rector of UCAB, Arturo Peraza, highlighted that the narrative behind the mural is based on two essential values: freedom and the ability to think outside the conventional.
For the university authority, distributed technology represents the possibility of interacting with others without the need for centralized controls. A scenario that seemed impossible decades ago.
Peraza stressed that the role of the university in Venezuela is precisely to generate these creative alternatives.
In his vision, the mural invites students to imagine the future of the next 50 yearsespecially in the face of the emergence of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, always maintaining the focus on the well-being of the masses and the defense of privacy.
The story behind this mural tells us about two fundamental values: the value of freedom. I would not see that value of freedom so much as something that one possesses, but rather as how much, effectively, one has the ability to interact with others without the need for someone to control you. I think the other element to highlight are the people who dared to think outside the box, they dared to draw another scenario, which is the one we are experiencing today.
Arturo Peraza
With this initiative, the Venezuelan university not only strengthens its academic proposal around the study of Bitcoin technology, but also integrates the history of decentralization into the urban landscape of the campus. The South American country adds a new space for reflection on technological sovereignty and the principles of freedom that gave life to the Bitcoin protocol.