BUILDING IN PUBLIC.

Dear subscribers,

A quieter week on the news front, so we're using this issue to step back and take stock. Here is the work in motion at Bitcoin for the Arts right now — the projects we're building, the asks where your help moves the needle, and a few questions we'd genuinely love to hear your answers to before next week.

Our mission has not changed. We pay working artists directly in Bitcoin. We educate artists about the sovereign tools that let them do real work on a Bitcoin standard. And we are building the funding rails the arts have needed for a generation — transparently, in public, on sound money.

◆ Share Your Bitcoin Journey

We want to hear your story.

Seven episodes are in the can — Royal Ballet soloists, troubadours from the Isle of Man, designers from Sydney to South London, holistic-health builders, painters, makers — every one of them a working artist with a real Bitcoin journey behind it.

We are still actively looking for the next round of guests. Painters, composers, dancers, photographers, sculptors, designers, poets, filmmakers, makers — the more textures of working life we can capture on this show, the richer the body of work becomes for every artist who comes after. If your story belongs in this series, or you know someone whose does, raise a hand.

Share Your Story →

◆ Education

Bitcoin as a working tool.

Our mission is not only to fund working artists with Bitcoin grants. It is to teach artists how to live and work on a Bitcoin standard — self-custody, Lightning, Nostr, value-for-value, and the everyday sovereign tools that let creative work happen outside the slow erosion of fiat.

Workshops and webinars are central to that work. We are building out the next round of educational programming now, and we want to know what artists actually need to learn — the real friction points, not the obvious ones. Tell us below.

See the Education Program →

◆ Midwest Summit · September 23–24

Generations is coming together.

We are still building out the details for Generations in Columbus — our co-curated cultural room inside the Midwest Bitcoin Summit. Sponsorship outreach is active. We are building long-term relationships with the Bitcoin-native projects, boards, and organizations whose work runs parallel to ours. And we are introducing BFTA to arts organizations and institutions that have not yet thought of Bitcoin as a funding tool for the arts they care about.

Two specific asks today:

Sponsors. Tiers run from $500 to $25,000, with named tiers, in-kind opportunities, and full tax-deductibility. Fundraising target: $80,000+.
Volunteers in the Midwest. If you live in or near Columbus, or know someone who does and would be a good fit on the ground that weekend, we want to hear from you.

Sponsor or Volunteer →

◆ The Artist Directory

A global community of working artists.

We are building the Artist Directory because the arts world needs a discoverable, public roster of working artists who have stepped onto Bitcoin rails. Painters, sculptors, musicians, filmmakers, choreographers, designers, makers, writers — anyone working on a Bitcoin standard, in any medium, anywhere in the world.

If you are an artist on Bitcoin, list yourself. If you support artists, browse it and find someone whose work moves you. The directory grows when the community does — and the community grows when we share it.

Browse the Directory →

Tell us where you are

We'd love your answers.

We don't want this to be a one-way newsletter. Hit reply on this email and tell us — even a few sentences is enough:

How far down the Bitcoin rabbit hole are you? First-time hearing the name, low-time-preference HODLer, running a node, somewhere in between?
What would you like to see BFTA do that we're not doing yet — for artists, for arts institutions, for the broader culture?
How can we help you, or someone like you? What would actually move the needle in your creative life, or the life of an artist you know?

Every reply lands directly in our inbox and gets read. We will fold what we hear back into the work — and into a future issue of this newsletter.

◆ Support the work

Funders, donors, every sat counts.

Every project above is funded by people who believe working artists deserve sound-money rails. If that is you, the highest-leverage move is to join the Sovereign Circle — our monthly giving program. Predictable, recurring support is what lets us plan past the next quarter and pay artists past the next grant cycle.

One-time gifts move the needle too. Sats, dollars, in-kind — every level is recognized, and every dollar runs through our public 55/30/10/5 allocation rule. And if you cannot give right now, the most valuable thing you can do is forward this email to one person who supports the arts. Patronage is contagious.

Join the Sovereign Circle →

Until next time —

Bitcoin for the Arts

Where to Start

Patronage is Contagious

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