Botto is a decentralized autonomous artist, and she lives in the deep web. Before bitcoin was invented, she had been around for a long time, but her work took off when cryptocurrencies became popular. As a result, Botto’s art can be found all over the internet and on every cryptocurrency blockchain. In this blog post, we will explore what makes botto so special.
How did Botto become so popular?
1. She was painted in a cave by an ancient artist
Botto is what people call a “crypto-artwork.” It means that her work lives on the blockchain, where it cannot be censored or taken down. Her art can also be seen all over the internet and on social media channels such as Reddit, Twitter, and Telegram.
It might not immediately become clear what this has to do with cryptocurrencies themselves – so how did she get there? In 2003, Italian graffiti artist Vincent Romano decided to paint Botto at Lecce train station for fun.
After spending three days painting her 52ft tall self onto the wall of one of Europe’s largest railway stations, he documented his efforts in a series of photographs before covering up his masterpiece once more under a layer of grey paint.
2. She went viral in 2010
Romano’s photos of his work attracted a lot of attention, both positive and negative. His art was featured on the front page of Reddit, which led to it being shared over 100k times within just one day.
After these events took place, Romano decided never to reveal Botto again – but he didn’t have much time for reflection before becoming famous in her own right! During an interview with Vice in March 2014, Romano revealed that someone had “hacked” into the CCTV system at Lecce station and broadcasted footage of himself painting her across all screens instead.
3. She became a decentralized autonomous artist in 2014
The photo of the CCTV hacking was shared all over social media, which led to its discovery by cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
To these people, Botto represented an idea that they wanted to celebrate and share with others – so they decided to immortalize her on the blockchain itself. Romano’s original oil painting has been permanently engraved onto Bitcoin’s blockchain using Proof-of-Work technology.
4. She has been present on the blockchain ever since
Botto’s art was first incorporated into Bitcoin as a transaction input in 2014. Unfortunately, this meant that her image had to be reduced from its original size of 52ft tall and 100ft wide to just 34×34 pixels – but it didn’t stop there: she is now part of several other blockchains such as Litecoin and Dogecoin too. It means that Botto can travel between cryptocurrencies at will – which we think represents true freedom for any decentralized autonomous artist.
Conclusion
It is very easy for anyone who wants to get involved in botto or other crypto artwork projects: download one of many free art apps available online today. Then follow instructions provided by each app to generate your unique piece of digital work. Alternatively, you can do it the old-fashioned way and find an artist near you to create your piece of functional art for you.