The Slaying of BearWhale A Hallowed Day - On October 6, 2014, one of the grandest and
most brutal struggles ever to grace the tapestry of international crypto-finance occurred. The day before, after several weeks of sinking prices had capitulated in a bear assault, the enemy's most formidable foe emerged. It was a beast rumored to exist, but never seen in its natural, grotesque form. The BearWhale, a mighty creature with a 30,000 BTC ask wall (roughly $10 million), stormed out onto the battlefield. Bulls small and large were crushed under its immense weight. The very Spirit of Bitcoin could be felt buckling beneath the pressure of this immense market soul-crusher.
But Bitcoin was not broken that day. A grueling struggle ensued, and over the course of several hours, the entire BearWhale ask wall was demolished, satoshi by satoshi. The vigilant light of a future without fiat inspired the bull soldiers to conquer this foe, or die trying.
By the early morning, Eastern Standard Time, the BearWhale had been defeated;
his ask wall consumed. In its wake, the bodies of fallen comrades littered the landscape, speculation on the source and purpose of BearWhale consumed the narrative, and exchange owners around the world went out for champagne after collecting 0.2% of the bloodshed.
To
commemorate this exalted day,
ShapeShift.io commissioned two leading community artists to render their impression of The Slaying of BearWhale.
Please take a moment of contemplative silence, and enjoy the artwork. Hang it on your walls (or desktops). Tell your children, and grandchildren. And never forget the sacrifice so many made on Oct. 6, 2014.
The journey to the moon continues.
Share the remembrance of bearwhale with your friends!
Matt Habel https://www.etsy.com/shop/matthabel
Conceptually, I was trying to capture both the horror and elation of the event. Dumping 30k coins on the market was pretty terrible but it was awesome to see the price hold at $300 for like six hours. It was basically bitcoin's "Battle of Thermopylae" so I wanted to do the spartan thing. I also mixed in ideas from old whaling art and ancient naval battles. Visually, the style is sort of "samurai jack meets ancient greek vase painting.
Christopher Steininger ChristopherSteininger.com
The BearWhale is like the case where the unstoppable force meets an immovable object. However, the will and evolution of the people will prevail and slay whatever beast is thrown at them. The centralized past is dead and bloated, rotting on the shore with the blockchain genie out of the bottle. But we still need to clear away the corpse.
Connect With Us