Ordinals with Hidden Symbolism

Concentric Ordinals

Before I turned to crypto art full-time in 2019, I was a designer for 20 years. And when I learned about the hidden symbolism¹ built into the logo design I knew I wanted to find a way to honor that one day.

My genesis Ordinal collection (and Bitcoin for that matter) is the perfect way to do that. A lot of thought went into the hidden symbolism built into this collection of 2009 generative artworks inscribed on Bitcoin.

Learn more about it below!

Color Palette

The color palette was inspired by the Bitcoin logo that Satoshi Nakamoto designed in 2009, the iconic orange “B” logo that Bitboy designed in 2010, and the gray “bitcoin” wordmark².

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Covered in Bs and Os

Aside from the color palette, the hidden symbolism throughout are an homage to the iconic orange “B” logo while also celebrating blockchain innovation by echoing the “O” in Ordinal through the concentric circle pattern.

I chose 2009 images because that’s the year that Bitcoin was created by Satoshi Nakamoto.

And since this technology is supposed to be the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything. That means 42 should be included here as well.

So out of a possible 4.2 million unique patterns, no two Concentric Ordinals are alike. Each takes the form of a unique echo through the color, texture, and pattern in this generative series.

And they are mint priced at .0042 BTC.

The 8 Concentric Circles

The eight (8) concentric circles have two meanings. The “8” is the numeric representative of “B.” And “B” is for Block & Bitcoin.

Also 8 represents the number of decimal points to get to a satoshi (sat), the smallest denomination of Bitcoin. And it’s what Ordinal data is inscribed on.

Each of the 8 concentric circle also represent the “O” in Ordinal.

And the concentric circles are an abstraction of a chain of Blocks, building on each other.

Blocks & Squares

I chose a a 25 x 25 square canvas because a square or a box (square is one side of a box) is often used in visuals to describe the “Block” in blockchain.

The square is a 1:1 ration and also represents 1 satoshi which Ordinals are inscribed on.

The concentric circles are one grid square in width which infuses each “O” with the representation of 1 sat.

Some might also notice that the last possible concentric circle in an artwork is bleeding into the margins by 12.5%. Where 12.5 is 1/8th (another “8”) and an homage to the 12.5% angle cut in the iconic orange “B” logo.

You might also notice that each quadrant of the 25 x 25 square grid is 12.5 x 12.5 squares. This is another homage to the 12.5% angle cut.

A deep cut here as well is that there are 625 squares in this grid. It’s an homage to what seems to be a passing comment by the designer about 6.25% being called “Eric” because it’s half a “B” aka the 12.5%.

This seemed serendipitous to me as my name is Eric and this series felt like things were coming full-circle for me as a creator by merging my life as a designer with my life as an artist.

The Endless Echo

The center circle is an homage to Bitcoin’s the iconic orange “B“ logo shape. The circular shape was chosen, according to its designer, because it’s “continuous, endless, forever – just like Bitcoin.”

Aesthetically, the Bitcoin logo is meant to be at the center and the concentric Ordinals that surround it take a visual form of an echo.

The echo expresses the “continuous, endless, and forever” nature of Bitcoin to the viewer. Each unique echo pattern represents blockchain innovation, growth, change, and market volatility as we share and build on Bitcoin.

Properties & Rarity

In order to maintain a focus on the sat and inscription related properties, I chose not to include any aesthetic-related properties for this collection.

Notes

1. https://vu.hn/bitcoin-symbol-and-logo-origin.html
2. https://logos-world.net/bitcoin-logo/