Last week, I wrote about Shameless Bitcoin Billboards Popping Up Around Los Angeles. As the 2nd largest city in the United States, Los Angeles is a prime location for a coordinated Bitcoin Billboard campaign to raise awareness. Shortly after publishing the article I was contacted by The Bitcoin Billboards Team and directed to answers to all of my previously raised questions. I wanted to emphasize a few things for our readers and any Los Angelinos in the audience.
After re-cooping costs, excess revenue will be donated.
‘The Bitcoin’ is not a typo.
The Bitcoin Billboards Team is choosing to remain anonymous.
To elaborate on that note, the fact The Bitcoin Billboards Team is choosing to remain anonymous is essential to the efficacy of their plan: Showcasing the superiority of Bitcoin while raising awareness. From their website:
We don’t want to hide from anyone what we gained, as obviously this information is available on the blockchain. In fact, that’s the point! We want everyone to see it on the blockchain, because that demonstrates how amazing this new currency system is; everything is completely open for all to see, as it’s a fully disclosed public ledger that everyone in the world can view and audit at their whim. Yet personal information is protected. This is something that has never before been possible in the history of currency systems.
Now! On to CryptoCoinsNews‘ exclusive interview with The Bitcoin Billboards Team.
Why ‘the Bitcoin’? Is it like ‘the Calculus’? :)
Didn’t even think of that, though we like the association. “The” is used on the billboard in the same way as you hear it used in the phrase, “Right now the euro is slightly stronger than the dollar”. I think in the future we will probably hear it being used both ways, with and without “the”. For example, when we refer to Bitcoin in conversation, of course we don’t say “Hey man, I think I should buy this with ‘the bitcoin.’” It is just a matter of how it is being used.
How many are in the group?
This is the one thing, besides our names, that we are keeping anonymous.
How long has this been planned?
Immediately upon seeing the “HI MOM SEND BITCOIN” story. We were inspired by this brilliant promotional idea for Bitcoin and decided to contribute to this revolution. The exact date of this was December 5th 2013.
Do you hope that other major cities around the world will emulate your actions?
Yes. That’s the point, to tell the world about Bitcoin and get this into widespread global use. If individuals in other cities launched something similar, then it would be that much harder to ignore it. The more talk about Bitcoin, the more interest, the more people learn about it and get some and start using it, the faster we have a fair monetary system that everyone can prosper with. The strength of Bitcoin useage and acceptance is based upon how many are involved in every day transactions.
How long will the Billboards be up?
It’s a four week cycle, however most likely some of the billboards will remain in place for longer than a month if the locations are not replaced with new ads. They went up December 18th. Some went up a little after.
Why isn’t even a link to your website included on the Bitcoin Billboards?
The truth is we wanted to create a mystery and get people to Google it. We see so many ads every day, and most of them are ignored by the average person. We wanted to create something that would make people curious and draw them in, knowing that after a short period we would publish the answers on our website. This did prove to be a successful method, as quite a bit of buzz has been generated now on the billboards, when you consider the numerous postings on Reddit, tweets on twitter, etc.
Why are you all choosing to stay anonymous, will there ever be a public reveal?
We are choosing to remain anonymous as this allows the focus to be on Bitcoin itself. The system has been built and it works. That’s what we want to show people. Similar to how Satoshi Nakamoto has remained anonymous, it allows us to focus on the creation, and it’s merits. Plus there is some value in remaining anonymous due to the nature of the small percentage of people with less than scrupulous intentions, who would wish to attack and harm Bitcoin or those promoting it. Public reveal? Most likely not. However, if this campaign becomes an international sensation, we have thought about the possibility of our detailed story being published in a book. After all, we are pioneers in this new golden age of commerce. And so are you.
-The Bitcoin Billboard Team
