New York’s Charging Bull has boasted sharp horns close to Wall Road for many years, however throughout the nation, Bitcoin acquired its personal mascot baring lots of of razor-sharp tooth final week.
On the Bitcoin Alpha “unconference” in Santa Monica, California, entrepreneurs unveiled an artwork piece recognizing Bitcoin’s spirit with an amazing white shark suspended in a glass field.
The sculpture glowed beneath orange lights all through the two-day gathering, serving as backdrop for dozens of personal discussions. In accordance with a museum-style placard, “The Apex Predator of Cash” is called “Bitcoinius Maximus.”
Face-to-face with Bitcoinius pic.twitter.com/TeoxEh0pba
— Ben Sigman (@bensig) October 22, 2025
Bitcoin Alpha’s organizers are planning on making Bitcoinius the centerpiece of a pop-up set up known as “Residing with Bitcoin,” Ben Sigman informed Decrypt. Santa Monica’s Third Road Promenade, with loads of empty storefronts, could be a pure place, he added.
Sharks are one of many Earth’s oldest species, and their multi-million yr observe document displays how Bitcoin might outlast belongings like money and gold, Sigman mentioned. What’s extra, some sharks should continuously swim to breathe, mirroring Bitcoin’s 24/7 uptime.
“They’re chilly, calculated, affected person predators,” Sigman added.
All through Bitcoin’s historical past, the asset’s followers have regarded to the pure world for parallels. In 2013, for instance, crypto entrepreneur Roger Ver—referred to as “Bitcoin Jesus”—helped popularize the honey badger as Bitcoin’s spirit animal by means of billboards in Santa Clara, California.
Sigman mentioned that he and Fred Krueger—who holds a Ph.D. in math and is a former prop dealer with a penchant for Bitcoin ETFs—are proposing sharks as a logo for Bitcoin, somewhat than declaring them as one. “That’s not how Bitcoin works,” Sigman defined.
Initially, Sigman and Krueger had been all for a sculpture of a shark’s dorsal fin, in reference to the quilt of their newest ebook, “Bitcoin One Million.” Nevertheless, the ultimate piece extra carefully resembles “The Bodily Impossibility of Dying within the Thoughts of Somebody Residing” by Damien Hirst. That paintings options an precise tiger shark suspended in a formaldehyde resolution.
Though nice white sharks can weigh over 5,000 kilos, Bitcoinius clocks in at a tenth of the burden, together with the shark’s nine-foot by four-foot enclosure. From idea to showcase, Sigman mentioned the method took lower than a handful of months.
Earlier this yr, some Bitcoiners hailed the invention of an orange nurse shark off the coast of Costa Rica as an “auspicious signal.” Scientists mentioned that the shark had a mix of pores and skin circumstances that had been extremely uncommon, per Nationwide Geographic.
An auspicious signal for Bitcoin https://t.co/BevFzajINd
— Steven Lubka ☀️ (@DzambhalaHODL) August 27, 2025
In 2022, a 3,000-pound statue was unveiled at a Bitcoin convention in Miami. Modeled on New York’s Charging Bull, the statue leans right into a cyberpunk aesthetic, whereas that includes laser eyes. On the time, it symbolized the realm’s rising affect as a monetary and tech hub.
Sigman mentioned sharks are a becoming image for Bitcoin in comparison with any land animal as a result of the asset has the potential to engulf extra than simply conventional finance, he mentioned.
“Crypto is a lot greater than Wall Road,” he mentioned. “It’s actually an ocean.”
