Key Points
- A Bitcoin Core contributor has embedded Marathon Digital’s logo into the data visualization of a Bitcoin block.
- The creation of this “block art” demonstrates the potential for creativity within the Bitcoin space.
A Bitcoin Core contributor has creatively integrated Marathon Digital’s logo into the data visualization of a Bitcoin block, utilizing the mining company’s template building tools.
The contributor, known as Portland.HODL, has created this distinctive piece of “block art” by arranging transactions in a specific order within a block. This can be viewed on a Bitcoin indexer website, where transactions are visualized using square blocks and color gradients based on transaction sizes and fee rates.
Marathon Digital’s Block Art
Marathon Digital provided information about block 836361, which it successfully mined on March 26. The company referred to it as the ‘M block’ and used the visualization to showcase its template building capabilities and technology stack.
The company clarified that by owning its mining pool, it can dictate the order of transactions to create a form of block art. Although it does not offer this specific output capability as a service, the company believes this could open up a wave of creative potential within the Bitcoin space.
Block Art Creation Process
The creation of this block art involved the use of OP_RETURN transactions in the Bitcoin protocol. This type of transaction allows for a small amount of arbitrary data to be included in a transaction, typically used for embedding messages or metadata onchain.
Prior to a block being mined, all transactions wait in an area known as the mempool. A miner can create numerous transactions to generate this kind of art once mined into a block, developing transactions with outputs that, when visualized, correspond to the pixels of the desired image.
Creating block art also requires a miner to modify their software to select specific transactions that will form the desired pattern, rather than prioritizing transactions that maximize profit based on the fee density or satoshis per byte.
Mining a block with a specific set of transactions that will form an image or text requires significant hashing power, similar to that of Marathon Digital. Both Marathon and Portland.HODL were contacted for further details on the “M block” and the implications of block composability.
In February 2024, Marathon launched a direct BTC transaction submission service designed to facilitate and expedite large and complex Bitcoin transactions.
