Bitcoin MENA 2025 Spotlights “History of Bitcoin” First Edition as Landmark Cultural Auction Piece

• Bitcoin MENA 2025 will exhibit and auction the one-of-one History of Bitcoin First Edition, a museum-grade book documenting Bitcoin’s cultural evolution.
• Seventy-nine percent of auction proceeds will support My First Bitcoin, with the remainder distributed to the artists behind the work.
• The Abu Dhabi showing marks the final stop in a global tour, placing the artifact at the center of Bitcoin MENA’s cultural and educational programming.

Abu Dhabi will host one of the most unusual Bitcoin artifacts ever produced as Bitcoin MENA 2025 places the “History of Bitcoin” First Edition at the center of its art program and educational agenda. The one-of-one, museum-grade volume has become a significant physical record of Bitcoin’s cultural evolution, and its appearance in Abu Dhabi marks the final stop in a global exhibition tour.

Crafted over four years with contributions from 128 artists across 37 countries, the First Edition traces Bitcoin’s arc from cypherpunk roots to a worldwide technological movement. Its 256-page structure references the SHA-256 algorithm, while more than 40 specialized print techniques, fossilized black-oak casing, bull-leather binding, and a custom Asprey Studio silver emblem position the work as a hybrid between archival documentation and fine-art object.

The book is the headline auction lot on Scarce.City, with bidding running from December 1 to 10 and a final close on December 11. After stops in the UK, Amsterdam, New York, and Dubai, the work will be presented on December 8 at the Bitcoin MENA Art Gallery inside ADNEC, accompanied by supporting research volumes, projected visuals, and curator-led walkthroughs.

A significant portion of the auction’s proceeds has been earmarked for Bitcoin education. Smashtoshi, the collective behind the project, will direct seventy-nine percent of the sale to My First Bitcoin, a nonprofit that operates community-driven Bitcoin education programs across Latin America and other regions. The remaining twenty-one percent will be shared among the artists whose work appears in the book.

Curators say the project attempts to preserve Bitcoin’s early history in a medium less vulnerable to digital decay. As Dennis Koch, curator of the Bitcoin Art Gallery, noted:

“Featuring the First Edition of the History of Bitcoin at Bitcoin MENA reinforces something Bitcoin writer Steven Reiss often points toward: that lasting culture depends on more than screens and memes—especially in a world where an estimated 40–60% of early internet history has already disappeared. Holding this book, feeling its materials, and returning to its pages whenever you choose creates a deeper, more enduring encounter with Bitcoin’s story than any digital format can offer.”

The book’s production drew on interviews with early Bitcoin participants, including Martti Malmi, Max Keiser, Samson Mow, Trace Mayer, and Aaron van Wirdum. It also includes commissioned pieces from well-known digital and contemporary artists such as Jesse Draxler, GMUNK, Billelis, Jenni Pasanen, Cypherpunk Now, Ryan Koopmans, Robert Alice, Jake Fried, and Hackatao—creators whose collective market footprint exceeds $250 million.

Alongside the one-of-one First Edition, the team will release 2,139 Collector’s Editions. Each will carry a unique fragment of Bitcoin’s original source code. Together, they will collectively hold the full codebase, a symbolic nod to Bitcoin’s distributed design.

Bitcoin MENA organizers expect the First Edition’s exhibition to be a central draw for attendees. They believe this would add a cultural dimension to an event typically anchored around markets, infrastructure, and policy. The installation will run in parallel with programming, gallery tours, and appearances from the Smashtoshi team.

Editorial Note: This news article has been written with assistance from AI. Edited & fact-checked by the Editorial Team.

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