Final Miner, 2022, acrylic enclosure, LED monitor, Ethereum mining rig (motherboard, three graphics processing units (GPUs), battery, hard drive, Windows OS), 19.3 x 13.4 x 10.6 inches (49 x 34 x 27 cm)
The Final Miner is a black acrylic enclosure for a computer designed to mine the ethereum (ETH) cryptocurrency. This sculpture was installed and activated in late August 2022 to run proof-of-work verifications on the ETH network – a computationally and energy intensive process. The writing of blocks to a decentralized ledger is the proof of work, which is rewarded with cryptocurrency tokens, with the proceeds, in the case of Final Miner, going to the virtual wallet of Enxuto and Love.
Final Miner was conceived as a scheme to financially compensate the artists throughout the artwork’s installation at Banner Repeater. That duration, however, came to an end on September 15, 2022 when ETH ceased to operate as proof-of-work (PoW) and transitioned to a proof-of-stake (PoS) protocol. With this new system validators must hold or “stake” 32 ETH tokens or $52,000 USD to participate. While the long anticipated merge to (PoS) stands to cut carbon emissions in the ETH network by an estimated 95%, it does so by excluding all but the largest holders of cryptocurrency from pursuing the rewards of mining.
Final Miner is the last in a trio of cryptocurrency mining sculptures that the artists have made since 2018. Since September 15 Final Miner has become an inert object on a shelf at Banner Repeater. The computer display which streamed a sequence of mining hashes has gone dark and the black acrylic enclosure now serves as a casket.