Alberto Echegaray Guevara (Cayman) brings us Crypto and Money Talks, a statement on global financial tension in the form of two Murano glass spheres and a high definition hologram, filled with a million dollars and 30 bitcoins. The transition of the global economy from the physical world to a virtual world and a parallel financial system with new rules. The third and most modern projection of a sphere (hologram NFT), named ‘Crypto ball’, glows brightly in the middle, housing an advanced computing and display system that contains 30 bitcoins. With the hologram sphere, Cayman evokes the future of our economy while using the backdrop of old world physical fiat currencies as a contrast. ‘Crypto ball’ houses a server unit connected to the Internet through a 4G network, which allows the 30 bitcoin housed

within a ‘hardware wallet’ to be connected to the bitcoin blockchain. This means that every bitcoin within the sphere is connected to a massive network housing the transaction data of every other bitcoin, a technology used to maintain the security of the ledger system and ensure there are no duplicate digital coins. ‘Crypto Ball’ integrates cutting-edge flexible displays (thinner than a piece of paper) that display the real-time trading value of the bitcoins in yen, euros, and dollars. This marks the first time in history that an artwork is embedded with the ability to house its own value in a currency that can be tracked, traded, and extracted, all in real time. As a multimedia artist, designer, and visionary, Cayman uses technology and art to tell a story about the power and importance of money in our society. By invoking the sphere as a metaphor for economic structure and showing us the ephemeral nature of the currency ‘as it truly is’, Cayman proves that money is an agent of control within every bubble we create. With this exhibition, the artist shows us the nature and future of our economic environment, and how this social convention is rapidly changing at the hands of cryptocurrency. As Alberto Echegaray Guevara explains, it ‘is backed by the rigidity and security of mathematics. [Cryptocurrencies] can be transferred in seconds to almost anywhere in the world at a low cost, and can be divided into millions of individual parts.