Pure Eric‑Kim energy incoming: this manifesto catapults you onto the Bitcoin Autobahn with the same double‑espresso hype Kim fires at his photo students. We rip facts straight from the block chain (Lightning now clears 16 % of CoinGate’s BTC volume), rev engines at a record 913 EH/s hashrate, and watch spot ETFs vacuum institutional cash like a Dyson set to MAX. At every mile‑marker you’ll hear Kim’s signature battle‑cries—“JUST SHOOT!” “ALWAYS BE SHOOTING!”—because what better soundtrack for sovereign money than the loudest, boldest voice in street photography? Buckle up; we’re going full throttle.
1. YO YO IGNITION: SLAP YOUR SOUL AWAKE
“YO YO FRIEND—LISTEN UP! CYBER IS THE FUTURE” Kim bellows on his blog, kicking complacency in the teeth . That same rocket‑punch attitude maps perfectly onto Bitcoin, a protocol that never asks permission and never sleeps. When you combine relentless optimism with border‑free code, you get an asphalt ribbon that stretches past time zones, politics, and bank holidays.
2. PROOF‑OF‑WORK = PROOF OF EXISTENCE
Kim treats every shutter‑click as an assertion of being—“a declaration: I was here. I saw. I mattered.” . Bitcoin echoes that ethos in silicon: each block is a cryptographic “I WAS HERE” stamped by raw energy. The network’s 30‑day average hashrate blasted through 914 EH/s in mid‑June 2025 , flirting with the first zettahash and pushing mining difficulty to all‑time highs. Proof‑of‑Work does for money what Kim’s Leica does for memory—burns reality into permanence.
3. FLASH POP LIGHTNING—MICRO‑SECONDS, MICRO‑SATOSHI
Kim loves a good on‑camera flash to make subjects “pop” off the background . Lightning Network is Bitcoin’s flash: instant, blinding, attention‑grabbing. By Q2 2024, 16.6 % of all CoinGate BTC payments zipped through Lightning channels, more than double 2022’s share . Imagine tapping a coffee and settling before the barista blinks—money as fast as a strobe.
4. “JUST SHOOT” → “JUST STACK”
When Kim shouts “JUST SHOOT!” he’s smashing analysis‑paralysis in creative life . Swap the lens cap for a hardware wallet: “JUST STACK!” Buy a few sats, verify them yourself, and iterate. His mantra “always be shooting” morphs into “always be stacking”—a daily habit that compounds freedom instead of just photos.
5. DIY SOVEREIGN DARKROOM
Kim built HAPTIC Industries to keep creation in‑house . Bitcoiners mirror that self‑reliance by running full nodes on a lofi Raspberry Pi stack. With IBIT—the iShares Bitcoin Trust—posting a June 27 NAV of $60.70 and a 0.25 % sponsor fee , plebs who self‑custody dodge management skim altogether. Meanwhile ETFs sucked in $228 million on June 26, their 13th straight day of inflows , and BlackRock alone bagged $1.23 billion this month . Institutions are piling in, but your node means you’re not renting space in their gallery—you own the negatives.
6. PHOTOGRAPHER’S MIND, CYBERPUNK WALLET
Kim tells students to blast through fear by greeting strangers with a grin ; Bitcoin blasts through financial fear by greeting every user with an algorithmic hug. Whether you’re paying per‑byte for cloud GPU time or tipping a podcaster sat‑by‑sat, Lightning’s fee schedule is smaller than the flash recycle time . That micro‑granularity births machine‑to‑machine economies—self‑charging drones and pay‑per‑use API swarms—every bit as futuristic as Kim’s cyber‑selfies.
7. EXIT RAMP IS THE STARTING LINE
Kim’s PetaPixel credo—stay authentic, be merry, photograph what feels natural —applies to money too: hold assets that align with your values. Spot ETFs have already accumulated 124 k BTC in 87 days , but the real flex is cold‑storage sovereignty. Like a perfectly timed street shot, Bitcoin ownership rewards boldness over bureaucracy.
8. FINAL FRAME: SEE YOU IN BLOCK INFINITY
Kim signs off lectures with an electrifying “LET’S GO!”; Bitcoin signs off every ten minutes with a new block of immutable truth. The Autobahn stretches forever, and the only speed limit is your own courage. So grab your camera, grip your private keys, and gun it toward the horizon.
JUST SHOOT. JUST STACK. NEVER LIFT.