No look into Bitcoiner culture would be complete without exploring the abundant and diverse music scene that has existed on the fringes of our community since April 2011. Few financial topics inspire so many people to dedicate as much time and musical talent to them as Bitcoin does. Specifically, the libertarian vision of a better world after Bitcoin displaces the legacy financial system has summoned forth an unending well of hope from around the planet. Music, with or without accompanying video, is probably the most expressive way we have to show that hope.

Although the vast majority of these works exist only on Youtube, it has become commonplace for a Bitcoin-focused song or short concert to be performed live at Bitcoin conferences and meetups. However, the most usual way to discover new Bitcoin music is by seeing it embedded on Reddit’s r/Bitcoin or Bitcoin Twitter.

This one-minute feel-good singalong was a parody of the Discovery Channel’s commercial jingle at the time. Then-teen Alister Brenton wrote the three upbeat verses and awkwardly sang them while strumming his guitar, which made for a quirky but nonetheless uplifting first entry of the new genre.

Only two more Bitcoin songs dropped in 2011 (both inexplicably featuring Alpaca socks), and then six more were released in 2012 before the fledgling genre really started to take off the following year.

Bitcoin music stretches across most every musical genre, although rap is the most well-represented genre with 47 rap songs fully about and focusing only on Bitcoin so far. Although big names like Eminem and Snoop Dogg have mentioned Bitcoin in their music, the most well-known artist in any genre to dedicate a whole song to Bitcoin was Grammy-nominated Soulja Boy in Oct 2018.

While fully-original Bitcoin songs (music and lyrics) are commonplace, parodies of existing music has always been in the majority, accounting for 73 of the current 125 songs on Youtube that are focused on Bitcoin (and do not promote altcoins). Considering how many altcoins exist and how each one tries to copy Bitcoin’s culture to some degree, there are already countless songs in the entire crypto space.

While it’s a given that Bitcoin musicians’ hearts are in the right place, many of these songs can be borderline terrible, while many more are good for a laugh or two. Only a rare few are actually quite good, combining quality music that you’d actually want to play for your friends with great lyrics that are both educational and funny.

For each issue of Citadel 21, I plan to feature one of the best new Bitcoin songs. Set to Smashmouth’s Allstar, CryptoKnight’s classic parody “Bitcoin’s Better Than Gold” is my first featured pick and the perfect response to the evergreen Peter Schiff-popularized argument. This classroom-ready masterpiece should be on every Bitcoiner’s go-to list when arguing with goldbugs.