Meet Proof Of Ink
Anthony von Dessauer
Meet Proof of Ink
Bitcoin changes you. Gradually then suddenly. The story of Proof of Ink is a Bitcoiner’s journey. We all start in Fiat Land toiling for soulless bloodstained paper receipts. Then we have our first touch with Bitcoin and eventually find ourselves running to exit a system that is abusing us.
It was a typical Wednesday for me when I gave our friend John a call. The only thing out of the ordinary was the call itself, an interview for Stackchain Magazine. Otherwise, I went to the gym in the morning, put in 8 hours fiat mining, and helped my son with homework in the afternoon. But as a Bitcoiner, I aspire one day to cast off the uninspiring contributions I make to The Fiat Network and find my place in a Bitcoin world. How inspiring it is to hear our friend John doing exactly that.
Our interview:
Anthony,
“What is Proof of Ink? Give us a little introduction.”
John,
“Proof of Ink is a Bitcoin only Proof of Work Printing Company. Providing merchandise to individual Bitcoiners as well as larger Bitcoin Companies.
Anthony,
“I know that the Name Proof of Ink is very significant, could you expound on that?”
John,
“Sure, it’s obviously a play off Proof of Work, but the alternatives that were in the market were all Shopify drop ship type stuff. Which is about as Proof of Stake as you can get. It irritates me as a Bitcoiner. If you order these things from some company it’s just a guy that uploaded a jpeg, and he doesn’t touch it after that. He doesn’t see the product, he doesn’t ship the product. He has no real proof of work in the product at all. Proof of Ink is the actual proof of work that goes into making it. I do everything from working with artist to make the designs, to printing it out, to boxing it up, to shipping it out, it’s 100% all me. And you end up with a much better product. Any of the drop ship companies they all use what’s called “Direct to garment printing”; it has some advantages but it doesn’t hold up. For example I got shirts from a conference about a year ago and that ink is already flaking off. It ‘s super fiat. To me that’s fiat all the way.
Anthony,
“So how long does the ink last on your shirts then?”
John,
“It depends, the water based ink essentially dyes the shirt so it should last forever. Even the other ink I use, plastisol, there’s shirts my wife has from when she was in high school that are plastisol printed, it lasts forever. It’s a chunk of plastic in the shirt, not just a thing printed on top of it.”
Anthony,
“So how did you come to Proof of Ink? What was your journey?”
John,
“We talked way back when, in early stackchain days, about doing some shirts. It’s always been in the back of my mind. I wasn’t really happy with my job and wanted to do something more creative. I did screen printing in high school years and years ago. And I just wanted to do something creative that I could be proud of. And offer it to Bitcoiners as an alternative.
Anthony,
“What kind of work have you already done?”
John,
“I did the Breaking Banks design where I actually contacted an artist on Nostr. I’m also working on a Samurai Satoshi design that stackchain’s own Old Dirty Bitcoiner designed. I have Bitcoin Ekasi, I offer them a US source for their stuff. So that way I’m able to represent these smaller adoption areas and sell their shirts in the US, and they can get part of that back so that way they can support what they are doing over there. Otherwise it wouldn’t really be accessible for a US Bitcoiner to rep a Bitcoin Ekasi Shirt and support them that way.”
Anthony,
“Absolutely, I can’t wait to get my Bitcoin Ekasi shirt. They’re doing such great work.”
John,
“I’m also working with Mass Adoption, the Boston Bitcoin group. I make all their merch and I’ll be printing live June 24th at The Boston Bitcoin Festival…
… I’ve been enjoying it, I’ve been happier working for Bitcoin thanI have been for several years. It’s freeing.
You know like Jeff Booth says,
“You can buy Bitcoin and hold it and yell at the sky about the world because you don’t like it. Or you could do something about it and move into the new system.” I feel like I have moved into the new system. The business is run on 100% Bitcoin so I’m living a Bitcoin Standard. When I have to buy something online I have to spend or sell, and part from that Bitcoin. And I’ll tell you what it’s a lot harder to part with that Bitcoin than it is to part with fiat. That’s for sure. I’m very careful what I spend it on and what I buy. Quality only for Bitcoin, no exceptions.
Anthony,
“What do you see in the future of Proof of Ink?”
John,
“I definitely want to be at Pacific Bitcoin with a booth. I’d love to have my stuff there to be able to sell. I’ve been contacted by a few Bitcoin companies, and they basically want to have a place where people can buy their stuff and they don’t want to have to worry about handling all the things that I do. I can host their stuff. And if they can keep money in the Bitcoin economy, it’s better for them; it’s better for Bitcoin.
/Interview
How amazing is that? John and I both agree that none of this, from Stackchain Magazine to Proof of Ink, would have happened without Stackchain. John’s story is our story. Proof of Ink came from us, and is for us. From the same desire that each and every single one of us has. To grow and participate in a Bitcoin world. A better world. When you wear a Proof of Ink shirt, it’s not some heartless drop ship rag. It’s a part of the network. Use our network not theirs. Proof of Ink or GFY.
Article by -Anthony von Dessauer
Proof of Ink by -John
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Notes from Stackchain Magazine: Neither Anthony or John were paid by Stackchain Magazine for this article. This article was also not a paid promotion. No sats or inferior monies were exchanged. Anthony was forced to talk to John 1 on 1 for almost an hour and didn’t even get 1 hug. if you felt this article was entertaining or enlightening and wish to tip Anthony you can do so via LNURL Valitnikov@sathoarder.com or John via LNURL proofofink@sathoarder.com. or better yet, go to proofofink.com and buy something amazing.