Artist
- Crypto Cloaks
Real Name
- Rick & Anon
Socials
Website
- cryptocloaks.com
Podcast
Author
ABOUT THE ARTIST
CryptoCloaks was born from a love of 3D printing & Bitcoin. They design & build 3D printed products for Bitcoiners: wallet mounts, node cases, Art, Merch & clothing. Their mission is to bring creative product design & innovative solutions to Bitcoiners. They’re also wide open to new collaborations & custom projects.
Things are moving so fast for these guys – their early products already look retro compared to the latest designs. Arguably their hottest new line is the custom Triton Case for RasPi4 based Bitcoin nodes. It’s inspired by those dope PC Gaming cases, with transparent side walls, sick ass Whirlpool front panel designs & mounts for multiple Pis, SSDs & coloured LED fans.
Their stealth hardware wallet mounts help you hide your Coldcard/Trezor/Ledger in discrete hard to reach locations. Its a genius product concept!
Its clear CC’s products are born from the wants & desires of real Bitcoiners. They’re pushing new ground by serving the needs & wants of this emerging space. They also love paying homage to the big memes, brands & jokes out there, bringing ideas to life with high build quality & beautiful design.
"Artists & builders are front-running Bitcoin’s marketing campaign. We listen to Bitcoiners. They tell us what they want & we make it."
THE INTERVIEW 1/4
EARLY DAYS
"I’m not a coder. My way of giving back is building products. That’s what I’m good at."
Rick started CryptoCloaks in 2017 out of a desire to hide his Ledger Nano S. Having it sit on the desk for anyone to see wasn’t acceptable so he designed and built a mount for it, to stash it discretely in hidden spots. A love of design and 3D printing meant he had the tools necessary to start creating innovative Bitcoin products.
The mounts were originally sold on Etsy.com and the product range started expanding. He’s been designing and manufacturing new products ever since, to a growing, enthusiastic customer base who love the innovation.
Another influential early product was the RaspiBlitz ‘Lightning Shell’. It took 2 weeks & 15 iterations to reach the iconic first design & it became a great conversation starter. There was a massive demand for an open source file, for self printing. They happily released this to contribute back to the RaspiBlitz community. Needless to say there’s been a tonne of interest that’s only growing with every new product release.
THE INTERVIEW 2/4
THE TEAM
"It’s a lot of fun working with CryptoCloaks – one of the best jobs I’ve had to be honest!"
SF joined the team after helping Rick set up their BTCPayserver & conceiving a Warren Buffet ‘Rat Poison Squared’ node case. They decided that if they could get community interest, they’d build it. They built it 😉
"You don’t need to code. There’s a huge case for having a generalist view. Darwin said it – specialisation breeds extinction"
Ricks an Industrial Engineer by day, jack of all trades by night & the principle print & hardware guy. SF is the sick ass Graphic Designer & Lommy’s the creative product designer, great at thinking outside the box.
THE INTERVIEW 3/4
RABBIT HOLE
"It’s FUCK YOU money & we’re building the future we want."
To Rick, Bitcoin is mind-blowing “fuck you money”. It’s entire protocol is built on mathematics, unencumbered by any politics, race, or institutional agenda. It’s one purpose is to be better money. He loves that.
"When you go down the Rabbit Hole, you learn how the system is flawed to screw people over. It all comes down to money & who controls the money supply. Bitcoin’s our one shot to fix society."
SF’s early Bitcoin story is a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. He bought in early but lost funds on MtGox & later BTCe.com, learning the self-custody lesson, the hard way. He’s written about this recently in the latest November issue of Citadel21.com Check it out.
"The incumbent money system is a rigged game."
“When Bitcoin finally clicked for me, what it can do for individual freedom, I stopped feeling powerless & started feeling we have a fighting chance. I realised that instead of changing the system we can circumvent it. As long as we have the Internet, ways to openly communicate & keep Bitcoin alive, we have a chance to give people freedom in their lives.” SF
"I try to be dispassionate about what people do, it’s their life, time & money. Do whatever the fuck you want with it & you’ll learn. If you don’t . . . well that’s evolution."
THE INTERVIEW 4/4
GET PRINTING
"Get a basic 3D printer & learn on that. That’s the best way to do it."
There’s something pretty awesome about being able to 3D print anything you want, and no one to tell you otherwise. If something breaks around the house, go print yourself a new one. Don’t have that part you need? Check the internet for a file or design, and print it. It’s living decentralised maker culture. There’s no doubt this is going to become such a bigger part of all our futures.
There are 3D printers out there that once you have one you can basically print a new one. How incredible is that?
SO WHAT’S NEXT?
As we’ve said, this team is moving fast. Perhaps that’s inevitable in such a nascent, emerging ecosystem but it’s really credit to the passion and energy of these guys. Their high-conviction doers/makers & they’re full of ideas. One of these is to develop their own 3D printing filament, specifically for Bitcoin products.
"Bullish on Bitcoin & bullish on humanity."
Triton cases are flying out and they’ve already had requests to expand it’s RaspPi capacity. Give it another halving & they’ll probably be printing server clusters for 20+ RasPis stacked on top of each other. Who knows?! The team like to keep their feet on the ground though. Yeah right . . .
"I hope that one day we get to have 3D replicators like those in Star Trek."
