Jack Butcher, a prominent figure in the NFT world, rose to fame with his innovative projects like Checks and Opepen, alongside a notable sale of 74 ETH (approximately $123,500) in 2021. However, his journey began not in the realm of cryptocurrency but as a designer focused on achieving clarity in his work. Butcher’s early career unfolded in the bustling design agencies of London and New York, where he honed his skills over a decade.
Butcher reflects on his agency experience, stating, “I bounced around the agency scene for about 10 years. I basically worked in every commercial application of design you can think of.” His agency background eventually led him to establish Visualize Value, a minimalist brand and art studio that transformed perceptions of ideas on the internet. His visuals even featured in “The Almanack of Naval Ravikant,” a book that has gained significant recognition.
Butcher’s initial foray into the world of cryptocurrency began in 2017 when he produced blockchain explainer decks for his clients. It wasn’t until March 2021 that he minted his first NFT on Foundation, a milestone he vividly remembers. “I always refer to it as that 56k modem moment. Minting your first piece and seeing it arrive there underneath your name. It just felt like a moment in internet history,” he recalls.
Prior to minting his first piece, Chisel, Butcher admitted to being skeptical about NFTs. His perspective shifted when an NFT collector, who admired his work, expressed interest in owning a digital version of it. “I was sent a link to OpenSea six or so months before and was like, what is this? It did not capture my attention at all. There was nothing on there that was interesting to me,” he explains, adding that he quickly exited the platform.
Despite his initial indifference, the collector’s persistence led Butcher to reconsider. “He messaged me and said, ‘I would love to collect your work.’ I replied, ‘Sorry, man, I can’t print white ink on black paper. I’ve tried, it’s a nightmare.’” Butcher credits the Foundation team for helping him change his mindset regarding the sale of digital art, thanks to their user-friendly interface.
His early NFT creations, particularly many of his unique pieces, explored the complexities of digital ownership. “A lot of my early pieces are trying to describe the mechanics that make it possible for people to own and trade digital property. As an artist, being able to make the artwork the product, rather than a marketing system for some other product or service was a game changer,” Butcher emphasizes.
This realization solidified with his piece “NFTs, Explained,” a 1-of-1 NFT that sold for 74 ETH in March 2021, representing the culmination of his design philosophy. “A lot of the genesis of the stuff I’m doing now is kind of in that piece,” he states.
Influences on Jack Butcher’s Creative Journey
One of the most significant influences on Butcher’s creative development was tech philosopher and investor Naval Ravikant. “That was a series of massive unlocks in my mind,” he remembers, reflecting on discovering Naval’s famous tweet thread titled “How to Get Rich (Without Getting Lucky).” At that time, Butcher was running his agency but felt constrained by the traditional expectations of client work.
Naval’s insights offered Butcher a new perspective on viewing the internet as a tool for leverage, where code, content, and capital functioned continuously. Inspired by this idea, Butcher began to visualize concepts from the thread in his signature minimalist style. “That was a huge inflection point in my story when I was trying to build these independent agency businesses,” he shares. His graphics ultimately found a place in Eric Jorgenson’s “The Almanack of Naval Ravikant,” which has become a beloved resource in tech and crypto circles.
“It massively changed my life. I’m still grateful that I stumbled upon those ideas and credit those frameworks for a lot of the massive inflection points in my personal journey and how I thought about putting work out into the world,” Butcher adds.
Butcher’s On-Chain Experiments: Checks and Opepen
Butcher didn’t just create two standout NFT projects; he also used them as experimental platforms for internet culture. Launched on January 3, 2023, Checks began as a 24-hour open edition mint priced at $8, referencing Twitter’s new verification fee at the time. His tweet about the project became a rallying cry: “This artwork may or may not be notable.”
The visual representation was straightforward, featuring 80 multicolored checkmarks in a grid, but it carried deeper implications regarding digital identity and decentralization. Checks incorporated a burn mechanism, allowing holders to merge pieces for rarer editions, with the ultimate version being a singular black check. Within 24 hours, the project saw 16,031 mints, dominating conversations across crypto Twitter.
Just five days later, Opepen was introduced as a free mint, offering 16,000 editions inspired by the internet meme ‘Pepe’ and minimalistic generative art. Butcher implemented an opt-in model, enabling holders to engage actively in the reveal process of future sets. “There’s thousands of hours and thousands of tweets that sort of contribute to the evolution of this thing. From the outside, all you see is the image. But the real artwork is the network effect, the conversation, the collective authorship,” Butcher explains regarding Opepen.
At the core of Checks lies the belief that cultural legitimacy is no longer dictated by institutions but instead emerges organically through community engagement. “The intention is for it to reference this sort of inversion of authority on the internet,” he remarks. Both projects serve as decentralized reflections on the current state and potential future of the internet. “People building consensus from the ground up, making a name for themselves, having a commercially viable art practice independently on the internet without needing a gallery or representation. I hope in a hundred years, that’s a thousand times more true than it is today.” To date, Opepen has recorded over 87,000 ETH (around $240M) in trading volume, marking it as one of the most notable on-chain experiments in NFT history.
Emphasizing Immediacy in Digital Art
In the conventional art world, artists often spend extended periods in solitude, hoping their creations resonate with audiences post-factum. However, Butcher advocates for immediate engagement in the NFT space. “You really understand someone’s appetite for your thing if you let them buy. The internet as a medium uniquely affords that ability at zero cost to reach every person that is subscribed to your work and beyond, over and over and over again. It completely changes the art practice,” he explains.
Butcher asserts that it is not solely about the sale but rather the feedback received. With projects like Checks and Opepen, he adopted a transparent approach, sharing incremental decisions as they unfolded. “All of these little updates, you’re kind of reading and interpreting how things will be responded to. Even people explaining what you’re doing back to you in a better way than you ever could,” he remarks.
While acknowledging the internet’s competitive nature, Butcher has learned that transparency fosters resilience. “Open sourcing the process gives you so much more surface area to talk about what you’re doing. What’s the alternative? Disappear into a basement for 12 months, come out, and nobody pays attention?” Moreover, Butcher highlights a critical aspect of digital art that is often overlooked. “Most people who ever make art, ever put it out into the world, sell nothing. Zero.” He believes that the number of individuals earning from their artwork online far exceeds those in traditional artistic practices.
Contemplations on NFT Royalties
The topic of royalties within the NFT community often sparks debate, and Butcher presents a unique viewpoint. “I have a controversial perspective on this. The idea of generating a royalty is like… you have to lose a customer to make money. You’re getting paid on churn,” he contends. He argues that the expectation of passive income via royalties can skew the creative process, pushing artists to prioritize trading volume over creating new work.
Butcher critiques the 2021 royalty boom, suggesting it cultivated a culture that favored frequency over originality. “A lot of people ended up in these golden handcuffs, where the focus switches to how do I get the artwork that’s already out there to change hands without making new artwork,” he explains. Consequently, those artists who genuinely need royalties often miss out. “Expect to get paid for the work you make, price reasonably, and keep building. The people who don’t need royalties get them. The people who need them don’t. It’s just a power law,” he concludes.
Rapid Fire Q&A with Jack Butcher
When did you mint your first NFT? March 2021. When did you buy your first crypto? Bitcoin in 2017. If you could only keep three NFTs forever, which ones would they be? 1. Piv: My favorite independent crypto artist is Piv, a Belgian creator. I own his Genesis 1 of 1 titled Six Marilyns, which features a Warhol-inspired composition of six female crypto punks. 2. I’d definitely keep a single Check. 3. For the third, I could go either way between a CryptoPunk or a Squiggle.
Do you have a favorite collection or project when you put your collector hat on? I think I’d choose Squiggles by Snowfro, as it beautifully showcases the medium’s potential in a way that may not be immediately apparent, yet as a designer, it inspires me greatly. Erick has been a remarkable advocate for our work and has contributed significantly to the space.
What’s your favorite 1 of 1 art piece that you own? My Piv piece – Six Marilyns. If you had to name three favorite artists of yours, who would they be? 1. diewiththemostlikes: He’s fantastic and also contributed to an Opepen set. 2. Joe Peace: He’s amazing. 3. Piv: He consistently appears in my answers, so he belongs on this list too.
What’s been your biggest NFT sale? NFTs, explained. 74 ETH ($123,500 at the time of sale) in March 2021. Do you have a favorite Naval quote? “Be the best in the world at what you do. Keep redefining what you do until this is true.”
What would be your advice to any aspiring digital artists wanting to explore NFTs? I believe it’s a great time now that the initial excitement has subsided. It has transformed my life in numerous ways. Even if it hadn’t unfolded as it did over the past few years, participating in this ecosystem offers invaluable insights into how the internet operates. I suspect that the future will resemble more of what we are doing now rather than less.
