A musical rebellion powered by Bitcoin belief

Bitcoin, in Roger 9000’s view, is a symbolic reset. Songs, visuals, and even snacks become tools for reshaping how we understand worth.

Roger 9000 is a musician and multimedia artist whose work blends music, philosophy, and decentralized technology to explore the cultural meaning of Bitcoin. For years, he struggled to find a foothold in the traditional music industry. “I was trying to mold myself to fit into a music industry that just wasn't happening,” he told The Crypto Radio at Bitcoin FilmFest .

It wasn’t until he encountered Bitcoin that he felt free to stop conforming. “Bitcoin just burst that bubble,” he said. “Just be you, man.”

That ethos now fuels his creative output, which spans platforms like Wavlake and Nostr, and has taken him to live events across Europe. "I think we need more cultural experiences in Bitcoin,” he said. “It makes people feel something – not just think.”

A myth for the modern world

For Roger, Bitcoin represents far more than a financial technology. “Bitcoin is the new mythology of the world,” he said. “It’s inclusive of the entire world. It’s mysterious with Satoshi.”

That myth, he argues, offers an opportunity to rethink society’s priorities. “When you overemphasize the value of money, if you overemphasize the value of possessing things, if you overemphasize the value of attention, you're losing on the other spectrums, which are more human spectrums.” Those, he says, include health, happiness, creativity, and relationships.

He’s currently writing a book titled The Beautiful Balance of Bitcoin to explore these ideas in depth. “Bitcoin enables the individual pursuit of the individuation process,” he said, suggesting that the technology can help people detach from traditional power structures and become more fully themselves.

Unlearning old models, building new ones

Roger’s approach to music resists categorization. “I don’t like to say it’s not something,” he said. “As long as there’s something conveying a sense of meaning, then it can come in any kind of form.”

He combines music with visual storytelling and symbolic references to create performances that aim to provoke reflection rather than generate commercial returns. “I’m trying to work out how to monetize music in a new way,” he said. “That’s not selling an album. It’s not being a physical thing.”

That philosophy has led him to experiment with unusual forms of artistic engagement. “I do make chocolate as well,” Roger said. “And I’m trying to incorporate a Bitcoin-orientated show that is selling chocolate rather than selling music.” Instead of selling tracks or albums, he invites audiences to interact with ideas – through sound, visuals, and even taste.

It’s part of a broader rejection of conventional models that tie creative success to sales metrics or platform algorithms. In Roger’s world, art exists to connect – not convert.

Decentralizing distribution, one show at a time

His performances have reached audiences across Europe, with recent and upcoming shows in cities like London, Barcelona, and Prague. Many take place at Bitcoin-focused gatherings, where developers, activists, and creatives come together to exchange ideas outside corporate contexts.

Roger distributes his work through decentralized channels like Nostr, a censorship-resistant social protocol, and Wavlake, a music streaming platform built on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network. These tools enable value-for-value transactions and allow artists to share directly with their audiences – no record label or middleman required.

“I think it starts as money,” Roger said, “but I think the cultural one is where it’s at.” For him, Bitcoin isn’t defined solely by code or economics – it’s carried forward through stories, art, and emotional resonance.

“We’re here to tell the story,” he said, “and we’re here to tell our own stories through the way we come into Bitcoin.”

By operating in this way, Roger aims to show that Bitcoin’s impact can extend beyond balance sheets – into how we understand identity, community, and purpose.

Bitcoin art across borders

While Roger’s work is deeply personal, he sees it as part of a much broader cultural shift. “Europe is exploding. South America is exploring. Central America is exploding. Asia is kind of exploding as well,” he said. To him, this momentum isn’t just about regulation or adoption curves – it’s about creative energy.

“I think we’re just early in the cultural part,” he added. “But that’s what’s going to make it last.”

His optimism is rooted in the grassroots nature of the movement. Rather than wait for institutions to define Bitcoin’s role in society, Roger and other cultural contributors are shaping it themselves – through experimentation, symbolism, and independent creation.

In a digital world often driven by speculation and noise, Roger 9000 offers something slower and more deliberate. He’s not pitching a token or chasing viral metrics – he’s building meaning through expression. Whether it’s a layered performance, a book in progress, or a bar of Bitcoin-branded chocolate, each piece is part of a larger vision.

That vision asks a simple but subversive question: What if money could help us become more human?