Most of our NFT content has centered on the Ethereum network. While this is an excellent starting place for many non-fungible newbs, there’s a whole universe of UDAs (unique digital assets) that exist on Bitcoin — facilitated by RGB protocol and available on the Lightning Network.
We were so excited to learn about these developments by speaking with Heaven Quiban, Community and Art Coordinator at DIBA, a Bitcoin digital art marketplace that’s the first of its kind. In addition to this role, Heaven has worn many hats — as art collector, model, museum event coordinator and digital art creator.
We spoke about her shift from the museum world to a whirlwind career in Bitcoin, alongside her impactful networking within the crypto community.
This interview will be split between two newsletters. This first will cover Heaven’s experience in art and NFTs as well as some lesser-known facts about digital art on the Bitcoin network.
SAS: Tell me a little about your background — what you do and how you got into the crypto space?
HQ: I actually came from the art industry. I used to work as a public programs coordinator for the San Diego Museum of Art…curating my own group shows in San Diego, and then I moved to New York and wanted to keep doing that. I [helped] artists do their first solo exhibitions in New York and was also working as a corporate event coordinator…and then Covid hit.
Heaven was contacted by DIBA founder Gideon Nweze as a result of the work she had been doing in the art community. She quickly grew to learn all about NFTs and reach out to various artists and digital creators.
HQ: I needed to understand the fuller ecosystem of things, and specifically, how we were doing NFTs in Bitcoin — because that was a whole different type of technology than how it currently exists on…all these other blockchains.
We were pitching to investors; we were one of the top 10 finalists at the Bitcoin conference in Miami a few months ago.
It was Shark Tank style. We had five minutes to do the pitch. Gideon is the founder of DIBA, and at the time it was just me and him. We ended up getting in contact with our first big investor, Tim Draper.
From then, more Bitcoiners have come on, and we’ve been able to grow our team to seven people.
This entire time…I’ve been participating in the community however I can, listening to talks on Twitter Spaces and Clubhouse — just watching how other platforms are engaging with artists, are engaging with vendors, are developing.
It’s really interesting to see what some of the pain points are…super high gas fees, being rugged, people literally changing the art that’s associated with the token. All of these really big issues are happening on Ethereum mainly.
SAS: I think it’s a common misconception that NFTs only exist on the Ethereum blockchain — or that it’s something Bitcoin hasn’t yet adopted. Can you shed some light on what is being done in the Bitcoin market related to NFTs and what changes we could expect to see?
HQ: There are some centralized aspects of these other blockchains that, in turn, make an issue with the NFT that’s on top of that blockchain too. Even though I’ve been around it and asked a lot of questions, I really wanted some formal education about Bitcoin — and that’s how I ended up in Pomp’s course.
I’m still connected with the women there because there’s not a lot of information on NFTs on Bitcoin. I very quickly became the NFT person there; a lot of people came to me with their NFT questions.
The thing is, I’ve been watching the NFT space this year and participating in it here and there. I consider myself a small collector…but I’m seeing projects I’m liking and investing in them because I like the art and I like the story.
SAS: I imagine you were a wealth of knowledge for the [Women in Bitcoin] cohort. In my experience with buying NFTs and trying to learn about them, I think a lot of us can relate on that level where we just like what we see — or we like a story behind a project or group of artists.
HQ: There are so many reasons to invest in the space and every reason is valid, including the flippers.
I would ask artists, “do you feel any kind of way when you see people buying your stuff and immediately flipping them…” But [they’d say] “no, it actually helps me because one, royalties, and two, it raises the value of my art. If people see that my art is moving at all…people want to invest in the project.”
So I’m like, okay, that’s cool — I respect that. I feel like because I come from a more traditional space, I buy the art because I love it and I’m gonna hold this forever…so that’s kind of where I exist in the space.
I created an NFT, a one-of-one piece.
SAS: Where did you sell it? What platform did you use?
HQ: We sold it on Foundation. I did a collaboration with another female animator, just because I wanted to understand what this process was like.
It sold for 2 ETH in a couple weeks…I went to the NFT NYC Conference just last month and ended up meeting the collector, and it was a really cool experience — a lot more intimate than what buying art can sometimes feel like.
That’s why NFTs are so cool, because there’s this community aspect. But at the end of the day…I’m working for a Bitcoin NFT platform and I see why this is the best.
SAS: I’m curious about your expectations — how that Bitcoin platform works and how it differs from what’s already out there, some of the challenges you’re seeing?
HQ: A lot of people don’t know that NFTs started on Bitcoin. People have been trading NFTs on Bitcoin since 2015/2016. The very first person that ever made an NFT, his name is Kevin McCoy. I believe he minted using Namecoin which [originally forked from Bitcoin].
There’s all these other NFT trading [technologies] that are using Bitcoin as the base layer, but they’re using tokens on top of Bitcoin to trade the NFTs. Things like Namecoin, Counterparty, Liquid, or Bitcoin sidechains.
The trading of NFTs with Bitcoin has been around for years, but the thing is, people aren’t transacting directly in Bitcoin.
Heaven tells me about her efforts with DIBA to bring this wider community of Bitcoin-native NFT action and artistry to connect with the platform they’re building — along with big names in the ETH space, too.
HQ: When we talk about digital assets on top of Bitcoin, it inherits all these properties the Bitcoin blockchain also has. So, “why hasn’t it happened?” is what a lot of people are asking. Essentially, it’s the smart contract.
The protocol that we’re using is called RGB, and it’s a smart contract protocol that’s been developed for almost as long as Bitcoin has… They’ve just been working on it for so long but it just hasn’t been released yet.
So what Diba has been doing is building in parallel to them.
The smart contract protocol is what’s going to change the whole game, because it’s built in a way that’s way more secure…and it’s going to be built on top of Bitcoin.
Everything’s going to be exchanged in Bitcoin; that’s why it’s a really big deal for Bitcoiners.
Heaven explains what a Bitcoin UTXO is — an unspent transaction output on the Bitcoin blockchain. Using this new smart contract protocol, the digital art / asset attaches directly to a UTXO. This way, the UDA (Unique Digital Art) will contain a piece of Bitcoin inside of it.
SAS: That sounds really different…and valuable?
HQ: Exactly…there’s a piece of Bitcoin that the digital asset is basically traveling with.
This is a bit different than IPFS or the way that Ethereum functions because it’s basically just a link that points to the art. This is why people can hack an NFT, why people can change the NFT, rug pulls…this is a piece of tech that makes the art really vulnerable.
In developing DIBA, we realized we need to make this a really easy process that’s easy for people to understand — so we needed to build a wallet.
Join us next week, where Heaven will dive even deeper into DIBA’s role in non-custodial digital assets on Bitcoin. From wallets to privacy to product timelines, you’ll get an inside look into what’s shaking up the NFT space. In the meantime, you can learn more about DIBA via their Twitter, IG, Medium, and LinkedIn. See you then!