Todays Top Stories

Editor: @PhoenixxDown

Remembering Rutherford Chang, The Visionary Behind "CENTS"

The art world lost a true visionary yesterday with the passing of Rutherford Chang at 45. Known for his ability to turn the ordinary into the profound, Chang’s work blurred the lines between art, history, and technology, challenging perceptions of value and permanence.

His influence extended across both the traditional and digital art worlds, but in the Ordinals space, he was especially revered for his "CENTS" collection—a project that redefined currency, ownership, and blockchain’s role in contemporary art.

The vision behind "CENTS" was an ambitious one: Chang meticulously gathered 10,000 pre-1982 U.S. pennies, chosen for their high copper content and historical significance. Each was documented and cataloged before being melted into a 68-pound copper cube—a physical distillation of an entire monetary system.

Chang later took it further, inscribing the cube onto the Bitcoin blockchain as an Ordinal. By turning pennies into digital artifacts, he bridged numismatics with blockchain, sparking new conversations about ownership, scarcity, and permanence in a decentralized world.

When the collection hit the auction block at Christie’s, it became clear that Chang had seen the future long before most.

Beyond "CENTS," his work revolved around obsessive documentation and transformation. "We Buy White Albums" saw him amass over 3,400 copies of The Beatles’ 1968 White Album, treating each scuff, stain, and signature as part of a living time capsule. "Alphabetized Newspaper" took an entire day’s newspaper and rearranged every single word in alphabetical order, exposing the underlying structure of media and language in a way that was both absurd and profound.

But one of his most fascinating projects—and perhaps the most relatable to anyone in markets—was "Game Boy Tetris." Chang played the classic Game Boy version over 1,500 times, eventually beating Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak on the leaderboard.

He saw Tetris as a metaphor for capitalism and modern life—an endless pursuit of perfection where small mistakes can compound into disaster. That same feeling—that pressure of precision, that inevitability of failure—is something every trader, collector, and investor knows all too well.

The Ordinals world mourns Rutherford Chang, but his work—his meticulous eye, his ability to remix history and technology into something new—isn’t going anywhere. Through "CENTS," he left behind a permanent mark, one that will continue shaping the intersection of art, blockchain, and perception for years to come.

• CENTS Magic Eden Collection Page

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Todays Markets

Ordinals

An unremarkable 24 hours in the Ordinals market, with 70% of featured collections down on the day.

CENTS pulls back after yesterday’s 2x run, but the drop is a manageable 14%. NodeMonkes takes the smallest hit, shedding just under 2% of its value.

Meanwhile, Based Angels barely holds on to 10th place, posting a 3.3% gain, making it the best-performing collection of the day.

Runes (Bitcoin Memecoins)

The $DOG Domination announcement doesn’t seem to have moved the needle much. Some found the news underwhelming, while others pointed to short attention spans making the announcement feel too drawn out.

Much like Ordinals, most Runes are down—8 out of 10 to be exact. The old rivalry between Ordinals and Runes factions has flared up again, but the data is clear: neither is performing well right now.

If you’re a believer in Bitcoin-based assets, the core thesis remains the same. Both ecosystems have their challenges, but don’t get psyopped into taking sides. FUD is often driven by ulterior motives.

Todays Opportunities

Giveaways

There are currently no raffles taking place today, but check back tomorrow for what’s next so you don’t miss out.