Bank Runners

In 2020, I brought my Run on the Banks poster to life with animation, transforming it into a gripping visual narrative. The story follows a man who stumbles upon a bag of dollars outside the Bank for International Settlements—but he knows better. Recognizing the fragility of a fractional reserve system where only the fastest escape with their wealth, he discards the fiat and chooses Bitcoin.

Run on the Banks by Lucho Poletti (2020)

With unwavering conviction, he runs—not just away from the collapsing system, but on top of it, symbolizing defiance, self-custody, and the flight to financial sovereignty. This moment embodies the essence of Bank Runners—a tribute to those who refuse to be the last in line.

Running towards freedom

Cypherpunk Sanctorium (2020) is a 2-minute animated journey into Bitcoin’s power to reclaim financial sovereignty. The protagonist is relentlessly tracked for making illicit purchases and makes a pivotal choice - he runs toward Bitcoin. Inserting the coin into the bitcoin network, he symbolically takes full custody of his money and secures freedom. This moment captures the essence of Bank Runners—Bitcoin users breaking free from the oppressive fiat system. Run with them.

Cypherpunk Sanctorium (Lucho Poletti, 2020)

The Banknote art style

I’ve always been drawn to the intricate, authoritative beauty of banknotes and certificates—repurposing them as a powerful medium for propaganda art about better money. This style is visually striking and it carries weight, history, and familiarity, making it the perfect vehicle to challenge the fiat system and deliver Bitcoin’s message of financial sovereignty.

Printworks

Animations

With Bank Runners, I push this visual concept further—transforming the very symbols of control into declarations of sovereignty. Each piece captures the defiant spirit of individuals refusing to be trapped by a failing system.

Bank Runners isn’t just about art—it’s about celebrating the escape, the action, and the revolution unfolding in real time.

Bank Runners Creative Process

Each art layer was crafted through its own creative process, including vector art and text design, 2D animation, 3D modeling and animation in Cinema 4D, and video editing techniques to create portrait loops using archival footage.

Vector illustration

As with most of my digital art, the process began in Illustrator. First, I created all the vector art layers in individual illustrator files.

All individual layers were created starting with the base colors, textures, and border designs and building up the rest of the layers to complete the Bank Runners prototype - adornments, corner emblems, stamps, center frame, text themes, etc.

I used a master composition to compile all the layer files and create the prototype banknote. As I made changes to prototype designs, I would cycle through all the attribute layers to make sure everything fit right and looked good for the final banknotes.

Animation

All vector art was imported into After Effects and compiled into layers. Layer groups were set up for each attribute containing all the different traits, and individual compositions were also set up for each trait to create animations and make changes to each element as needed.

Individual 3D animation and modeling processes were done in C4D for all the running characters, two satoshis, and the 3D satoshi masks on portrait characters. Videos of the 3D animations were imported into After Effects to apply further visual effects and compile into final compositions.

Techniques like face masking, video tracking, and rotoscoping were used to create the portrait loops. AI-powered fixes were also used on some source footage to add extra polish.

Compiling and Rendering

Once the art and animations were finalized, JavaScript-based expressions were used in After Effects to select specific elements based on numeric data from a carefully curated attributes database. The attributes spreadsheet was manually created and curated to align with my artistic vision, ensuring that each Bank Runner output was as unique as possible.

Twelve art layer groups (attributes) were carefully organized and manipulated through the attributes database, allowing for the seamless creation of uniquely composed banknotes—each telling a unique story of monetary revolution.