Introducing the Buterin Cards, a unique on-chain collection of 2,015 cards celebrating Ethereum's co-founder, Vitalik Buterin. Inspired by the iconic Nakamoto Cards on Bitcoin, the Buterin Cards aim to pay tribute to Vitalik's immense contributions to blockchain technology.

Permanently stored on the Ethereum blockchain, these cards are the result of a collaborative effort by JPEG miners who work together to upload each card's data on-chain. The face side of each card features an HTML and SVG-coded frame surrounding a JPEG image of Vitalik Buterin, designed by Xatarrer. At over 10 MB, this image holds the record for the largest stored JPEG on-chain at the time of minting.

Adding to the uniqueness of the cards, the face side background, designed by Paweł Dudko, showcases mesmerizing, dynamically moving rays of color. As a fusion of profile picture (pfp) NFTs and generative art, the Buterin Cards possess randomly-selected attributes during minting, such as one of 45 possible quotes from Vitalik.

The Buterin Cards are the second collection to utilize a technique called JPEG Mining. In this process, the miners are responsible for uploading the NFT components, including the HTML, SVG, and Vitalik JPEG. Using Progressive JPEG technology, the image is revealed as it is mined, and miners are rewarded with a Buterin Card for their efforts.

The JPEG mining process of the Buterin Cards consists of six phases:
✏️ Pencil Drawing: Miners upload the HTML and SVG, receiving a card with a hand-drawn vectorized SVG version of the JPEG, as no JPEG data is available yet.
🔳 Black & White: The intensity component of the progressive JPEG is uploaded, rendering the image in pure black and white.
🌫️ Grey Shades: Additional bits for the intensity component reveal a range of grey tones.
🟦 Blue Chroma: The blue chroma is uploaded, introducing blue and green hues to the JPEG.
🟥 Red Chroma: The red chroma is added, infusing red and pink shades into the image.
🌄 In the final phase, the AC components are uploaded, enhancing the image resolution.