2 years ago
This is an sentiment editorial by Jonathan Leger, a bundle developer and writer of the Regarding Bitcoin newsletter. A mentation of this nonfiction was primitively published connected Substack.
I was raised successful a doomsday cult that taught that God was getting acceptable to wage the warfare of Armageddon and bring astir the extremity of the existent satellite order. The governments, each ruled by the devil, would beryllium replaced with the Kingdom of Heaven ruled by Jesus Christ. The cult discouraged immoderate benignant of existent fiscal readying due to the fact that of this worldview. After all, what was the constituent of investing successful a strategy facing imminent destruction?
This utmost spiritual upbringing — and my eventual flight from it — helped maine successful my way to knowing Bitcoin Maximalism.
Discovering Bitcoin
My Bitcoin acquisition began with a losing commercialized successful the summertime of 2014. After speechmaking a fewer articles astir this “magic net money,” I bought my archetypal full coin for astir $500. I wasn’t prepared for however volatile the terms swings would be, though, and sold astatine a nonaccomplishment aboriginal that year. If lone I had known…
The past 5 years person been an aggravated learning acquisition for me. At the extremity of 2017, I near the cult with my wife, who is presently shunned by her full household (as required by cult doctrine). I mislaid each of my “friends” arsenic well. We had to larn however the existent satellite worked and however to physique a societal web extracurricular of the ready-made acceptable of “friends” handed to america by the church, arsenic getting adjacent to non-members was profoundly discouraged. All non-members were going to dice by God’s manus astatine Armageddon anyway, truthful determination was nary constituent successful getting excessively familiar. Plus, their wicked ways mightiness hitch disconnected connected you, truthful it was champion to support your region for fearfulness that you mightiness get deed by a stray fireball erstwhile the extremity came.
After leaving the cult, I embraced beingness with the fervor of a wrongly-jailed captive embracing state upon exoneration. I studied authorities for the archetypal time, since members didn’t ballot oregon enactment successful immoderate signifier of campaigning owed to the content that each earthly governments were Satanic. I work books connected however acold humanity had precocious and however overmuch amended disconnected we each are than successful centuries past, nevertheless imperfect the existent satellite whitethorn be. I was excited and optimistic for the future.
In 2004, I had started and grew a palmy concern arsenic a bundle developer and net selling coach. The tools our squad developed helped radical vie with larger companies for getting websites to the apical of the hunt results successful Google, arsenic good arsenic different related usage cases. For galore years, searching Google for “coolest feline connected the planet” returned my website arsenic the fig 1 result, demonstrating the value of the Bitcoiner mantra, “Don’t trust, verify.”
Despite making millions of dollars successful palmy bundle merchandise launches, I mislaid astir of it done mediocre fiscal decisions coupled with intensifying contention from overmuch amended capitalized companies. On apical of that, I went done a precise expensive, acrimonious divorce.
“Love is grand,” they say, “but divorcement is simply a 100 grand.” I grew up mediocre and had small ceremonial oregon idiosyncratic acquisition successful however to decently negociate wealth oregon what wealth adjacent truly was, truthful erstwhile I yet “made it” I didn’t cognize however to decently grip it.
As you mightiness imagine, it wasn’t each bad. The wealth afforded maine galore unthinkable idiosyncratic experiences. But my idiosyncratic and location beingness were a mess, I was inactive a existent believer successful the doomsday cult praying for the extremity of the world, and connected equilibrium was precise unhappy. I felt similar the affluent writer of Ecclesiastes, “I person seen each the works that are done nether the sun; and, behold, each is vanity and vexation of spirit.”
In 2019, I was 42 years old, had escaped the cult and was remarried to a fantastic pistillate whom I adore. I spent overmuch of my clip studying markets to forestall repeating past mistakes and moving to make a status plan. I did good with stocks that twelvemonth but kept proceeding astir Bitcoin and however it was similar thing else. After speechmaking “The Bitcoin Standard,” I yet understood wherefore dependable wealth was important and wherefore fiat was doomed to fail. I again bought into BTC, this clip astatine astir $9,000.
Contagion Hits
When COVID-19 archetypal reared its disfigured caput successful aboriginal 2020, I did what galore radical did: perceive to the “experts.” But arsenic the scenes of pandemic theatre played out, I began to recognize that authorities exhibited galore of the aforesaid attributes arsenic the cult I came retired of. There were leaders that could not beryllium questioned and members who would shame and shun anyone who dared to talk up. Their deity was “The Science,” their Pope, Anthony Fauci, their clergy, the CDC and politicians. Rights were eroded and tiny businesses unopen down portion large container chains and mega-corporations raked successful grounds profits, including Big Pharma. Trillions of dollars were printed retired of bladed air, proving existent the Cantillon effect that says the largest beneficiaries of changes successful wealth proviso are the radical and corporations closest to the wealth printers.
Unlike galore hardcore Bitcoiners, my concern goals were purely financial, not philosophical. Like truthful galore others successful the crypto casino, I was chasing gains. Because of this, I sold my bitcoin astatine $45,000 and jumped into altcoins with the content that I could multiply my investment, which I did. In fact, I did good capable to beryllium capable to halt penning bundle for astir a twelvemonth and a half, which was a much-needed hiatus and gave maine adjacent much clip for the probe I was doing.
Then came the marketplace clang of 2022. With ostentation intelligibly not “transitory,” the wealth printer was halted, and the Federal Reserve began to rise rates astatine a historically-unprecedented pace. Markets reacted negatively, bringing each cryptocurrencies down with them. The terms of bitcoin cratered on with everything else. Low prices exposed the weakness of overleveraged schemes similar Celsius and Three Arrows Capital, sending them into bankruptcy. Terra collapsed on with a big of different smaller crypto operations.
The purportedly second-largest centralized crypto speech successful the world, FTX, stepped successful with a committedness to rescue the industry, lone to crook retired to beryllium the largest fraud of them each erstwhile its ain equilibrium expanse was leaked. FTX’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), was accused of stealing investors’ and users’ wealth and sending it to its trading arm, Alameda, wherever it was gambled distant connected high-risk trades that spectacularly failed to the tune of $10 billion.
A monolithic “hack” of FTX followed soon thereafter, the repercussions of which are inactive playing out. Evidence of governmental intrigue emerged, supported by the information that astir mainstream media sum treated SBF with kid gloves, immoderate adjacent coating him arsenic a unfortunate alternatively than a predator. As of this writing, cipher has been arrested. By mode of comparison, Bernie Madoff was successful handcuffs the time aft his fraud was uncovered.
Bitcoin began flying disconnected exchanges portion Bitcoiners shook their damn heads astatine however galore radical had again ignored 1 of their astir basal truths, “Not your keys, not your coins.” While I was gladsome to spot radical yet listening, the harm done was tremendous, some successful fiscal and reputational loss. Since my commencement with Bitcoin, I ever self-custodied my bags and truthful was unaffected by immoderate of the collapses, astatine slightest arsenic acold arsenic losing immoderate of my holdings.
Though I ne'er mislaid my respect for Bitcoin oregon the principles of decentralization and dependable money, these events returned them beforehand and halfway to my consciousness. I resumed listening to Bitcoiner podcasts, speechmaking long-form articles, watching videos and reminding myself conscionable however severely disconnected the existent satellite fiscal strategy truly is.
“It’s conscionable math,” accidental the Bitcoiners, and I judge they are correct. There’s nary stopping the indebtedness spiral now. The extremity is so coming, conscionable not successful the mode I had been taught increasing up.
I Finally Get It: ‘Don’t Trust, Verify’
During the clip I was trading and HODLing altcoins, I thought Bitcoin Maxis were excessively extreme. Even though I agreed with their views connected dependable wealth and decentralization and agreed that most cryptos were conscionable vaporware rug pulls waiting to happen, I didn’t recognize their disdain for every crypto that wasn’t bitcoin. This was particularly existent for projects that were actively being utilized successful the existent satellite to seemingly beneficial effect.
As a bundle developer myself, I americium alert that determination is nary azygous instrumentality that covers each usage cases. There’s Windows, oregon MacOS X, oregon Linux for computers, Android oregon Apple’s iOS for phones, and countless antithetic apps that tally connected each of those platforms that execute antithetic functions, galore of them competing for marketplace share. This contention encourages innovation which yet makes each bundle better. That free-market rule is thing Bitcoiners honor, truthful I didn’t recognize wherefore they jettisoned it erstwhile it came to cryptocurrencies. My presumption was they did truthful retired of self-interest. If radical invested successful different projects, they wouldn’t enactment their wealth successful bitcoin, which wounded the Bitcoiner’s ain portfolio.
Then determination was impervious of work. It’s powerfulness intensive and comparatively slow, adjacent if acold superior to slope technologies similar SWIFT successful presumption of velocity and guaranteed settlement. Even if the “green” statement was conscionable fear, uncertainty and uncertainty (FUD), wherefore instrumentality with impervious of enactment erstwhile different tech had proven acold faster and much efficient, making it overmuch much viable for payments systems?
Today, astatine last, aft everything that’s happened implicit the past 3 years, I yet get it.
“Don’t trust, verify.”
The full Bitcoiner doctrine comes down to those 3 words. Trust has ever been abused, adjacent if lone by a tiny minority. But each it takes is simply a number of radical abusing and misusing your spot to origin you, and everyone other who trusts them, sedate harm. So don’t trust, verify.
How does this subordinate to Bitcoiner’s referring to each different cryptos arsenic “shitcoins” and dismissing them outright? It’s simple. The full fiat currency strategy is simply a Ponzi scheme. Fiat is “money by decree” — it’s not backed by immoderate existent plus and lone has worth due to the fact that the authorities says it does. Governments usage fiat to rob citizens by printing wealth without citizens’ consent. This is, successful effect, a taxation that has not been approved by oregon voted connected by the people. It’s theft.
For example, anterior to fiat, governments would request existent hard currency (usually gold) to money the wars they wanted to fight. If they didn’t person the money, they couldn’t combat the wars without raising taxes, which is ne'er a fashionable proposition. With fiat, however, the authorities tin people arsenic overmuch wealth arsenic they want, pulling the wealth to money their self-serving conflicts retired of the pockets of the radical who usage that fiat currency: nary support necessary, and without astir radical realizing what’s happening.
Fiat besides keeps radical connected a perpetual hamster instrumentality done inflation. If you cognize the wealth you person successful the slope volition beryllium worthy little adjacent twelvemonth than it is this year, you indispensable support trying harder to gain much money, twelvemonth aft year, conscionable to support your caput supra water. This keeps the bulk of radical arsenic perpetual wage slaves, ne'er rather capable to get ahead, astatine slightest not capable to halt and bask their lives.
Without ostentation you could unrecorded beneath your means, prevention your other money, and spot successful the deflationary effects of exertion to marque your wealth agelong overmuch further erstwhile you determine to retire. After all, with exertion perpetually making proviso chains much businesslike done improvements successful proscription and automation, everything should cost less implicit time, not more. And yet prices support rising. Why? Inflation.
So what does fiat person to bash with cryptocurrencies different than bitcoin? All different cryptocurrencies are moving within the existent fiscal strategy trying to amended it, marque it much efficient, supply amended privacy, etc. This has immoderate affirmative effects. For instance, stablecoins springiness entree to the U.S. dollar to radical successful countries whose currency is undergoing terrible ostentation and whose banking systems are corrupt oregon unreliable. But it inactive requires the fiat Ponzi to function.
You tin speech until you’re bluish successful the look astir however a highly-efficient cryptocurrency could springiness entree to the fiscal strategy to billions of unbanked individuals, improving their lives by helping them flight their ain inflationary currencies and bypassing their corrupt governments. But it doesn’t substance due to the fact that you’re lone providing those radical entree to different fiat currency, and fiat is murdering the escaped market. You tin speech astir however issuing tokens springiness tiny businesses the quality to rise wealth without having to wage billions to large banks to IPO. Doesn’t matter. You’re inactive moving within the fiat system, and the fiat strategy is the cardinal basal of each the problems to statesman with.
To the Bitcoiner, cryptocurrencies are decks being built onto the Titanic arsenic it sinks, portion Bitcoin is the beingness raft radical request to get connected to prevention themselves. The tech of immoderate cryptos mightiness beryllium great, but it lone delays the inevitable demise of the sinking ship. Maxis judge that bitcoin is destined to regenerate fiat, not enactment it up, returning dependable wealth to the world. As they often say, “Bitcoin fixes this.”
For Bitcoiners, this isn’t conscionable astir money. It’s a guidestone that influences each facet of life. It’s a content system, though I’ll halt abbreviated of calling it a religion, since radical of each conceivable religion besides subscribe to its tenants. To those who aren’t Bitcoiners, maxis tin look to beryllium successful immoderate benignant of cult, but it’s not a cult. Quite the opposite, successful fact.
Bitcoiners are radical who, similar me, person escaped a cult: the cult of fiat. Once they were similar everyone else, brainwashed into believing that the authorities could beryllium trusted with power implicit the wealth printer, that the Fed was susceptible of cardinal readying of the economy, and that ostentation was indispensable for economical growth.
Plato’s celebrated Allegory of the Cage describes a radical of radical who person lived chained to the partition of a cave for their full lives. All they tin spot is simply a blank partition and the shadows formed upon it from a occurrence burning down them. They springiness the shadows names, believing them to beryllium existent representations of the existent world. One of the prisoners escapes from the cave and, having experienced the existent world, realizes that the shadows are not existent representations of it. He returns to the cave to effort and person the different prisoners, but they don’t judge him due to the fact that the shadows are each they person ever known. Bitcoiners are the escaped man.
The Bitcoiner people tin beryllium rowdy and crass and harsh, but you indispensable see what they’re retired to execute and what they’re up against. Their endeavor is not for the faint of heart. It’s a existent David and Goliath moment. The Bitcoiner stands, aureate coins successful hand, looking the elephantine successful the oculus with a defiance that onlookers usually comprehend arsenic madness. Maybe it is madness, but without that dauntless quality, Bitcoin wouldn’t person travel arsenic acold arsenic it has. And I, for one, volition cheer them connected arsenic the elephantine collapses.
This is simply a impermanent station by Jonathan Leger. Opinions expressed are wholly their ain and bash not needfully bespeak those of BTC Inc oregon Bitcoin Magazine.
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