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A little more than seven years ago, on May 22, 2010, a developer bought two pizzas from Papa John’s Pizza using 10,000 units of a currency few on the planet had ever heard of, Bitcoin.
Things have changed drastically since then. Cryptocurrency is transforming people’s lives profoundly. Last week I purchased a 2016 Toyota Prius for the equivalent of 1.5 Bitcoin (based on BTC’s value when I bought the car.) I know it’s not a Lambo but it does get 55 miles to a gallon of gas. The Prius is like piloting a spaceship compared with driving my previous car, a 2010 Honda Fit and seems like a logical choice before I eventually make the leap to a Tesla. Technology, and the world, are moving at such a rapid pace.
It’s easy to lose sight of just how valuable cryptocurrency is if it’s locked up in a wallet or on an exchange. I think it’s good, even for the HODL’rs to cash out a small bit from time to time to truly remember and appreciate the incredible value of this crypto/blockchain sector. Cryptocurrency becomes very real when you make a purchase with it and experience its value in real world terms.
I realize there’s even more gravitas surrounding the crypto/blockchain sector in the developing world. In their case, cryptocurrency can make the difference as to whether or not they, or their children, have enough food in their stomachs to survive another week. It doesn’t get any more real than that.
This morning, as I type this, my portfolio is in slow recovery from the recent crash. At its worst, it was down nearly forty percent. Volatility is the price we pay for being early adopters. I’ve been in the game long enough to know it will bounce back but dips like this still leave a psychological mark, each and every time. Market corrections are healthy and each time the market bounces back and blows past old price ceilings I have more faith in the resiliency of digital currency and more hope for the future.
From the news of Korea barring crypto trading to China’s recent announcement of banning its citizens from foreign exchanges, to Jamie Dimon’s nonsense, through these last few months I’ve watched, wave after wave of orchestrated efforts to strike at the heart of the market and bring this crypto/blockchain movement down or manipulate it for their own gains.
No one really knows what tomorrow will bring. A good rule in crypto (as in life), if someone claims to be a prophet, run the other way quickly. That said, the people whose opinions I value the most are predicting this will be another record year for the crypto sector. I’ve shifted my focus away from low sat coins to only quality coins that have stellar dev teams and real world uses for their tech.
I’m, slowly, beginning to inhabit more and more in this crypto space and less in the “old world.” As I do this, I see my perspectives shifting, my world shrinking, and my potential expanding. I really do think this technology is the key to making our world a better place, or at least the spark that will start the fire.
This adventure has turned into so much more than I ever could have imagined when I began writing on Steemit in July of 2016. In the past eighteen months have quit my job to pursue my passion, have traveled to Europe twice, have spoken at two SteemFests, and am working on what we hope will be transformative film series (HardFork) with a team of friends that I love.
In a few days we’ll load up the Prius for a road trip to Brooklyn to spend two weeks of intensive writing on the HardFork series. This is truly living. If it all ended tomorrow I’d still be smiling for the rest of my days. That’s all that really matters.
(Gif sourced from Giphy.com)
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