Blockchain tribes - a problem worth solving

I went to a Bitcoin meetup in my neighborhood last night. I already know the organizers and I wanted to meep more people that believe in the power of about the technologies that support freedom.

Please register and give me your details

When I arrived, one of the hosts asked my to register on a tablet that was at the front door. It asked for first name, last name, email, phone number and maybe a few more details. Of course I presented myself as Decentralized Creative and got a funny look from the guy when I refused to provide my real name and details.

"I value my privacy dear friend" :)

I could tell he was thinking some thing like "Ok, whatever weirdo" 😄
The venue is a carefully curated clothing store which has custom and second-hand items. Really tastefully selected art, home decor and vinyls.

Check out this vintage TRS-80 by Radio Shack:

Buy and HODL forever; get rich

This was the focus of the first speaker. The bitcoin price has outperformed every asset class in the history of mankind. Metals, stocks, real estate... All you have to do is buy it and hold forever and watch your net worth grow. Bitcoin is the store of value for institutions.

While I do hold bitcoin as part of my savings I also believe that this is not the only problem blockchain solves.
Also, buying bitcoin with fiat is not the only way to acquire bitcoin. If bitcoiners want BTC to be used as money, you have to start thinking about it as currency. That means accepting bitcoin as payment for goods and services and maybe even pricing things in terms of BTC.

^{image source: bitcoin.com}

Bitcoin is signal; everything else is noise

Focus only on buying bitcoin, everything else is a scam.

While it is true that there are have been huge scams like FTX, pump & dump schemes This is an argument I just don't understand. There are other incredible blockchains like Litecoin and Dash that have robust history and solve actual problems like privacy and fast payments.

I just don't understand why so many bitcoiners think there is only one cryptocurrency that will survive, especially when most of them don't use it as currency, only as a store of value.

Blockchain tribalism is a thing. One day it might not be

I'm at my desk watching Damir (Hive account@lordbutterfly)'s presentation from HIVE Summit Aachen held earlier this year in which he talks about the problem of blockchain tribalism. There isn't a whole lot of interoperability or collaboration between blockchains. Meetups like the one mention above focus on the best cryptocurrency, which is obviously theirs.

Hopefully, the development of Hive account@vsc.network, the cryptocurrency ecosystem as a whole will move closer to the point where users can harness the benefits of different blockchains, maybe even without knowing much about the tech their using.

Here is Damir's presentation on VSC. I'll make some short clips from it and share for you to have bite-sized pearls of wisdom.