Ok, it is now... 10:23pm EST...
I have set my Rewards to Power Up... because I think that's what you do...
I've read as much of the FAQ as I can/care to...
And I have decided my topic: The Crypto Economy and how exactly a noob like me can navigate it and maybe make some money for the family while I'm at it.
Alright then... typing... words...
Bah! Enough dramatizing, you are either interested in the topic or ended up here accidentally and are likely leaving... yup its ok... no no apologies needed... just go... ok... yes bye... ... ... ok they're gone, let's get down to business.
What does everyone (or surprisingly not even close to everyone in some places... like my house) know about cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin. Yup, Big. Bold. Burgeoning with value and bringing fortune wherever it goes. Yup Bitcoin.
Aaand that's about it for the average person. They don't hunt down white papers and read up on all things intended, intentional and interesting about the guts of cryptocurrencies. Honestly I've mentioned Litecoin and Dogeoin to people and gotten nothing but blank stares.
Oh I go through the motions and try to explain what I can, which is not a lot but still light years beyond some, but the blank stares often turn into wandering gazes and shifting feet. So I trail off, crack a joke about my "nerdy" pursuits and go back to my self driven education in the world of money.
Is it really money though?
Of course it is, Bitcoin is valuable because privacy and speed (arguable these days with all the infighting tbh) are valuable. Bitcoin is valuable because having a currency that two people value at opposite ends of the globe is a valuable thing. Hell its not just valuable, its practical. To some people the thought of my sending a packet of information out into the aether (not Ether... that's money too) and getting a case of popcorn at my door a few days later seems downright magical to some. Technology not understood by the masses is in essence magic anyway. Voodoo money. (picture me waving my hands all creepy at the screen here)
Money exists because we are all pretty lazy in general. Who wants to drag a cow to market when a pocket of silver will do. Money of any kind spells the end of the magic bean market but with what Bitbean has been up to the past week... I think they cornered that market already.
But seriously, who really wants to lug a bunch of gold bars halfway across the world to buy a new computer. Yes its better than the 200 bales of wool or wheat or whatever it represents but even gold can be hard to transport. Also pirates... never forget pirates.
So in all honesty, Bitcoin is a bit of a financial miracle, may Satoshi be with you always. It takes this electronic economy we have all been participating in and has potentially given it its own life. I can search the internet now pausing every once in a while to watch an ad and get a tiny dribble of Bitcoin into my wallet. I can take that Bitcoin and invest in people or business at a bunch of websites that do good work bringing finances back into our own hands. I can turn a profit and send that bitcoin to an exchange to convert into the mighty canadian dollar and use it to buy milk for my kids.
In the future I'm hoping i can just buy the milk directly with bitcoin, save myself the exchange fee.
I've got a lot to write about in general but that's the premise of my blog here on Steemit... I guess I ask you guys to upvote or like or curate or something right?
Do that... whatever it is... that... but here on my thing.
Tansley
PS next post will be detailing myself a bit... for my own amusement really but it will give you an idea of who I am as a human.
PPS i added #introduceyourself to the tags... which i didn't know was a... thing... until i did know... which is now and why im writing this PPS