Series: Gordon's (Written) Commentary On The Best Crypto Video Discussion Of 2020
Before I write a single opinion, Lemme just post the video here:
These guys, obviously including Roger Ver, deserve your attention so much, that if you have to choose between reading this or watching the video, seriously watch the video.
Even if you are certain you know 20X more than me... and everyone else, about crypto, watch it.
Okay, now for my partly exhaustive written breakdown of this excellent discussion. An introduction to what I am already certain is appropriate to call a series: I am writing this series to emphasize some of the infinitely important points these folks make, and to get you thinking outside of your own mental narrative you have likely built around yourselves. I am doing so, because I am challenging myself to do the same for myself. I do have strong positions on a myriad of topics, but I want to always be open to expand my understanding of complex topics regardless of where I stand.
My approach to this series is to break down a point made and provide the timestamp, so you can read, reference the video, and enter into that discussion wherever you prefer to reside on the internet, whether it is Twitter, YT, IG, FB or wuttevah.
1. How To Get The Word Out About Crypto
The first topic I'd love to comment on deals with the video at 1:02. It is brief. The point is made that Roger Ver has utilized 2 methods to get the word out on Bitcoin. I am here to write about the first approach only. They explain in the video that in the earliest days of Bitcoin, Roger got the word out by giving away Bitcoin, and secondly when he was so irrationally attacked and vilified for his positions, it gave Roger a larger platform and a larger megaphone to be heard by the community at large.
Let's talk about that first approach.
As much as I hate what happened in the BCH vs. BSV war, it truly made me feel a part of something important and vastly bigger than myself. I found that, for all of the things I like and strongly dislike about the world of crypto, I have analyzed things that most people will never fully understand. I only believe in my own position on how the economics of free-will investing and the restraints that choke the life out are important, because I've lived an experience unique to myself for more than 2 years now. I've done so passionately and 12-18 hours/day including TurkeyDay and Christmas. That is infinitely more the case with Roger. In my assessment, which is accurate, and my feelings of the fallout regarding the Bitcoin fork wars, I've always made a cautious and determined distinction between Roger Ver and Craig Wright. They are two very different personas with strong opinions and intelligent arguments, but we find a much higher caliber person in Roger. So, even if I disagree with many things, Roger will always have my respect. That matters a lot to me, and probably matters very little to him, since I'm 3D cartoon guy, but I'm really a real dude.
It was actually in the early Bitcoin documentaries that archive Roger's determination to set the world to Bitcoin and economic freedom that earned my interest and respect. His straight-forward approach to educating the world about Bitcoin could have been done many different ways, but choosing to travel TO his audience, get right in the center of a crowd, and peddle his point was admirable and the beginning of what I was certain would continue to be his legacy, which is to be tireless. Anyone who thinks anything negative about Roger, including myself, cannot ignore his passion, energy, dogged determinism and apparent optimism for cryptocurrency. For that reason, I would be willing to venture a guess that more people are aware of Bitcoin because of Roger, not just the points that he makes, but his energy and willingness to do what other significantly lesser personalities are unable to extend the energy to do, than Satoshi, CSW aka Notoshi, Biconnnnekkkkkk, Anton, Pomp and others combined. In today's crypto climate, there are perhaps a dozen competent influencers in the space, and I do hope someday to be added to those that have helped people think for themselves and form an opinion about crypto, namely what to do in crypto, but Roger easilye has 3-4 years advance influence on all of them, and a good 7 years ahead of me.
I also happen to believe that Roger's first approach is the best approach. If we had 100 Rogers circa 2011, we'd also have 1 billion Bitcoin/crypto users; I am certain of it.
Another influential person in crypto, Richard Heart, makes numerous excellent points about why we are now past the decade mark still without clear direction and valid use cases that convince the rest of the world that magical internet money is important. I agree with many of them, to summarize that if the marketing, promotion, messaging, branding, ALL things that matter with a great deal of weight, were managed at 1/100th the level of care and attention, to the underlying technology, mass adoption easily would have come prior to 2017 when Bitcoin kissed $20,000 before it's dive, eventually below $3K (that thing that Bitcoin does better than anyone else).
So, for this first in the series, it is worth your time to do some research to watch Roger in early Bitcoin documentaries, learn about him, study his approach. If you are just getting into crypto; learn about his first approach to simply give it away. If you are a small crypto startup or a known coin/token project, WATCH what Roger did; you are totally botching it for your own project!
If there is anything about crypto that hinders mass adoption, it is the clunky, confused, technologically unbalanced, circa-1998-internet mentality of front-end-usefulness, that turns a lot of people away. Simply traveling the world with angel investor money and showing people how to use your token by giving it directly to strangers is the perfect way to remove the first layer of fear. Think about it; we have a rising generation that has not been taught much about history or economics, and they likely have not written checks and are bombarded with the message that fiat is fake and central banks are the devil. All of this may be true, but they still need jobs and to interact with the world with some kind of money. If we're going to warn them against the establishment, we better protect them from the new establishment in the crypto world.
People are less likely to fear you as a scam, if they meet you face to face, or someone who represents you, and are showed hands-on the why, and how, of using your unicorn money.
People are also going to continue to be confused about WHAT crypto is, and for that reason, the best advertisement is to use it, to show them that it works, and now that they own some, show them how to do something with it!
Whether it is the J.K. Rowling incident, the fork wars, CSW's approach to representing Satoshi's vision by desperately wanting everyone to know about CSW and suing anyone who exposes his antics or disagrees with him, or the ICO scams that scare people away from crypto, not to mention the psycho maxi's that surely give pause to any newcomer, the crypto world continues to succeed at the very opposite of mass adoption. You cannot blame a single person for running from crypto after learning as much as possible about crypto.
In the end, if you run across more discussions like what is taking place in the video that has launched my wish to do this series, the more use case and adoption you are going to see. These guys are intelligent, seem like they won't burn you at the stake if you disagree and would like to discuss the topics with them, they do not curse like sailors and make threats, so you could share it with your 10 year old or grandparents without disclaimers, and in general I tend to believe their motives are pure; we all need crypto and it is worth our time and attention.
Thank you for reading. Please check out each new post in the series, but more importantly, watch the video.
... and for now, Crypto Gordon Freeman, Crypto Super Hero out.
Originally published by me here:
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