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75 sats \ 3 replies \ @kepford 30 Jun \ on: My friends think Bitcoin is a joke. There's nowhere to spend it or Lightning. bitcoin
The masses are missing their chance to front run the elite. Its on them for being sheep. I've come to that realization. I have talked to people till I'm blue in the face about it. Its like a stone wall. Its a waste of time. Bitcoin will win, its just that the masses have always been and will always be followers. They are risk averse. Not in investing but in the space of ideas.
With the government pretending to be pro-bitcoin and ETFs gaining adoption we are seeing the wealthy try to "adopt" bitcoin. They don't really get it either but they realize it is something they should be exposed to. Even if they don't admit it.
I firmly believe those that have done the work will be rewarded for that work and bitcoin will enrich the lives of everyone. It won't make everyone rich, but that's a dumb idea anyway.
Here's the thing I think about when this topic comes up. If bitcoin is at 100k+ with so little understanding of its true utility and worth for mankind. What the heck is actually worth? I don't think anyone really knows. But I can't see it being worth less than it is now. I see it as exponentially more valuable than it is today. 10x is probably way off actually.
For the past 5 years now I've been taking bitcoin seriously. Not just stacking but learning how it works. How the tools work. How to communicate why it works. How to answer questions. How to teach people how to use it. I have very few opportunities to use this knowledge now. But I'm preparing myself to be an uncle Jim. I am for my family and a friend but pretty much everyone else is clueless and fast asleep.
This isn't depressing really. It should be expected. I've written about adjusting our time preference many times. The US is fat and happy. Even today with things not being so great. When people need it, bitcoin will be there if we, the vanguard keep working at it. Using it. Using the tools and preparing.
I agree with this post 100%. With regards to 'the other people' and the world in general... you described my experience perfectly. The stone wall the waste of time etc... yup.
The masses are missing their chance to front run the elite
It's a shame. Every BTC that MSTR gobbles up each week is another whole-coiner that will never be. Think about that.
The adoption may be slower than some would expect or like, but the major barrier is peoples' stupidity, and I see it as my opportunity. So I see no incentive to accelerate the process. That is why I do not orange pill, I do not talk about it to anyone I know, I do not go to Bitcoin conferences or meetups, do not wear a Bitcoin t-shirt.
I consider myself a latecomer to Bitcoin, not because I ever believed in Fiat (stacking Gold since I started having any meaningful savings), but somewhat because of my own laziness to understand Bitcoin-the theory (secure hash, elliptic curve cryptography, Blockchain) and operation (how to work with a node and wallet). I didn't put money into something I do not understand. But now that I see the light, I need more time to stack enough and a faster adoption (meaning an inevitable price surge) is not helpful to me.
I remember a YouTube video from a Bitcoin blogger who went to some Philippines island where a shop said they took Bitcoin for payment last year. Asked why not this year, the nonchalant answer (from the owner) was he found it difficult to convert, and forgot some password. This was a year when Bitcoin had a big bull-run, and their peso was going down against USD. He does not want more money, he just wants familiarity.
My conclusion (after watching many such episodes) is, too many poor people, would rather suffer, watch their savings evaporate and complain, than spending a tiny bit of intellectual horsepower to think and act outside their comfort zone. Their inertia is my opportunity.
This also brings me to my next point and that runs contrary to what many maxis and BTC evangelists imply, who say adoption happens at grassroot. Not really, a few BTC circular economies you see in Latin America or Africa stay alive only by Bitcoin donation from some NGOs. To me, it is functionally like Keynesian money printing when a massive NGO (the Federal reserve) is injecting Sats (liquidity) into a small village to keep the circular economy alive. The ones close to the money spigot (whoever gets the donation) benefits the most, then they spend the Sats to buy groceries. That is as sustainable as a Fiat ponzi scheme.
The very bitcoin OGs, starting from Nakamoto and the Pizza guys...were not necessarily ultra-wealthy but easily among the top rung in terms of intellectual horse power. But beyond that, and a few who see the light, most of the adoption eventually has to happen via institutions, whether Blackrock, JP Morgan, Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, Emarat (the Dubai oil company taking Bitcoin) or massive treasury adoption by Apple, Google etc.
Yes, of course, if an ordinary guy could pack his bags well before Blackrock or JP Morgan came in, the reward could be mind blowing, but most ordinary guys prefer their comfort zone. They will adopt it too, either after they (or their kids) get repriced in it, or as their national currencies collapse. Remember Gresham's law followed by Their's law? Your next door pizza seller? He would adopt when he can command ~500 sats for a large pizza and rue the day when someone offered him ~10,000 sats for the exact same pizza.
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