Thursday, November 26th, 2020, 11 days after the fork
Given it's Thanksgiving here in the US, I thought I'd share one of the many things I'm thankful for: the existence of this platform and all the people who take the time to read my posts. Thank you for the words of encouragement, the upvotes, and for going out of your way to share my articles with others.
I did a little bookkeeping last night and it turns out that over the past year I've posted 160 articles generating just over 42,000 views. I know that's nothing when you think about it, but it's enough to keep me going.
Given how much I post people often ask if I'm paid by Bitcoin ABC to do so. Let me set the record straight and say that I have never been paid by Bitcoin ABC, and I don't write support their efforts because I hope to curry favor or a paycheck. I write these articles because I love writing in general, but also because I believe in the importance of what ABC is trying to accomplish.
When I was younger, my dream was to be a famous novelist. Still is, I suppose, but what I've realized is that my real dream isn't to be a famous writer but to make a difference in the world. Writing a best selling novel was only a means to an end, or one way to give me a voice that people might bother listening to.
Unfortunately, writing a best selling novel is harder than it sounds. Fortunately, I was able to stumble upon the project currently known as BCHA, allowing me to use what little talent I have to do something I find both fun and fulfilling. This is because I believe BCHA has the potential to be that civilization changing technology all Bitcoiners are looking for.
If anyone were to ask what values I hold dear, a strong sense of justice would be near the top of the list. I also value integrity, a strong work ethic, and rewarding people based on merit versus those who were just lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.
Of course the real world doesn't work that way. There are plenty of scammers who scam their way to the top, and plenty of Bitcoiners who got rich by simply being in the right place at the right time.
In the past, I never cared about such things. I figured some people just get lucky, that scammers are gonna scam, and the best thing I could do is watch out for myself and my loved ones. But deep down I think I always hoped there was a better way.
I believe that BCHA is the embodiment of what I've been searching for, and that's why it just might be the most important project anyone can be working on today.
While Amazon has revolutionized retail, making it easier for us to buy the things we want, and Google revolutionized internet search making it easier for us to find the things we're looking for, the biggest tech companies of today are mostly focused on improving their products and services in order to make their shareholders more money. But BCHA is focused on improving money itself and making the best form of money the world has ever seen. And what is money other than a tool that can motivate us to take positive action and move humanity forward?
A currency that is both an excellent store of value as well as a medium of exchange is the holy grail of money, something that has never been possible before until now. If BCHA is able to successfully achieve its goal, it could become one of the most important technologies ever created.
Finally, I'd like to conclude by talking a little about voluntarism and how "there was never a funding problem" in Bitcoin Cash.
That is the argument the unknown miner is using to defend their current actions of trying to destroy the BCHA chain. I presume they are making the argument that Bitcoin ABC's recent actions go against the ethos of Bitcoin because they believe the new coinbase rule is coercive. In other words, they see the 8% rule as a use of force to get what ABC wants. Nevermind that all ABC wants is proper funding for infrastructure development to help Bitcoin scale.
If this split has demonstrated anything, it's that no one was forced to do a thing. The BCH network continues to run the same as always. ABC has conceded and are currently working on a new name for their network and even went so far as to give up the bitcoincash.org domain (though at the moment it's unclear who now owns it).
Bringing it all back to my writing, I volunteer my time to write these articles because I enjoy it and I hope they add value to this community. I never charge for them, and the only form of payment I seek is through donations or sponsorships because I understand that's all I can really expect and that's what the market will bear. But what if there was someone out there using my words to make significant profits off of them? What if others were benefiting on the back of my hard work completely for free? You can be sure as hell I would start charging for it, and if I couldn't, I'd probably just stop writing altogether.
Well, that is the situation facing Bitcoin's protocol developers. While miners make huge profits, the engineers building the network have always been asked to work primarily for donations. Yes some generous miners have paid developers directly for their efforts, but never before in the history of Bitcoin have developers had the opportunity to truly maximize their earning capability. Imagine if you're the best football player in the world and you're forced to play for only one team and can only make what they're willing to pay you. While the team itself makes hundreds of millions of dollars each year, you're expected to take your $100k salary and do your job or otherwise quit. Sure you can find another industry or sport, but that's like asking the footballer to suddenly become a baseball player, which makes no sense.
This is what ABC is fixing with the new coinbase rule, and I believe it's a much bigger deal than people realize.
You can talk about voluntarism all you want, but Bitcoin is built on a foundation of economic incentives, allowing everyone the opportunity to seek profits. That's what economic freedom is all about. If you are opposed to this and want to prevent others from profit seeking, then I'd argue you're the one who is being coercive and need to take a long hard look in the mirror.
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As always, thank you for reading, and if you'd like to help me earn my way to a seat on the GNC, please donate BCHA directly to:
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Yea good