Be the ocean not the boat.
With a new crypto winter around the corner, it can be a good time for reflection. I have learn't a very valuable lesson over the last ten years. A simple lesson but I feel compelled to share.
The lesson is simple, I don't connect my happiness to anything outside of myself. As an example, when crypto is going up, everyone gets happy. When it goes down - for some - the opposite happens. This can be true of many aspects in our lives including our relationships with objects, and people.
I used to be caught up in these turbulent waters between happiness and depression. I wanted things I couldn't have, and that caused unhappiness. On the other end I would buy a new object whether it be a new car, guitar or just a new pair of jeans. And for a short while I would feel 'happier', but of course that would wear off and once again life would be on a downer.
This is acutely true in the crypto space I have noticed. People getting really down as the price goes down and then totally high when it goes up. Over the last few years I have learned and gained knowledge through reading and experiencing to be much more present, and to see clearly that nothing outside of yourself can bring happiness. And if you attach your happiness to outcomes, and those outcomes don't come to fruition, then you are heading for more unhappiness. And even when those things do come to fruition, after a short while it wears off. It's just the way we have been conditioned.
Once you detach yourself from outcomes it becomes obvious this is the case, but when you are not, it will appear as someone maybe telling you how to live. For me it has changed my whole out look on life. I now live a very simple life in a rented house, with enough to live on. I have invested over the last 4 years in the crypto space. I have done ok, though never taken any profit. If it goes up, it does, if not then not. I don't care about the money - I was always in for the change and I know money does not change how I feel inside. If I get a bill I can't pay, then sure I shall sell some and pay the bill.
I used to run my own company which could have been said to be successful, but all I ever did was work. I never made enough money to be enough money. ( Billionaires never seem to have enough billions, funny that! ) My relationship suffered and of course my happiness was attached to that as well. I even bought my own home, albeit on a mortgage, thinking that would bring me what I was looking for. But I was never more miserable than back then.
My point is that now, no matter what happens, my happiness is not attached to the outcome of anything or anyone. This is now true in all areas of my life. Happiness does not come from outside, it comes from inside. And happiness grants you the key to open a wonderful door, which is the door to acceptance. Acceptance of the good times and the bad times. Acceptance of the things that come, and the things that go.
At the end of this journey, it won't matter what you did or said; how much money you made or didn't make. It will come down to acceptance of the fact that everything has to be given up in the end. Everything goes back in the box. So I live like that all the time now. I don't cling onto anything, or anyone, I don't want things to be different, everything is as it is and that is enough.
And living this way means I am no longer a boat on the ocean being tossed about. I am now the ocean. Just thought I would offer this up as we head into another crypto winter. Nothing new for sure, but a message so easily forgotten in a world that is obsessed with the idea of more. And the idea that 'more' will bring happiness.
Be the ocean not the boat.
Try before you buy
I recently posted on reddit asking the question, "Have the Btc maxi's even tried Bch?" This was because I had just done a super fast and cheap Bch transaction.
I also posted this as I was also a Btc maxi who wouldn't be caught dead using Bch. "That scam forked coin" etc etc bla bla, and I was interested to see the comments. There were many replies. Many commented that most Btc users had not, and a few other said the same old yada yada Btc is the real Btc. Of course that wasn't my question.
One particular user was determined to let me know that through his programming prowess, he didn't need to try Bch because he already new it was rubbish. Now, I tried to say that people have different opinions, but he was absolutely sure that he was right. Of course he could be, but ....
I question this way of thinking, as the post was really about the user experience of Bch not the technicalities. Now let's say that I am a mechanical engineer, I understand how Trucks work, Cars work and motorcycles. The engineer drives a car, because to them it is faster and cheaper than a truck, while not being so dangerous as a motorcycle. But the engineer can't say what the experience of driving a motorcycle is, if he hasn't driven one, albeit that he knows how it works.
So to just say it's crap because I am programmer is meaningless to me. Now personally I drive a car and a motorcycle. I use the car to carry luggage, friends etc. A slower safer ride, though more expensive. Other times I drive my hooligan mad motorcycle, it's fast it's cheap and it's fun. I have a reasonable understanding of engines etc, but I don't need to. The difference is I have driven both and therefore speak from knowledge rather than belief.
Of course the person would never concede and that's fine, and there is no need to. Though they did say in the end that they had not tried it, because they didn't need to, because they were a programmer. I don't have this approach, I need to use something, or rather to know by using it, before I can say it's good or bad. Regardless of the mechanics behind it.
Being closed minded doesn't help anyone, especially oneself.
What if Bitcoin has been co opted?
I am one of those people, and there are many now, that believe that Bitcoin was co opted back in the early days of the block wars. The block size was kept small making Bitcoin too expensive to use for everyday transactions. Blockstream was created to control what did and didn't get through to the code. And lighting is just another creation to make money, which clearly still doesn't work and is far too complex for the average user.
It's clear to see how the narrative has been changed very strongly from a Peer to Peer currency for the people, to a store of value for the wealthy. Yes the guy in the street can buy some, but the fees are so high that there is no real incentive. Of course billionaires can do deals, and fees are nothing to them. Early adopters are also already ahead, so their mantra of "buy the dip" is lost on the average person. If you are still unsure, just try saying anything against Btc on r/bitcoin and you will just get blocked or the post is deleted. Even if it's a legit question/concern.
So what I wonder is this. If - and or when - it comes out that this is the case, will the Bitcoin twitterati echo chamber, laser eye proponents still continue to champion it? Will they add FBI CIA NSA badges to their profiles, and continue to say, "Yes but number go up!" Or will they grow a pair and say hey this is wrong, Roger Ver and others were right? I suspect they won't because it takes a certain mindset to see when you are wrong, and then to admit it.
Personally, once I could see that Btc was no longer Btc - and boy it took me a long long time, like 5 years before I could really see it. Though once seen, it's so obvious that you can't really go back - I started exchanging my Btc for Bch which I am continuing to do. A balanced portfolio is a good idea, but I have been a Btc maxi, so it's not a hard decision. The great thing about waking up to this, is the seeing of so many other great projects that are creating value where Btc completley fails.
You never hear any more on Twitter from the bitcoin fanboys, how Btc is now being used on the street in this or that country. Or how it's being adopted by more and more shops in poor countries. It's all just corporate clap trap the same as it ever was. Celebrities, Corporations and even the Banks are all celebrated as being signs of Btc adoption, and yet couldn't be further from the truth. It is supposed to be about people using the currency for everyday things. Not storing it in a cold storage vault. It's about real economic activity between people with no central authority, using a medium that can't be taken from you.
And finally who wouldn't benefit from that? Who would be the ultimate losers of system like that? That will give you the answer to who has co opted Bitcoin.
No ground breaking thoughts, but I think it needs to be out there as a matter of note, before more people fall into the trap of thinking Btc is the real thing.
Inclusivity not exclusivity
As many of you know, and some may not, I was in the Btc camp for a long time. Buying Btc, promoting it, running a full node and all the things you do grow the Bitcoin user space. We were all in it together, all for one 'Bitcoin' and one for all 'Bitcoin'.
But then things changed. It was not cool to say anything against the high fees, the slow and complex roll out of lightning - still waiting - and the worst sin of all to compare Btc with Bch. (Of course there is no comparison, Btc is slow, expensive and exclusive, whereas Bch is fast, cheap and inclusive) But the point is, we were all in this together, but that's no longer the case in Btc.
If you are not one of the Btc twitterati, a club that you can only be in if you solely push content on Btc becoming a store of value. Or you clap when another corrupt vampire squid of a bank like J P Morgan says something positive. If not, then you are a bad person. The word shitcoin comes out, and the laser eyes get turned up a notch, or like on r/bitcoin you just get blocked.
Btc is no longer inclusive, it's exclusive and that is why it will never gain adoption by the people. That is why I have moved away from it. It's become the same old same old. Sure the banks, hedge funds - let's call then what they are - the rich will by Btc because, well they can afford to. It's a store of value after all, and fees don't matter to billionaires.
I share this planet we live on with my fellow humans, good bad and ugly. I don't want to live in exclusivity in a Bitcoin citadel! ... I mean I can't think of anything worse. I want to be amongst friends and folk I have never met who have the same ideals as me. To make living a fairer experience for all of us, not just the few. We have done that already - the 1% - and it stinks.
I believe Bch is doing this. It's going out into the hands of the people where it belongs. To be used in everyday transactions, one for all and all for one. And that is something I can get behind. Something to really believe in as opposed to number go up, and celebrity purchases. It's been a journey of discovery and it's never to late to say you were wrong. I was totally wrong about Bch, there I said it, again.
Onwards.
A real eye opener
I have been long Btc since Jan 2017, though it was Eth that got me into the crypto space in late 2016. It was clear to me that there was a tsunami of crypto tech heading this way which looked innovative and exciting. I can't remember why now, but I lost interest in Eth, and found Btc, which I thought seemed to be what I was looking for, which was - A peer to peer cash, outside of the traditional banking system. The reason for this was my anger and frustration after the 2008 crash, where the bad actors were rewarded, and the common man was chastised.
And so I started buying Btc, I wasn't dollar cost averaging - I didn't even know the term back then - I was just buying what I could afford. Sometimes a lump, other times a really small amount. I am just an everyday person, with not much spare money, so no high roller buy ins. After about a year, I started to talking to friends about Btc and many of them joined in the battle against the banks, buying what they could when they could.
Then came the crash at the end of 2017/18 and we all hodled together determined to see it through, which we did. We all continued to buy when we could, as we pushed ahead with 'changing the world'. Fast forward to 2020 and things were very different. Crypto was pushing into the mainstream, and we all cheered as one company after another signed up to the Btc wagon train. But for me something started feeling a bit off, though in retrospect it started before then. The very first inkling I had was the Btc cruise ship fiasco. A boat full of Btc enthusiasts and 'experts' on a cruise ship! To me it seemed completley wrong, but I swallowed it. I watched as they attacked Roger Ver, and ganged together in a way that raised my eyebrows.
This approach slowly morphed into, if you are not a meat eater there is something wrong with you, along with complimentary pictures of the meat that they would all be eating on twitter. Nothing wrong with this per se, but I would suggest it has nothing to do with crypto and everything to do with group think; the beginning of the narrative control. Since then it has been everything from, "Have fun staying poor." Laser eyes, and for me the condescending sign off of, "Few understand this." or worse just, "Few." While at the same time celebrating the very banks and corporations that Btc was set against. Of course if you said/say anything against this narrative, you are either ignored, chastised or ridiculed.
And now here we are in 2021 where just a handful of people on twitter control the narrative of Btc, mentioning no names. They totally believe without any doubt that they are correct in thinking Btc is the way forward, as I did for many years. Then came my banning from r/bitcoin which was a total eye opener for me. It suddenly became as clear as day, that Btc had been co opted from the inside and that the narrative had fully changed from a P2P cash, to an SOV - store of value - and anyone speaking against that narrative is wrong. The ban was a pleasant surprise, as looking for somewhere to vent, I found r/btc and r/bitcoincash along with r/cryptocurrency. All of which are worlds apart from the laser eye gang.
On these sub reddits you can read, discuss, suggest or whatever without feeling like you are walking on eggshells. People offer support, ideas and encouragement. It was there that I discovered Bitcoincash, or maybe rediscovered it, having bought into the Btc gang, and dissed it for years. Another eyeopening event occurred, the realisation that Bch is fast, it's cheap, it's private, and to top it all, people are using in everyday transactions. It's an amazing vibrant community, with more and more people getting involved. And instead of "Have fun staying poor" you see, "welcome onboard". It's inclusive not exclusive as Btc has become. The whole ethos of Bch couldn't be further away from where Btc has ended up. Locked away in a cold storage vault on its own, watching number go up. While Bch goes out to play in the world of people.
I don't really write that much, but just wanted to put down my reasons for now putting my Btc into Bch and encouraging all those people I convinced to buy Btc, to at least exchange some of that Btc for Bch if not all of it. I want to see Bch succeed where Btc has failed. As a community project to help everyone in the world, not just the few as the case is currently with Btc. A Peer to Peer cash for the people, outside of the draconian legacy banking system and the clutches of government control. The thing that Satoshi wanted it to be. I haven't been back to r/bitcoin but I would like to say thanks to whoever banned me, it was the best thing that could have happened.
Long Bch and Long inclusivity.
@jax