We Accept Every Crypto -- Except Bcash

Hi all, my name is Marc and I've been interested in Bitcoin Cash since I first was introduced to Cryptocurrency almost a year ago. I came into Crypto "blind", that is, unaware of the politics, technology, and history.

My interest was pretty simple: film myself using a wallet and put it on YouTube. No editing, no structure -- just raw, real responses.

This simple start snowballed - before long I was raising Bitcoin Cash on Flipstarter, holding charity events for children in Colombia, and even finding myself being interviewed by Time Magazine in El Salvador on Bitcoin. It's been a wild ride.

The Bitcoin Beach

I attribute a lot of this growth on my overall strategy: show what I don't know and learn in real time. In my Bitcoin/Bitcoin Cash videos, I never preach to the audience and remain vulnerable. They watch as I discover everything first hand and unedited.

For example, I have always heard about Lightning. It'd be all too easy to sit at home, digest a few articles and make a video on the topic. My approach, instead, was to fly to El Salvador at the Bitcoin beach and use it directly from scratch.

Going into this situation I had no opinion or expectation, and my opinion developed from my experience that the audience got to experience right along with me. Funny enough, some of my YouTube viewers missed this fact and were irritated that I didn't prepare enough going on.

See it For Yourself

This is an approach I'll continue to take in the future. Both because it is the ethically correct approach for me, and also because it spares me from low-blow criticism. "Why don't you support the Chivo app in El Salvador? Do you have an agenda? Are you creating FUD on purposes while secreting working for a LATAM crypto exchange?" (This last one was an actual statement made against me in a pro-government media hit piece!)

No, it's because my payment I sent from it to my Muun wallet is still stuck (even as of writing this on 9/22) that I sent out on 9/9 -- which happened during an uncut, unedited video with time stamps. See it for yourself.

And that's just it: see it for yourself. See everything for yourself. I want my audience to see everything first hand like I did and draw their own conclusions. I'll state mine, of course, but it's always in the context of what I saw, what I experienced. Verify, don't trust.

Life on the Outside

I came into crypto far after the "Bitcoin" wars. As a holder of both BTC and BCH I've remained politely outside the arguments - despite attempts by some parties to draw me in.

This has been fortunate as it's given me clarity to approach everything directly without baggage. This has also been beneficial in dealing with detractors who all too easily gaslight by saying "don't believe anything Marc says, he's a BCH shill."

That claim is hard to make while I'm actively hiring Spanish translators for my video to teaching Bitcoin / Lightning on the Muun wallet. (The unspoke question here of course, is why did no Bitcoin Maximalist influencers not think to do that?)

Overall, I'm in a unique position. I have no fear in expressing my love for Bitcoin Cash. I have no fear in holding Bitcoin, which all the more frustrating for my detractors invalidates many of the claims that I'm seeking to undermine BTC. I'm just me, and I show what I experience. Crypto is wonderful, and I think more people should use it. I hold BCH and BCH. Also Banano. Banano is good.

I've got a lot to learn, sure -- and my opinions and feelings can change at any moment. But when they do, it'll be captured on film. I've been living my crypto life on the outside, hard to pin down and hard to make effectively built straw-men of.

But what about others? Well, that's what this article is really about.

Pigs in Philadelphia

My reflections here (likely first of many mini-essays on the topic of cryptocurrency) sparked because of recent events concerning a pig. But not just any pig... sum pig.

See, nearly a year ago I spent 72 hours in Philadelphia using Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash exclusively -- from renting hotel rooms to finding food. The only rule: only crypto. Luckily, I found a restaurant that I featured heavily in my video named "Sum Pig" just north of the city.

After arriving at the restaurant I had a great conversation with the owner, who gladly accepted my Bitcoin (with a nearly $4 fee.) I mentioned Bitcoin Cash, and being that he was a lover of all crypto (especially Doge as I recall) he agreed to look into it and he followed me on Twitter and Instagram.

And so it Begins

Sum Pig did become interested in Bitcoin Cash -- tweeting back at me and even advertising their accepting BCH on their Instagram. It was exciting for my to see this as the restaurant is nearby and it'd be a place Id' be returning.

Yet a few months later I happened to notice that Sum Pig, who had until that point been active in viewing my Instagram stories, vanished. They had unfollowed me on Instagram and Twitter. Odd, but not too odd -- after-all, people unfollow all the time for really any reason.

This was six months ago or so, and I haven't really though about them since (other than going to the restaurant two months ago and arriving on a day they were closed.)

But today that changed.

Anything but Bcash

Today I received a message on Twitter by a Bitcoin Cash user. He came to me with news -- he had contacted Sum Pig to hold a Bitcoin Cash meetup via email and the restaurants response: we except every crypto except Bcash.

His response back was to the restaurant was cordial. (By the way... ultimately the restaurant responded again to say that they in fact accept “bcash” - after the owner spoke with their other owner.)

What matters for the purpose of this article is the shift: how did one go from promoting the acceptance an objectively useful cryptocurrency, out of the myriad of currencies they accept, to accepting everything but.

The Two Camps

It's unlikely I'll ever know the real answer to this, though if they do serve me again at their restaurant I will ask. But I do have an idea -- based on my own personal experience with Bitcoin Cash.

As a lover of both BTC and BCH, I've got to experience the contrasts of the two communities. This is a conversation for another day. But chiefly the distinction is this: when it comes to expressing my interest in BTC, I've never experienced seething aggression, banning, excommunication or gaslighting from the BCH community.

However, even hints at my appreciation of Bitcoin Cash has come with a torrent of personal attacks on my character, logical fallacies, incessant gaslighting, and even slews of fake comments on my YouTube channel.

It is very important to note that this does not mean all BTC people have done this -- in fact, I've met a number of wonderful people who, frankly, hate Bitcoin Cash but don't actively degrade me for my interest in it.

Conform or Perish

At the end of the day, I'm quite happy to put my real feelings up on my YouTube channel. There's no real risk for me to say what I believe as my income does not come from my channel. Being called a "scammer" or "shill" for using Bitcoin Cash to pay back my friends for the Uber ride is ineffective in silencing me.

But for Sum Pig, is this the case?

Is this the case for any business that actively accepts crypto currency?

It is worth noting that I am actively bombarded with insults and attacks, belittled and gaslit for my interest in Bitcoin Cash. There's an unspoken ultimatum: you're with us or you're against us. There's no middle ground, no room for seeing the benefits of both cryptos.

If Sum Pig's experience was even marginally like mine: when they posted on Social Media that they accepted Bitcoin Cash, they were likely overwhelmed with personal attacks, accusations of "scamming", and more. In short, they were likely bullied.

You either confirm with us, or perish to continual social engineered attacks.

What this Means

... Is that the average user discovering the utility of Bitcoin Cash will be inevitable sucked into the politics. The politics, by the way, of something that's ironically decentralized. Even if you don't agree or like who used the tool in the past, it's still just that -- a tool (and a good one, at that.)

New users that get into BCH (like me) and post online will inevitably be attacked for using this tool. Businesses will be bullied into admitting their crimes for accepting BCH, or you face being labeled as a scammer and cut off from the Crypto community.

In the case of Sum Pig, I think they ultimately repented - and now that they have, they've become a predator on the hunt for the next lamb who dares to use Bitcoin Cash, using the same grade-school name calling likely used against them.

But it's All so Silly, isn't it?

So what's the solution to this? This too is worthy of another article. Well -- maybe. At the end of the day, being confronted by "Bcasher", or "Shill" on my channel is not all that unlike hearing a die hard Star Wars fan become exasperated with anger and defiance at people who like Star Trek.

I wouldn't necessarily use the word "pathetic" as it's a little harsh, and maybe people do have genuine concerns and grievances as to why Bitcoin Cash is not a great choice in their eyes. Better words may be immature, idle. Be like Captain Anakin Picard, and use the force to calm down.

For me, when it comes to BTC/BCH, I call it what it is: if you come onto my channel to call me a "bcasher", it's not that I dislike you. It's that I just kind of see you like a Star Wars nerd. Remember that 99% of the world doesn't use Crypto yet -- and when they come in they are going to be like me: unaffected, and too busy to be interested enough in the politics.

So what's the Solution?

Recently I saw a video from Andrei Jikh about Bitcoin Cash. It had some faults, which I'll be the first to admit. But what I found so refreshing about it was that it wasn't taking the bickering seriously. It normalizes civil discussion around BTC/BCH which is needed.

As there's more discussion and content around Bitcoin Cash -- especially geared to new users, like in Andrei's audience - it trivializes the aggression towards Bitcoin Cash. Which, let's face it - is trivial. Petty, immature, and irrelevant. After all, bullies don't have much power when you're laughing at them.

I think as more influencers - such as Andrei (and myself) - make content around Bitcoin Cash the noisy barks of the "Bcash" nerds will be relegated to the same outskirts of the cryptocurrency conversation as the Star Wars nerds bark "who shot first?" Everyone else has moved on, or simple doesn't care. Luckily for them, Sum Pig does in-fact offer catering.

Cheers

Marc Falzon