This is an answer that I first published here before on Quora proper.

I've been enjoying the Joys of answering questions on Quora and getting inspiration to write stuff with the questions being my writing prompt. Recently there is a A2A to me in the topic of "bitcoin". I realised some of the smarter no-coiner folks have been going on to Quora to get a quick run-down on is it a good time to buy themselves some bitcoin and hope that the price will rise.

Well, screw that notion. I am fully against the speculation of Bitcoin especially one doesn't even take the time ti learn what it is. Only that it's the latest hot thing that will moon regardless of what it actually is.

What is the value of something whose only value is that it will increase in value? Beanie babies much?

I took a different twist to the original question and answered the best way i can. Take a read, tell me if my argument had any flaws and any points that i got wrong.. Enjoy!!

Question: Is bitcoin a smart investment for a young person? Age range 35 years or younger.

Answer:

Yes.

The younger you are the better it is. I don't care how much wealth you have because it's the time advantage that matters. I'm 24 now so the advice I’m giving you is the advice im giving to myself. If you can do it I definitely can too.
All you need is a browser and internet connection and the desire to learn something new. Though of course getting yourself “Mastering Bitcoin” by Andreas Antanopolous helps.

The true wealth opportunity in Bitcoin is in learning how it works and understanding the technology that powers it.

I don't know what's your wealth status or your current career income potential. But any Blockchain developer job in the market currently pays anywhere from 100k-170k on average. This number is only going to go up as the industry matures and more demand for this type of jobs increase. And trust me it will, university blockchain courses are subpar and all the information is open source anyway. It's going to be a great many years before unis start churning blockchain graduate en Masse.

Business-wise, it's all about blockchain integration, companies are looking to integrate blockchain left and right, I don't see how a consultation firm can't make millions yearly if they are the experts.

Not to mention the huge floodgates it'll open by enabling the previously unbanked population to transact all across the world. Any average cryptocurrency based remittance company can fully disrupt the giants of remittance companies by slashing fees and abolishing minimum remittance while garuanteeing mere minutes of transact all the time. Think Airbnb for hawaladar, since everything is on the blockchain so all records are traceable and reputation can be used as check and balance.

Bitcoin is Programmable Money, The winners are those who can program it.

With all the cloud-stuff said and done, let's get to the dirt. If you take 2–3 years max of part-time (when not in office, hell I wager it can be shortened to 6 months if one puts 8 hours a day 6 days a week!) learning the basic programming needed to build a blockchain, learning C++, Phython, Solidity, and then get yourself a copy of “Mastering Bitcoin”, either from Github for free or an Amazon Ebook/Book. Read it 3 times.

And then join in on various open-source projects available to test your knowledge and practice your coding. Do it first for free on open-source to gain experience, that’s how you gain your worth. By the 5th year you’ve pretty much have the experience to start consulting..

This is how you invest in Bitcoin. All the other “Not-a-financial-advises” can bugger off.

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Kristian Kho [Ian] is a 24 year old freelancer with a passion for steem and a deep desire to be a better person in every aspect. I aim to express any and all my thoughts on things that I find interesting as well as using this platform as a self-development log.

I am a part of #Teammalaysia, a decentralized community initiative that aims to empower local creatives and content creators specifically in Malaysia to create content through the Steem Blockchain.

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