An Amateur Speculates on Bitcoin

A lot of the stuff I read about the future of bitcoin is written in the language of investors or the crypto community. I am not terribly familiar with either.... but wanted to also share the reasons that make me believe the future is bright for bitcoin.

My Early Thoughts

My first real exposure to what Bitcoin was, other than hearing from family and friends that there was "digital internet money", was a documentary on Netflix called The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin (2014). I left pretty excited about what the blockchain could do... but the bitcoin itself, I had doubts.

It was easy to imagine the blockchain being adapted, or integrated, into banking as it exists today. It was harder for me to picture how this ethereal "coin" had a value, and figured while the blockchain was invaluable to people, it's initial byproduct would dwindle into obscurity.

Value Is Perception

I was wrong. Flat out, 100%, absolutely and completely wrong. For over a decade I have made money on the side selling things in games to other players. I already had a grasp of the concept that something is only worth exactly what people are willing to pay for it, and that same item could have zero value to another person at the same time.

How I Failed

Once a value has been placed on an item, it is extremely rare for that value to later become nothing.Personally, for me, this was my biggest failure as I made a living for a short time selling items that, to anyone reading this, would be worthless. That value is going to be different for different people, for different reasons, but that's why some clean up in trading.

I also failed to recognize that it was more an anarchist coin. While I made assumptions it would be incorporated into the current system, a large part of it's value was it's seperation from the system.

Moving Forward

I recently discovered Abra. It's an app that serves as a traditional fiat currency and bitcoin wallet. The feature that caught my interest was it's feature that allowed anyone to become a human ATM. I see this as a bridge.... it makes banking possible in areas where banks do not have the same ease of access. It offers protection of assets seperate from state and possible seizure.

Where it goes from here I cannot accurately predict..... but up up up is one thing I am certain of.