How To Spot A Crypto Nerd
I've been a part of the beer community for a while, and the beer nerd can sometimes seem pretty annoying with their endless talking about or pushing of independent or craft beer. I'm sure I've bothered many people over the years with my beer nerd speak. Now that I've also dipped my toe into the world of cryptocurrency, the crypto nerds have just one-upped the beer nerds in the annoying department.
Over the last several years as the craft beer movement has taken over the bar scene around the country, there have been many jokes, and comics made about beer nerds. Often about how they can talk forever about the hop aroma coming from their IPA or the complexity of a malt bill.
Since I'm now fully entrenched in both of these worlds, I thought I'd take a moment and point to a few ways that crypto nerds are comparable to beer nerds. Identifying the similarities of those moments when you may want to punch them in the face.
You'll know you're talking to a crypto bro when your conversation starts with how crypto will be the future of money and that fiat currency is bullshit. If big beer and macro beer sucked to the beer nerds, well the Federal Reserve and central bank are the devil if you ask a crypto nerd.
If any conversation touches on Bitcoin at a party or a bar, look out because the crypto nerd is going to be all over it. If they are a bitcoin maximalist, you'll hear about how great it is, but if they dove deep into the alt-coins, you hear the opposite. This attitude is similar to conversations had in the craft beer world when the nano-brewery trend took off. If you are not fully understanding crypto or just getting into it then, the alt-coin talk will take you down a path you weren't ready to go. Your chat partner will be tossing out random coin names that sound like they made them up on the spot.
Even if some discussions can be bothersome at times, remember this is a revolution, and it's going to change the world. That's if people start using it. I know I had ideas that craft beer was going to change the world and it did, just took longer than I thought it would.
The crypto nerd will often talk about the coins they are "hodling." The idea of hodling is similar to when beer nerds want to cellar their beer. Keeping it for a while and hoping that it will be worth something significant or to impress others that they got in so early.
If they aren't hodlers, then they are day traders who are often in it for the hope of making a quick profit, but these nerds are still savvy on the technology and will use any moment they can to tell you why one cryptocurrency sucks over the other.
If they aren't talking up crypto, then you can see them on their phones checking their blockfolio in the corner. Just like how you'd notice that beer nerd who is always checking into beers with Untappd.
Honestly like craft beer, someone often introduces you to it, but then you need to go out and learn more about it yourself. The beer nerd or crypto nerd is always going to think they know more than you. Listen if you want but don't automatically jump on or follow the latest beer or coin they are hyping.