This week I dove headfirst into a sea of digital currency discussions as the value of Bitcoin shot up to $34K, an increase by over 3,000 points since last week. My first investment was a month ago and since then I’ve been Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA). I’ve been hodling and after a few weeks of watching the charts, I realize how much money is personal and controls my mood.
Meanwhile, as I read through The Bitcoin Standard and surf Bitcoin.org to gain insight into the value of BTC, it’s interesting to see the stark similarities of the events that happened 100 years ago. From the Spanish Flu to the Roaring 20s and The Great Depression, as an on-looker and fake economists, society and the way people react has not changed much.
This leads me to the theme of my Q1 2021 columns: History Repeats Itself. The history of currency from a global perspective has come full circle in 2021, as societies change and adapt to the way goods are paid for and sold. I’ve always had an emotional connection to money and currency growing up. At one point, I didn’t have too much of it. Sometimes I couldn’t make ends meet. Suddenly, at another point of my life, I had so much of it, it didn’t make sense how I was going to manage it with the late fees and the delayed calculations of my bank account balance. With the ever-changing evolving number of how much is in our bank accounts, or at least mine, nothing ever feels constant. Everything is always changing. As one bitcoin Maxie on Clubhouse App put it, “we’re in a Monetary Darwinism,” traversing the networks by how we wire currency through the Blockchain. The idea and exchange of money will go back to how it used to be when people used “it” to buy things they really needed to live their lives.
Starting from the beginning of modern history, Currency has always been split out among different groups, based on tribes and factions. In Africa, before colonialism, people used glass beads to trade and buy goods for years until the Irish infiltrated their system, creating more these “precious beads” to devalue the price and rarity of the item. After the Irish started making these beads, the local people quickly stopped using them as currency since they were no longer precious and of value. The story is as old as time when too much of something is injected into society, inflation rears its ugly head and people’s livelihoods become endangered.
I remember traveling to Nairobi, Kenya in 2018 and experiencing the different nuances of the culture. I went to a sacred bead making class and was lucky to tour a local bead factory. In retrospect, the way Kenyan’s valued beads was more of a spiritual connection. Just like the American’s identify the US Dollar, re: In God We Trust.
Anyway, these odes to my past and present are precisely why I’m so drawn to BTC and the history of trends across the world right now. With the rapidly growing ways in which we communicate, from Clubhouse App to Facetime, through gaming communities, and every other video chat device, we’re due to usher in the next wave of connection and financial stability. 🌊 It was just yesterday when I programmed my first digital wallet for my Coil blog and now I’m speaking in rooms on Clubhouse with AI experts and Quantum Computing Enthusiasts!
Speaking of Enthusiasts, a massive wave of traders and speculators, and “uneducated” investors have invaded the space on a quest to claim a stake in the crypto space. Since 2017 was an important year for BTC, the Maxies will tell you that 2021 will be one for the books. We’re due for it based on the charts and fact that many institutionalized banks and individuals are divesting funds from traditional things of value like Gold to buying millions worth of BTC. All ideas are welcomed. All free thought is appreciated and will aid you on your own journey to understanding the power of Bitcoin. The more you learn, the more you will want to know. Like the reason why there are only 21 Million bitcoins that will ever exist. If 1 Bitcoin is worth $35, 579 (as of 1/6/2021 8 pm est) and a satoshi can be split into 8 decimal points, that means even just 1 dollar is worth at least 10,000 satoshis at any given time. This is true right now since we’re in a bull run season. I’ve included a graph below to help understand the value as it relates to the dollar. However, thinking about Bitcoin by defining satoshis is recommended. Who knows if the dollar will exist in the next decade? 🙃
Then there's the whole idealogy of Decentralized Finance (Defi). Bitcoin at the core is a way for individuals to have complete control over their hard-earned money without interference. The blockchain is efficient and consistent, spitting out a block every 10 minutes since it first starts running in 2008. A system of blocks that are operated by open-source developers, nodes, a public ledger where everyone knows what's going on.
Some will say, the marketing has boosted the rise of BTC in recent weeks, which has simultaneously affected other coins, decentralized assets & digital currencies. But how about the traditional markets investing in blockchains like Mass Mutual Insurance and JP Morgan? Anyway, I know you may be thinking, “Why is this girl obsessed with bitcoin?" But the real question is why aren't you if BTC is "the most important invention since fire," according to another Maxie. My thesis is this: what will be the value of a currency that works for me and my lifestyle, given the future of connectivity, the future of affairs, travel, and society?