Bitcoin: Why I decided to cut the bullshit.
When I first set out to make this video with Bull Bitcoin, I had a very specific goal in mind. I wanted to capture the irrationality that reared its ugly head in the midst of the 2017 bull market. I wanted to portray the fallout from peak altcoin-mania in a way that allows us to step back and laugh — but also to revisit the ideals that brought many of us here in the first place.
Most individuals that now call themselves Bitcoin Maximalists at one point or another took their turn to dabble in altcoins. I’d say it’s almost like a rite of passage when you follow this trajectory:
- Discovering Bitcoin and the promise of a new global financial system
- Getting woo’d by the big promises of alternative projects
- Returning to Bitcoin upon the realization that those promises were either undeliverable or include massive trade-offs.
Everyone’s path is a little different, but it would be a real shame if we couldn’t have a good chuckle and learn from our mistakes.
So why ARE we here? While I cannot speak for everyone, I personally became enthralled with Bitcoin as I began to understand the broken nature of our existing financial system, our culture of debt, and central banking. As I dove down the rabbit hole, I began to recognize the value in concepts like sound money, censorship resistance, decentralization, and a host of other terms that get thrown around nowadays like nothing. I also gradually understood that just because you have a blockchain doesn’t mean you magically gain the aforementioned qualities.
In making this campaign I wanted highlight the most prominent examples of projects that have seemingly glossed over abandoning the main value propositions this new technology allows. Is a decentralized world computer still innovative if you have to centralize it in data centres? Is a company creating money out of nothing and selling selling their bags to the public really an improvement over our current financial system? Is buying coffee on-chain more important than allowing any individual to fully self-validate the blockchain if they choose to do so?
I don’t expect to change a lot of minds with a ridiculous “World Vision”-esque video like this. Those that are still married to their favourite altcoin project after the bloodbath of 2018 will likely stick it out until the bitter end. I merely hope that those individuals who got burned by the hype will take the gentle jabs with a grain of salt, smirk at the dumb decisions of the past, and realize that Bitcoin is here for the long haul. When you eventually find your way back home there will be some sound money and a perfectly grilled steak waiting for you.
