Replies (106)

🎯 Most of us were exposed to BTC years before we actually bought in. We never would have withstood the volatility back then. I’d say coming in now/last cycle and holding is about as ideal as possible. Most people got in before the suits, so you’re still early, but the path forward is much more clear than in 2016.
I was a shitcoin miner in 2013-14. I mined LTC for almost a year. I spent 1k on the GPUs and computer and pool mined. I stopped when the value of LTC dropped to 3 bucks and my GPUs shit the bed I am a retard as I should have replaced the GPUs. Later when LTC and BTC mooned in 2017/18, I traded the LTC for BTC Sometimes I am not retarded Every bitcoiner is a retard at some point
It's a hero's journey. Every Bitcoiner must travel through the underbelly of the beast, fight the shitcoin demons, to eventually resurface as hardened Bitcoiners.
tbh the hero's journey is one of illumination and slaying the demons of ignorance *in ones own mind* there are plenty of maxis who think theyve accomplished that just by autistically latching onto Bitcoin groupthink. they haven't and its detrimental to themselves and the greater community.
When I first started to understand bitcoin, it really put me at peace. I felt so happy and optimistic about the future. It was euphoric. Michael Saylor was like a prophet. But as I became exposed to some of the other concerns, like privacy, I began to worry about governments trying to attack us. Like what happened with Roman Sterlingov. Chainalysis is a real problem. The samourai team is still not free. And Saylor looks like a real spook to me. I began to notice my euphoria and optimism for the future becoming dark. Then I read mandibles and felt humbled. I am trying to balance the optimism and pessimism but it’s hard. I naturally lean toward pessimism and I kind of understand why some Bitcoiners ignore the problems. This SBR is a problem because of the civil asset forfeiture side. I’ve already been depressed about the future of humanity for so long that I feel so exhausted going down more rabbit holes. So I can’t really blame a bitcoiner who is in his 50s that finally found some hope and wants to ignore the negative stuff. But I can’t do that. Ultimately, advocacy isn’t going to save anyone from government attacks. It’s going to be their own actions: learning about the dangers of KYC and other things like that. Creating a plan to manage those risks and being prepared for the worst is our best bet right now. As Bitcoin becomes more mainstream, it will inevitably bring in more retarded people. We can’t save everyone. The ones that will be saved are the ones that seek out the answers on their own.
amen i think the takeaway is that there are never convenient and easy answers. everything is tradeoffs and weird liminal spaces of uncertainty. real adults learn to live with that. thanks for writing all that down 🙏
I was stupid enough to buy XRP first. Rationalizing that trying to be a banker coin would work far better than trying to over throw the bankers and USD. Sigh. Also in 2025 a friend and I spend 3-5 on silkroad for a music festival. Just a means to and end. Didn't even know what I was spending... Finally got it at 17.5K. Stacked my ass all the way up in 2020 and all the way back down in 2022 and came out way ahead.... But man fuck if I had just got it in 2015 or even earlier in 2020 when I was l shitcoining... sigh
There's a natural evolution from getting Bitcoin to getting Monero. Now are we Bitcoin OGs smarter than everybody else?Unlikely. Are our senses more sharp? Maybe. But in the end it's time in the market aka experience that shapes our perceptions of risks. It's also why you hardly find a Bitcoin OG from 2009-2012 that doesn't own and understand the value proposition of Monero. I am in Bitcoin for 15 years and it took me 5 years to understand the value proposition of Monero. So I am not mad at anybody who takes their time before they start appreciating the hard lessons earlier Bitcoins tried to pass on to the freshmen. Same is true for the use of self-custody. It was clear after Bitcoinica in 2011 that CEX are not a safe store for your Bitcoins and never will be due to many different things. Still it's a constant up hill battle. How many more CEX need to fail before people learn? Instead any new generation comes in ignoring the basic principals taught to them, insisting on learning the hard way.
Last year you insulted me as a shitcoiner and I told you, that you just need some more time to understand. Now we're there. Welcome to the dark side. That really isn't about pessimism but providing the tools that give hope.
Idk about that lol I’ll never give up bitcoin. But I will use whatever privacy tools i feel that i need. I also don’t remember ever insulting you but i also don’t know who you are because you have no picture or name 😂
I think it’s just seeing people like Roman get attacked by the government in such a vicious manner with very weak evidence against him. It could easily happen to any one of us on nostr.
No. I never even heard of that one. I bought 1 Ethereum on Coinbase for $11.00 and Litecoin for $33 for no other reason than the fact thay they were listed on Coinbaase. I started trading ICO's after the bcash fork. I lost all the bcash by sending it to a bitcoin address.
Part of me thinks the government officials are just as confused as I was ten years ago. It's as if they read books like Digital Gold and The Age of Cryptocurrency, but haven't got around to the reading The Bitcoin Standard yet.
It was something like a corporate blockchain for the stock market built on Ethereum. Glad I didn’t invest in that, I don’t think it ever went anywhere. I was part of a trading group with some friends so I blew a sad amount of BTC on some ETH that went into an ICO pool and mostly all dropped to zero, except the one I sold too soon that would have given me a 1000x. FML.
Peter McCormack talked to his lawyers about it on his podcast maybe two years ago. It’s pretty depressing and makes you really fear what governments can and will do to innocent people just to push their agenda or send a message to the public.
Anyone who has been to prison, jail or at least in the court of law has at least a little bit of an idea about what the gov is. You only fear what you don't understand. Ultimately, bitcoin finds its rightful owners. I don't take seriously people who think the gov is weak for those are just the front bureaucrats meant to prolong the grift.
I don't see groupthink affecting Bitcoiners as much as people in other spaces. Everything seems to be an argument; SBR, Saylor & MSTR, Ordinals, mining centralisation v decentralisation, ossification, ect. Even when it comes to politics outside of the protocol itself, people are arguing on here all the time. Some haven't even figured out Batman is better than Superman... Groupthink, to me, is what people do when they all agree on something they do not understand or haven't thought through deeply. Personally, I don't see that nearly as much with Bitcoiners, as I do with any one else.
👆great point. I’ve been muted by a couple Bitcoiners for my political views. Been toning back the arguments because I realized it doesn’t ever really lead anywhere. I can’t think of many people I’ve been able to change their mind on anything by arguing. Usually it pushes them to maintain their current position more stubbornly.
Dial-up was really something. I used to try and watch Naruto episodes on YouTube that way. Would take an hour to load 5 minutes of the episode. Kids today don’t know the struggle 😂
I remember downloading the original X-Men movie on Kazaa. It took a full week to download. One day, it was at 99% before going to school..I was super excited, knowing I could finally watch the movie when I got back home. When I pressed play, it was a goddamn 2hr long gay threesome video 😂🤣 Kids don't know the struggle
lol!! I was deep in p2p myself but wow would that have pissed me off. I had all the school computers as nodes for p2p and doing Folding@Home.
I mean give them some credit. They gave reason to have high expectations. They know what's possible
Lightning Noderunning is a team sport...communities are great to provide and seek support. More communities the better! Makes the network stronger. 🤝💪🤙
Rubidium85's avatar
Rubidium85 1 year ago
That's insane those numbers are that low!