Blog Post
Everyone Is Still A Scammer – A Bitcoin Maximalist Guide to the World
Michael Goldstein

Everyone Is Still A Scammer – A Bitcoin Maximalist Guide to the World - Michael Goldstein

Everyone Is Still A Scammer – A Bitcoin Maximalist Guide to the World - Michael Goldstein

Everyone Is Still A Scammer presented by Michael Goldstein at Bit Block Boom.

Blog post by Cousin Edgar Stumblefield.

President of Satoshi Nakamoto Institute

Sound Money

  • I am a monetary maximalist

Monetary competition

  • Monetary maximalism is fundamentally descriptive, not prescriptive
  • The claim is this: in a free market of competing currencies, one tends to dominate the rest.
  • The more people use a particular medium of exchange, the better, because it means having bitcoins give you access to more economic opportunities
  • Bitcoin will be the dominant medium

Hyperbitcoinization

  • If Bitcoin goes to the moon, each coin will be worth a lot (bears tend to think maybe $10 million per coin in today's purchasing power)
  • Hodling is a test of time preference and personal values
  • There is no correct answer, but there are endless wrong ones

Merchants Are Scammers

  • “Spend your bitcoins!” they say. “It will help the network grow!”
  • Reality: spending may have been good for initial bootstrappping and market exposure (think Silk Road), but it does not create liquidity
  • Hodling is what increases the price and value of bitcoins
  • If a merchant wants your bitcoins, the important thing here is that someone is demanding bitcoins, not that you spent it ( and that's assuming they even hodl themselves)

Medium of Exchange

  • Medium of exchange is a good purchased for the purposes of indirect exchange
  • Method of payment is the means by which to transfer this good in trade
  • Medium of exchange does not equal method of payment
  • “Store of value” is trading present value of a good for the future value of the good, colloquially over a long time period
  • Store of value is not so distinct from medium of exchange

Altcoins are bad, even when they are “good”

  • Any investment must outperform Bitcoin
  • Track record is terrible
  • In 2014, I didn't even know if Ethereum woud actually launch, I was wrong
  • However, while it has been a great short term investment, a Bitcoin maximalist should think to himself:
  • Can this beat Bitcoin as a money?
  • If yes, carefully consider
  • If no, pay no attention

Multicoining as Distraction Maximalism

  • There are approximately 52,182,734,926 cryptocurrencies out there. I counted
  • One will tend to dominate the whole market (and one does)
  • You cannot possibly keep up with all of them
  • Cryptocurrency, even whe masquerading as appcoins or ICOs, are currencies and compete as such
  • If they can't win on those grounds, they are useless
  • Any time spent looking into plagiarized whitepapers is time not spent cultivating a winning network (or even just living a life), whether through development, education, evangelism, or some other productive venture

The Limits of Hodling

  • Portfolio maximalism – a true Bitcoin maximalist puts as much of his portfolio into Bitcoin as possible
  • Reality: everyone has different values and time preferences
  • If all someone wanted was a lambo, and now they can afford it, then they succeeded, even if they could have had 20 in the future
  • Be an investor, not a gambler
  • If you lose sleep, you invested too much
  • The important thing is to determine what you truly want in life, and lose all distractions. Lower your time preference by zeroing in on your long term goals
  • If you don't, someone is out there to scam you out of your potential

Conclusion

  • Bitcoin offers a once-in-history opportunity. Do not take it lightly
  • Focus on what you truly value, and work towards those goals
  • Don't scam yourself

Twitter: @bitstein

Satoshi Nakamoto Institute: https://nakamotoinstitute.org

Noded Bitcoin Podcast: https://noded.org

Michael Goldstein – (a.k.a Bitstein) founder and president of the Satoshi Nakamoto Institute. Michael co-host's the Noded Bitcoin Podcast. Also curates resources related to all-meat, carnivorous diets at justmeat.co.

Bit Block Boom Bitcoin Conference

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