If you’re reading this article on Bitcoin Magazine, then it’s likely that you and I have a lot in common. Clearly, we’ve both fallen down the Bitcoin rabbit hole. See if this sounds like you:
Heading to the gym? I’ll listen to Guy Swann narrate an article then get pumped about it after (it’s amazing the energy that he brings to his podcast all alone at midnight). Got a bunch of monotonous tasks to do at work? I think I’ll listen to John Vallis talk about psychedelics, fighting and philosophy. Or maybe I’m driving to a golf course that’s 30 minutes away. Perfect, I’ll start a Breedlove podcast and finish it on the way back. I hope Michael Saylor is on. I love when he tells me how Bitcoin obeys the laws of thermodynamics and is the most efficient battery ever created. Oh, and my girlfriend wants to go out with some friends on Friday night? I already downloaded “Anatomy of the State” by Murray Rothbard and plan to listen to the audiobook on the balcony with a glass of bourbon in hand.
Sound like you? You get it. There is an endless amount of intellectual stimulation in the Bitcoin rabbit hole. And financial gains, too. That’s what brought most of us here in the first place, right? Be honest.
So the title of this article is NGU. Number Go Up. Yes, bitcoin’s Number Goes Up. But that’s not what I’m talking about. This is a chance to reflect: how many people have you orange pilled? Has your Number Gone Up?
Here’s why I ask: as an avid Bitcoiner, I think about Bitcoin, sound money, global economics, etc. nonstop. And for four years I’ve also bought Bitcoin nonstop. And a week ago, I relocated to a tax-friendly jurisdiction and I’ll be leaving my fiat job at the end of the year. The plan is to travel with my girlfriend and work on my golf game to become a scratch golfer.
I’m also thinking about writing a short book to encourage hard-working people who are stuck on the fiat hamster wheel to discover Bitcoin and start saving with sound money. But why would someone read my book? I’m not famous and no one knows who I am. Do people under 30 (besides us) even read books?
I’ve tried hard for the past four years to convert cousins, uncles, friends, even the CFO of the company where I work to put Bitcoin on their collective balance sheets. But I’ve had limited success. My number was not going up. That is, until recently; now I’ve actually been orange pilling total strangers! Here’s how it typically goes:
When I’m out playing golf, it’s around the second hole that people ask the usual questions — what do you do, where do you live? My answer is that I just moved to Tennessee, but no, it’s not for work, it’s for the favorable taxes. Then they ask what I do and I tell them I’m leaving my job, but that I’m a Bitcoiner. The quick ones ask with a smirk if I’m retiring and how old I am. I respond: I’m 29 and, no, I’m just re-allocating my time.
I can see their eyes light up. Now they know a guy who, thanks to Bitcoin, no longer needs to work.
By the back nine, I tell them about the Fold app and debit card and how it’s a great way to start to accumulate bitcoin for the everyday items you purchase. No, Fold doesn’t sponsor me (I wish). But it’s the best way I’ve found to bring the horse to water and, based on the recent signups, the horses are drinking!
My goal is to bring people into contact with Bitcoin. From there, those who are intellectually curious will hopefully fall down the rabbit hole and find what we’ve all found. So what have we found?
I’ve found that Bitcoin brings me hope, freedom and sovereignty in a world where governments forced small businesses to close, a world of taxes — the worst of which is inflation — a world of inefficient governments that will never balance their budgets, insufficient wages, fires in the west, floods in the south… the list goes on forever.
With Bitcoin, I have hope for a future where people can contribute value and save with money that efficiently stores that value over their life and for future generations.
With Bitcoin, people who are fleeing from fires in California, or from the Taliban in Afghanistan or from the overly restrictive Australian government can all have freedom because they can take their wealth with them, wherever they go.
With Bitcoin, I possess supreme power over my life. I am a sovereign individual (yes, “The Sovereign Individual” is a must read book). Every day I can follow the path that makes me most happy. When I die, I will have lived intentionally and with purpose.
But this moment in Bitcoin’s history is unique and it will be fleeting. What am I talking about? The year is 2021 and you can still buy bitcoin with fiat money. I doubt that will be the case much longer.
I believe bitcoin will become the global reserve currency. And right now it is cheap. People can literally change the course of their lives by buying bitcoin — it happened to me. In the not-so-distant future, maybe 10-20 years from now, bitcoin will be worth the equivalent of $10 million but you won’t be able to buy it with fiat money. No one will give you Bitcoin in exchange for dollars. Why? Because the marginal cost to print another dollar is zero, therefore, it has no value (thanks for the lesson, Parker Lewis). At that time, the only way to acquire bitcoin will be to produce a good or service that others find valuable and are willing to pay for with bitcoin.
My hope is to help as many people as possible see the opportunity that Bitcoin presents right now. Maybe I’ll write that book and get lots of people to read it. But if this article helps my fellow Bitcoiners introduce more friends and strangers to Bitcoin, then I’ll be very happy with that outcome, too.
This is a guest post by Joe Mallock. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC, Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
