Culture

The Three Doors: Which One Will Bitcoin Step Through?

Published

18 hours ago

September 26, 2024

Mircea Popescu is a mostly forgotten figure in this space, but he was once a very impactful cultural figure early on before he slowly faded out of the wider public sphere to eventually “accidentally” drown off the coast of Costa Rica. He was quite an insane and eccentric, but he has left a lasting impact on this space. I would argue he is essentially the Godfather of what people these days consider “toxic maximalism,” although compared to people who claim that label today he would make them seem like overly sensitive and whiny children.

One of his most prolific posts in my mind was his consideration of the price of Bitcoin and the market dynamics that entails in the long term, from 2013. He was discussing the dynamics of supply and demand interacting with each other, and specifically the mentality of current bitcoin holders in contrast with average consumers that may or may not have an incentive to attempt to accumulate bitcoin in response to the deterioration of the fiat system.

He framed the posited friction between these two groups as an impasse, where current holder have no great incentive to part with their bitcoin, and people trying to get rid of their devaluing fiat have no real recourse if holders of bitcoin act in that way.

He proposed three possible solutions to that impasse.

“One of them is that consumers yield and submit, Bitcoin goes to somewhere in the thousand dollars per range and there’s a rush to move society away from the dysfunctional standard. Banks start taking Bitcoin deposits, Bitcoin hedge funds pop up everywhere, the FED chairman, ECB chairman and everyone else come to Timisoara whenever they want to make a move to obtain my blessing and so forth.”

This is the path we are seemingly on right now. Capitulation of the existing system, integration into the legacy financial system, the veneration of early adopters and Bitcoin as a solution to the systemic problems of fiat. This is what Bitcoiners currently cheer on in terms of our path forward, citing every tiny piece of news from a banking institution, an ETF, an investment fund, as proof that they are capitulating! We have won!

This is pure and utter delusion. Trump pandering to Bitcoiners seeking campaign financing does nothing to truly benefit Bitcoin, he is and will always be a fan of the dollar. His mentality is based around the idea of the money printer, and exporting our inflation globally, being a massively positive thing for American interests. The Democrats overwhelmingly are antagonistic towards the space, for similar reasons.

Even if such a future was to truly come to pass, in actuality and not just in name, it would be a very dire and depressing future for anyone who looks to Bitcoin as a tool for freedom and sovereignty. Using Bitcoin would provide that to almost no one. Hedge funds, banks, ETFs, would all be the keyholders for the vast majority of people. No one would truly have any degree of freedom, it would be the same financial system we exist in now where nothing can be done without seeking the permission of some overlord who truly has control of your funds. Regulations would not enable more competition in this sphere, the existing players would take advantage of their revolving doors to encourage capture and high walls around their privileged position in this role.

This path would essentially mean failure of Bitcoin as a tool for freedom, and the same game we see being played right now with slightly stricter rules for the privileged few who can get a seat at the table.

“Another one of them is that consumers revolt, governments intervene, we all spend the remainder of this decade fighting with each other. Bitcoin also goes to thousands of dollars per, but the energy, effort and resources which could have been expended on comfortably yielding and productively submitting are wasted in an ultimately doomed effort to play tough on a weak hand. Neutral and unengaged governments win, and as the dust settles the balance of macroeconomic power has shifted from the Western world to whatever, China, Iran, Brazil, what have you.”

This is the path of them fighting Bitcoin overtly. People actually start switching to Bitcoin en masse, and governments react in a reflexive manner to try to prevent this. Things domino from here as Bitcoin begins to become a more important aspect of global finance outside of the purview of the legacy financial system, and countries that fight and refuse to let it happen wind up just screwing themselves over as smaller and more adaptive jurisdictions who stay out of it or embrace this change wind up benefiting enormously.

In this world Western governments make using Bitcoin an enormously difficult task, but people persevere anyway. The rest of the world with a brain stays out of the way, or proactively embraces it, while the West spends all of its effort and resources futilely fighting the inevitable. The rest of the world experiences a financial renaissance, while the Western world stagnates, its citizens forced to fight uphill the entire time to retain any degree of economic success (or even just staying afloat).

As brutal as it sounds, this is the world I want to see. One where the West’s domination and coercive control over the rest of the world erodes. We have no special right to lord over the rest of the world in the manner we do, and this path forward would strip us slowly over time of the ability to continue doing so. Citizens of the West can embrace Bitcoin, and stand up for our individual freedoms and sovereignty, and in doing so cushion ourselves from the collapse of our corrupt institutions.

A victory in revolution doesn’t come free or easy. For Bitcoin to really do what many of us hope it can, it’s really necessary at the end of the day to walk a painful path. And that means people have to choose to walk it. Many people in this space think that governments will simply roll over and let Bitcoin win, but that is just a feint to move in and capture it.

We need to push to build around them, build in parallel, and force their hand. If they don’t actively fight it, then there is something else going on. That isn’t good for us.

“Yet another one of them is that consumers revolt, entrepreneurs intervene, before the end of 2015 there’s about a thousand to a million different Bitcoin forks, each with its ten million-ish monetary base worth about a dollar, on global average. The size of the inter-Bitcoins market, the complexity and confusion ensuing makes pretty much everything unmanageable for the “ordinary person”. Hedge funds and banks (the ones a little ahead of using Excel) that trade in this murky complexity make a killing and become the principal driver of economic growth worldwide. Not only is the consumer about as screwed as is currently the case, but to everyone’s benefit he has just been clearly proven yet again that revolt = being fucked in the ass harder, longer, with a thicker implement with sharper barbs on it. Also conveniently, the thing to revolt at has become much more vague and intangible. On the balance of probabilities this would seem the most likely outcome, strictly because history unerringly flows in that direction which most cruely rapes the “average person”.”

Popescu rated this as the most likely outcome. Constant fragmentation, Bitcoin shattering into an innumerable number of forks from the original. Each region, or group of people with a different idea, breaking off into their own different networks. Erosion of the network effect until it localizes with more sub-fragments than people can keep track of.

Everyone assumes that this is over, that this door was simply a phase we passed through during and in the immediate aftermath of the blocksize wars, and it is closed forever. That is delusional. Nation states are adopting Bitcoin, major financial institutions that essentially write government policy are stepping on stage and integrating it into their systems.

The world is a game of coercion and extortion politics, the US invades countries and slaughters hundreds of thousands of people simply to keep the flow of commodities moving in the direction it wants to. To imagine they and other interests wouldn’t fork Bitcoin for their own self interest at a global scale is naive. I would even go so far as to say that opening the first door, the “capitulation” and capture of Bitcoin quickly by these people would almost guarantee that this last door eventually opens.

This is a failure of the utmost degree. Fragmentation, no singular network effect that enforces a true scarcity of supply, and more importantly rules, on economic players globally. A brief respite and then immediate return to the game we know now. Complete and utter failure of any form of revolution.

All three of these doors are still sitting there, we haven’t walked through any of them yet. It’s anyone’s guess which one we eventually do. Bitcoiners could do with a little humility, and recognition of the fact that not only have we not even come close to winning, but failure is absolutely still on the table. In multiple ways.

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Culture

“PickleBit”: Proof of Workforce, Fold, and Pickle Pop Partner on Pickleball Tournament, Offer Bitcoin Prize Pool

Published

1 week ago

September 18, 2024

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The Santa Monica-based non-profit Proof of Workforce Foundation has partnered with Bitcoin financial services company Fold and Pickle Pop to organize a Bitcoin-themed Pickleball tournament, offering a $5,000 prize pool for entrants and winners.

The tournament is slated to be held on October 18 in Santa Monica, California during the Peer to Pier Bitcoin Festival. Featuring both a semi-pro and amateur division, the winner of each division will receive their payouts in bitcoin. Entrants will also have the opportunity to win Bitcoin hardware wallet devices provided by CoinKite.

“This will be an incredible event, bringing together two talented and high growth communities, Bitcoiners and Pickleballers, to support creative re-use of commercial space on the 3rd street promenade”, said Proof of Workforce Founder and Santa Monica firefighter Dom Bei.

Earlier this year, Bei’s Foundation partnered with the City of Santa Monica to launch the Santa Monica Bitcoin Office, making it the first U.S. city to do so.

“The Santa Monica Bitcoin Office is already bringing communities and revenue opportunities to key areas of our economic revitalization strategy, and has done so at zero cost to the city”, said City of Santa Monica Vice Mayor Lana Negrete. “This is exciting and an example of collaborative and innovative ideas to reimagine retail on 3rd Street.”

Brian Harrington, Senior Marketing Manager at Fold, added:

“I’ve loved seeing the Bitcoin community grow in Southern California over the years and what the city of Santa Monica is doing with it is amazing.”

Participants can register for the tournament on the PickleBit tournament website, where they will also receive bitcoin rewards for signing up and playing in the tournament.

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Culture

Un Ode de l’Provocateur du Bitcoin

Published

2 weeks ago

September 10, 2024

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Out of the ashes emerged a snarling rodent dubbed Max Punk.

Open conflict, Whales besting Bored-Apes, the social layer manifest.

Bitcoin leaders sent to prison, then freed by massive strike waves.

HODL’ers fighting in the streets, power cuts, three-day work weeks, Maxi’s battling for Hashrates, governments brought down, Central Banks crying.

The Banksters powerless.

The Orange-Pilled class – loud, stacked and toxic.

L’ Provocateur don’t stand downwind from sh%#tcoins.

Max Punk smells of victory not of FOMO.

An Orange sky at night traverses’ seas of fiat to El Salvador dreams, not NFT nightmares.

Un Bukele ami très explosif.

Promoting Bitcoin thru absurdist and provocative actions,

a means of enacting monetary change.

Proof of ‘work[ers]’ never strike.

God won’t save the dollar, the regime.

Fiat makes you a moron, a potential Elon-bomb.

L’ Provocateur don’t stand downwind from sh%#tcoins.

Max Punk smells of victory not of FOMO.

An Orange sky at night traverses’ seas of fiat to El Salvador dreams, not NFT nightmares.

Un Bukele ami très explosif.

Orange shoes and garb only taunts the volcanos.

Consuming sats, not the FUD.

And there ain’t no future ‘cept with Bitcoin.

…In your dreaming Laser eyes!

This is a guest post by Enza Coin. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

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Culture

Bitcoiners and Wobblies: Labor Day Edition

Published

3 weeks ago

September 2, 2024

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Recently, I’ve been reading about the foundations of the American Labor Movement. Specifically, the birth of the Industrial Workers of the World and a group called the Wobblies, a nickname given to IWW Members. At its peak, the IWW had over 150,000 members in 1917, with global memberships and significant power and influence. While the IWW was a socialist leaning organization in theory, many of its core values were intertwined into the DNA of the American Labor movement, and was undeniably pivotal to the development of organized labor and a strong working class following the industrial revolution. The parallels between some of the IWW’s origins and ideologies and Bitcoin are significant, and shall be demonstrated with quotes rather than boring you to death with in depth history.

All quotes are attributed to the book “Wobblies: A Graphic History of The Industrial Workers of the World (Buhle/Schulman.

Origins and Genesis

“No one can say exactly where the inspiration for the IWW came from. The origins are too numerous both in the U.S. and abroad…”

Similarly, the nickname of the Wobblies, has no clear origin. Naturally, some of the mythology around Bitcoin comes to mind, and while Bitcoin’s origins are clearly documented via white paper and email communications, its creator or creators is or are shrouded in mystery. As Bitcoin caught gained popularity, its growth was decentralized and organic. In another parallel, while the IWW and American Labor Movement had prior inspirations, it was a pioneer in the sense of organizing labor across ethnic, gender, religious and other demographic differences.

“After the Civil War, massive industry grew up faster than anyone could have imagined, with previously unthinkable wealth accruing to the bankers but with millions of desperately poor working people, employed at low wages or unemployed in the frequent economic recessions”

From the financial crisis, to post-covid wealth accumulation within the ranks of billionaires, to a current AI, robotics and self-automation boom underway, this story is all too familiar. However, recessions have been all but outlawed, replaced by government intervention, currently placing systems as large as Pensions and Social Security on the equivilant of government welfare and dependence.

Wobblies and Bitcoiners

“The Wobbly, male or female, Asian or Occidental, black, brown, red or white, was only an ordinary human being in physique”

We feel the same about Bitcoiners. We have all met some of the most inspiring people in our lives in this space. It is both the character, grit and determination that allows individuals to discover and understand Bitcoin, as well as the character building journey a Bitcoiner must take to fully grasp Bitcoin and share it with a world that rounds out what many of us believe is the most talented and motivated communities in the world.

“Their story was collaborative, collective, not reliant on any one hero or heroine-as heroic (or tragic) as individual Wobblies lives might be.”

Kill your heroes. Death to Ego. Bitcoin doesn’t need any of us.

Solidarity: A movement greater than the individual

“The world of the Wobblies was one realized in its best moments by solidarity across race, ethnic, gender and nationality lines”

The beauty of Bitcoin is it requires no trust between those who transact with each other. And in doing such, Bitcoin allows humans to deconstruct the daily head to toe analysis we perform on each other daily; an analysis that instinctually calls out our differences, with roots in paranoia and fear. While blind solidarity amongst Bitcoiners is the antithesis of “dont trust, verify,” there is a strong natural bond between Bitcoiners. I believe the future of Bitcoin, when facing its largest tests ahead, will very much depend upon a deepened solidarity between those who subscribe to Bitcoin’s Genesis, core values, and blind commitment to being honest, true and trustless.

AFL vs. Knights of Labor

“The earliest mass movement for an eight hour workday during 1885-86, highlighted the different roles of two kinds of labor movements. The American Federation of Labor, founded in 1883, sought to organize skilled workers (almost entirely white and male) only…whereas the Knights of Labor, founded in 1869 as a secret society..extended its membership to almost all workers (except Chinese), including African-Americans and women.”

The AFL and its exclusive country club brand of membership outlasted the ultimate demise of the Knights of Labor and still exists today as the AFL-CIO. In reading about the different philosophies of the AFL and Knights of Labor it brings up parallels within the Bitcoin community, frequently heard criticisms of Bitcoin Maxi’s, as well as Bitcoin v. Crypto. I leave you the reader to draw your own thoughts here, as parallels are in their nature loose affiliations at best.

The Movement

“In the industrially advanced United States, the working class had been prepared ready to assume control of society and to replace “politics” and the “State” with a government of direct rule. As Marx had pointed out about the Paris Commune (and Lenin would repeat for the Soviets), the existing government apparatus could not be infiltrated and taken over piece-meal; it had to be dissolved and repalced by a truly democratic, modern form of government”

There are two camps of thought in Bitcoin, one that calls for a full collapse of the current financial system, and migration to a Bitcoin Standard, and another that insists Bitcoin can co-exist with and even surpass the current financial system without the latters’ collapse. While money is not identical to government in this parallel, the amount in which money is entrenched in the legacy financial system, is prodigious, and this always sparks interesting debate between Bitcoiners.

“For the IWW..the familiar problem of the socialist movement being notoriously small in the US could be solved in a new way. ‘Educating’ workers into becoming socialists, through newspapers, speeches and election campaigns, was too passive and not very successful. Workers needed to educate themselves, in and through their own actions and self-organization.”

Some opposing parallels here. Immediately, I think of a core value of Bitcoiners, which is that, no one can walk this path for you. Proof of Work can not be sidestepped or bypassed. No individual or group can cheat the quest for knowledge, both about Bitcoin and the system it sits poised to replace. The Bitcoin journeys of individuals and membership-based orgs, absent continuous learning and education, often end up in loss or disappointment. Those who do the work, find that their knowledge of money blossoms, and few if any have ever turned back after coming to deeply understand Bitcoin.

Simultaneously, my mind shifts to the oligarchy’s attempts at no less than a 10 year negative media blitz on all things Bitcoin. It slowed the train but it did not work. The other day, I randomly asked people at the 3rd Street promenade in Santa Monica, to share their thoughts on Bitcoin. Overwhelmingly positive, and having some foundation in accuracy. The movement to dissuade people from finding Bitcoin was a delay of the inevitable at best. Because nothing can stop an idea whose time has come.

Conclusions

On this labor day, I gaze upon the deeply polarized two party political system of the dominant world power today. And as I see labor unions align with one party, at the expense of creating division within their ranks, I see a labor movement that has drifted from its original foundation. While the IWW rose and fell, its pinnacle represented an unwavering movement, a solidarity and commitment to the worker above everything else. And there is power in that. I see parallels today in Bitcoin.

The core principles of Bitcoin transcend our differences and are worth fighting for. At Proof of Workforce, our method of fighting for these values is through education-based Bitcoin adoption for workers, unions, pension funds and municipalities. And in doing so, we are sharing not just bitcoin the asset, or Bitcoin the Network, we are communicating the Genesis of Bitcoin and its values, so that they may not be lost in the progression of time.

Finally, Bitcoin is a natural evolution of the labor movement, sharing many similarities and parallels. However, unlike the labor movement, the worker can rely on Bitcoin, absent any allegiance to any political party, leader or oligarchy. And in this sense, Bitcoin and its system of values stands to be adopted by unions all over the world. And in doing so, unions around the world can become re-aligned to their Genesis Story. A story where solidarity comes above all, a story where workers come together to hold onto the very productive property dependent upon their labor. A story where, as many workers stand to be phased out of relevance due to automation and AI, the unions representing them look forward and claim ownership of the most accessible and promising productive property available to them today; Bitcoin.

This is a guest post by Dom Bei. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

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