Slay Your Bitcoin Heroes

We need to hold ourselves accountable and start verifying more information online. One step to do so is to question what influencers are telling us. Spoiler, it might get uncomfortable.

Today’s article is going to be a spicy one. Not many of you will agree, which is good and the whole idea behind it. I want to encourage the Bitcoin community to think more and be more critical of the information we receive daily. 

I got the idea for this article from a sticker on the back of my laptop. On it, you see a red Bitcoin logo that says: Slay Your Heroes. At first, I smiled and thought, this is a brilliant sticker!

Soon after, I started to think. Is there some truth to this? Do we hold Bitcoin heroes, mostly influencers on Twitter, to a higher standard? Do they know, or are they just making it up on the fly? 

These are questions I think about. Mostly about issues in modern society. I don’t trust politicians, bankers, and people in general. Call me crazy, but I want to double-check everything. However, I immediately trust people or issues in the Bitcoin space without any verification, which is a dangerous attitude. 

So me being me, I spend my evening sorting through my Twitter feed and seeing which influencers I follow and what they’ve been up to lately. These last six months have been a learning curve for many online. So many Bitcoin influencers turned out to be frauds or just in it for the money. Instead of teaching their followers about self-custody, they shilled high-yield products. These companies eventually went bust or are now in bankruptcy proceedings. 

I became more intentional about who I follow and what they’re saying. If there is one thing I hate, it’s grifters or people trying to find a constant shortcut. Luckily not many Bitcoin influencers are like this. Sure, some are in it for the money, but many care to promote their product or educate newbies about Bitcoin technology. 

As I established previously, I double or triple-check everything. I wasn’t following any of these silly influencers, but I couldn’t stop but think about other big names in the space. People like Michael Saylor, Peter McCormack, or Cory Klippsten. These big names have a huge following and are usually the first place newcomers land when they dive into Bitcoin. 

I started looking at their profiles, posts, and things there were saying these past weeks. I was motivated to look into more detail and create a profile for everyone I followed. Once I had their profiles up, I asked myself the following questions: 

• What does this person bring to the table in the Bitcoin space?

• Are they actively educating people or just annoying?

• Do they have unique viewpoints or topics?

• How much of their posts are ego-driven?

I chose these four questions to filter out what these people do as an example. Most of us follow Michael Saylor because he’s a big name and the first to state his support publicly, but does that benefit us? Is he there to educate and support, or does he do it because it’s an ego boost? 

So I started going through my Twitter lists and discovered two types of influencers. The first type likes to act tough, but as soon as the discussion heats up, they tend to leave or don’t interact anymore. The second type does act tough but tends to stand by his opinions no matter what. They might be wrong, but they would never admit it. Generally speaking, this is also the type who’s loud, obnoxious, and ignorant. 

Both of them aren’t types I want to engage with. Not because I want to filter out different opinions but because most of these discussions end up in a shouting match. No one wants to admit faults or agree that there might be different opinions. They only accept or engage with you if you agree with what they say. This attitude goes against everything Bitcoin stands for. It’s apolitical, permissionless, and open to everyone. Which is something a lot of these influencers often forget. No one cares about your ego. We might agree with some things, but if someone challenges your ideas, don’t be a dick! Question why this is the case. Ask yourself what the other side of the discussion brings to the table, and be as open as possible to hear every angle. 

The more I investigated what these individuals said, the more frustrated I got. After a while, I closed my laptop and sat back to reflect. Do these people believe what they say? If so, how ignorant and shallow are they?! We have different viewpoints because everyone involved has a different upbringing. What might be normal for me in Europe is looked at differently in North America. 

Which is something I accept and cherish. The more opinions and talking points out there, the better. We humans can only evolve if we sit down at the table and discuss or solve our problems. Apparently, a lot of influencers are not interested in doing so. 

This realization reminded me of a famous saying in Bitcoin. Don’t trust. Verify! If every one of these influencers, and believe me, they talk with each other, says the same thing, or unanimously agree; it’s probably best to double-check it. In fact, you start questioning all of it. Is this really how the markets will react? Are these statements factual? Do these companies hold their Bitcoin or trust a third party? 

The deeper I dug, the more questions came up. Was I overwhelmed? No! I actually found some freedom and joy in all of that. This is the beauty behind these deep dives. I find different solutions and not just one answer anymore. I can see what other social circles think and paint my picture. Some might say this encourages you to become too critical of Bitcoin or everything, but I believe it’s good to have a healthy skepticism.

I started slaying my Bitcoin heroes to find out all the answers. I’m not satisfied with hearing the same thing over and over again. That doesn’t mean I need to block or unfollow these influencers. I will still listen to what they have to say. From now on, I’ll just be more critical. Even if I’ll never truly understand everything, I still want to hear as many different opinions about the topic and challenge myself to see both sides of the discussion. 

With that in mind, don’t be afraid to question these big names. Verify if what they’re saying is accurate, and prepare to slay some of your Bitcoin heroes!