We Dare to Care

The Bitcoin social layer still has a bad reputation. However, if you take a peek behind the curtain, you'll see how amazing this community is.

“Some men just want to watch the world burn” - If you’re a movie fan like me, you might recognize this quote from Alfred, aka Michael Caine, in The Dark Knight.

I chose this quote because it sums up the outsiders’ perspective of Bitcoiners perfectly. For most people out there, Bitcoiners look like lunatics who want to see the world burn because this would replace Bitcoin with Fiat and bring in a new monetary area.

Granted, they’re also heavily influenced by bad media coverage about Bitcoin’s footprint or read tweets by toxic Maxis on Twitter. These things don’t help with an already negative brand image.

I can’t speak for everyone in the Bitcoin ecosystem, but I dare to say that this isn’t true. There are enough people in the Bitcoin ecosystem who did the proof of work and showed how it’s a net positive for the environment. If you don’t know what I am talking about, read all of Daniel Batten’s blog posts.

However, the environment is only one part of the ecosystem. Another one is the way Bitcoin is portrayed in society. Most still think Bitcoin is used to launder money or to buy drugs with it, which are both idiotic use cases because all transactions on-chain are publicly visible.

Yet, the idea that it’s money for criminals is still in people’s heads. Therefore anyone involved in the ecosystem is marked as a criminal or immediately linked to the ideas and statements people read on Twitter.

I’m here to tell you this is not the case! There is so much more to the story, and if you take the time to dig deeper, you’ll be surprised at how amazing this community is.

Most of us want happiness and peace

Like in every community, you’ll always find people on the extreme end of things. This is no different in the Bitcoin community. There are some of the Maxis and weirdos who post straight-up bullshit.

If I had to allocate a number, I would say all of them make up about 5% of the community. Unfortunately, they’re the loudest ones out there and get picked up for negative press coverage.

But if you look past that, you end up in the broader Bitcoin circle. One, I try to be in as much as I possibly can. Here, you also find different opinions, political associations, and ideas, but all of them agree to use Bitcoin and not abuse it.

Many are annoyed by influencers who abuse Bitcoin to make more money or are eager to use it to bank the unbanked. Some of us even spend our Sats regularly, can you believe that?! Whatever the case, we all want to come together, ideally at a Bitcoin meet-up, and help out where we can.

Most of us want happiness and peace of mind and try to help as many people as possible, even if they’re nocoiners or shitcoiners. We don’t care! The goal is to get as many people as possible onto the Bitcoin train because time is running out. There are so many people who need Bitcoin to learn how to save again, leave an inheritance behind for their children or have something no government can take away from them.

Whatever the reason, many of us Bitcoiners try our best, sometimes a little too much, to orange pill people. So far, I haven’t met a single Bitcoiner who didn’t want to help out and explain why 8 billion people need Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is freedom technology

At its core, Bitcoin is a protocol without any rulers. As long as anyone is willing to participate and play by the rules, they can use Bitcoin. This opens up the possibilities for anyone with the skill set to create products or services.

This is one of the biggest pros for Bitcoin because no tyranny, dictator, or corrupt government can tell a Bitcoin developer what they need to do.

This is why you see more and more adoption in dictatorships, where citizens realize Bitcoin is the way out of that system. However, most of us live in the Western world and don’t need Bitcoin. So, why worry about people and their future if we’re doing relatively well compared to other parts of the world?

The devil lies in the details. Fifty years ago, a family could survive on one income stream. They could get a house, one or two cars, and an extended summer vacation somewhere in the south of Europe.

However, once Fiat money became a reality and central banks realized they could legally steal by inflating money slightly by 2% yearly. They did this very sneaky because no one thought about that amount. What’s 2% on my $3 coffee?! Yes, if you think short-term. But if you actually do the math, you realize how much our money has devalued over the years.

These days, if you want to save for retirement, you either are lucky to have an inheritance from your parents, or you must become a hedge funds manager next to your day job and perform at least 8% yearly to have something left over in 40 years.

As a result, every generation got used to not saving but actually spending their money. If they thought more long term, they put money into risky bets, hoping it would pay out one day.

In essence, most of us are stuck in an unfair system. One that is controlled by central banks and their buddies on Wall Street. The only way out of that slow grind is Bitcoin. Not because it had a stellar performance in the last decade but because it allows us to truly own and verify what we do.

Combine that with the network effect and all the benefits you have these days with things like the Lightning Network, and you end up with the perfect antidote to the Fiat system.

One that cherishes innovative thinking. One that enables everyone on Earth to save, even if that’s just $20 a month, and most importantly, Bitcoin is a system of which we know the monetary policy. Because there is a hard cap, there is no possibility to inflate the supply away.

All these properties allow us to build a new system, one in which I can own the base layer and expand my desires into more layer solutions. And this is the point of freedom technology.

If I want to build a messenger protocol with Bitcoin, I can do so. If I want to secure my Bitcoin in a multisig wallet, I can do so. Or lastly, if I want to use this new technology to save for the future and always have my wealth with me, I can do that too.

Fix the money, fix the world!

OK, I went on a rant there, but it’s essential to understand why Bitcoin is necessary. It’s the ultimate hedge against corruption, an unfair advantage, and the current financial system.

This is the beauty. Most people agree that corruption, an unfair advantage, or the fight against the current financial system are all bad things that must be reduced to as little as possible. Whether you’re left or right-leaning, you’re likely upset with at least one of these issues.

That’s where we Bitcoiners come in handy. We’re already eager to orange pill, inform and help out anyone willing to invest time and study Bitcoin. Most of us don’t give a shit who you voted for in the last election. We’re also not interested in how much money you make or what kind of house you live in.

We’re interested in helping you with that one problem you run into repeatedly. We want to help because we know that time is running out, and we must act and build a better future now.

Why? Because we dare to care.