What Cryptocurrencies Tell Us About Ourselves — Beyond the World of Finance
Some people want Lambo, most people want a life. A meaningful one.
When you first come to Reddit looking for crypto communities, you will be surprised by how many memes and jokes hurled by the members daily. It feels like crypto is just a bunch of geeks trying to be millionaires by buying stupid coins.
But when you dig deeper, it is a community that has one purpose: to explore the alternative of the current system. This means different things to different people.
Some say wealth is the purpose.
Some say early retirement is the purpose.
Some say escaping from a broken and corrupt system is the purpose.
Whatever the reason is, the crypto community is a good place to learn. From what I witnessed surfing on Reddit Crypto communities, I learn a lot about people.
People are stronger together
The crypto community is one of the strongest and loudest communities in the world.
They started small, standing for cryptocurrencies, against the likes of Warren Buffet and other massive, conventional, institutional investors. They believed that blockchain is the future, and our financial system was obsolete.
They started from the idea that there is another way.
Some are in for profit, but some are in for a better, greater cause.
This is a live stream by the founder of ADA (Cardano), Charles Hoskinson — who was one of the founders of Ethereum. It is a must-watch whether you invest in crypto or not.
His idea was simple. He wanted to move away from the current, legacy financial system. The system is too corrupt and obsolete, and average people never benefit from it.
Whether you do it for money or for values, community makes anything possible. When people support each other, we will do wonders. When people have one goal, it is hard to hold back.
And the community has one goal: to escape the conventional system. Whether it will be a reality or not, it is one hell of a fight and a historical moment for humanity.
Reality is just a rampant, viral, accepted idea
When a community becomes stronger, its idea becomes more rampant. When enough people believe in something, it will be a reality.
Take a look at Dogecoin. People say it is a shit coin. But when its community pushed hard, others relented. A shit coin has become one of the most valuable assets in the world. Not bad for a meme.
It can’t be neglected that the influence of celebrities such as Elon Musk and Mark Cuban had influenced the coin greatly, but it won’t happen if the community is timid.
There are a lot of other coins which have better fundamentals, but the community isn’t as fanatic as the shitcoin HODLERS.
No one knows how long it is going to stay, but such experience only tells us again and again that people aren’t rational, and we can’t be completely rational.
The takeaway from this dogecoin debacle/fairytale (depending on how you look at it) is that when enough people believe and support a cause, it will be the reality.
Stubbornness is your pride speaking
I joined the crypto community this year. It is too late to acquire a massive return, but the cause of this community is too huge to neglect.
The only reason I didn’t plunge into it earlier was that I was a conventional investor. I only talked about stocks and bonds — and occasionally gold and real estate. This was my truth. This was all I know. This was everything I understood and rationalized about investing.
I was too afraid and proud to jump into something irrational and crazy. Taking part in cryptocurrency meant taking part in speculation, which I abhorred.
Well, guess what, it was my ego speaking. I was so proud of my knowledge and skill that I considered the alternatives to be dumb, irrational, and dangerous.
I should have known earlier that people refuse to believe that the internet was meant to be the future during its early life.
Even people rejected — and crucified — Jesus.
People are afraid of changes. Changes mean new knowledge. New knowledge means you are dumb relative to it and you need to be a student again.
Remember the next time you hear something strange, don't label it as dumb and scary. Learn it first and you might get hooked.
Most people don’t want money
To be honest, I couldn't care less about Lambo and working from a beach kind of life. I just want enough money to support basic needs, pay off my debt, send my future kids to school, and have all-around healthcare without the fear of being bombarded by bills.
Well yes, they cost more than a Lambo but you are missing the point.
People don't want luxuries. People want their life settled and covered. That's it.
People want to get out from the inevitable rate race and work on something they are passionate about. People want to participate in a greater cause than just spending their life working for corporate profits.
People want a life. And with the current system, it is too difficult for many to live a life.
This Reddit thread sums up the idea perfectly.
Takeaway
I come to the crypto world for a quick profit, but I stay for the community.
Most of them aren’t rich. Most of them only invest a few thousand dollars or below. Most of them are like me, normal, average people. We all want to be rich.
However, the gist of the movement is not merely about getting rich. It is about escaping a broken and corrupted system, where the rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer.
It is about escaping the high fee corporates charge us for sending our hard-earned money abroad for the family at home.
It is about escaping a system where exchanging our money for another currency means less money afterward.
And if there is any lesson we can take from this historical moment, it is about people regaining power from corporates. It is about people.
