BITCOIN, BLOCKCHAIN, AND CRYPTO, OH MY! NEED HELP LEARNING ABOUT THIS STUFF?
A Train Wreck Disguised As A Disaster
Crypto-anything news these days is a train wreck disguised as a disaster. Nine long months ago, Bitcoin was trading at over $65,000 Today, July 24, it’s trading at $22,663. These losses and the losses people have had to swallow via the various alt-coins have amounted to $billions. Things have settled down a bit, but who knows what happens next.
The way I see it, this crypto-bubble mess has a sibling in the Dot-Com crash of 2000. Back then, business on the internet was just getting rolling and there was a ton of hype behind making money with online-anything. When the curtain was pulled back on those companies, people realized there was nothing to support what these businesses were “worth”, and oops, down they went. Even Amazon almost went out of business.
It took some time, but people started actually treating online businesses as “businesses” with balance sheets, income statements and the need to turn an actual profit. Now, the internet is a significant driver of our economy.
That’s where I think we are with the crypto world. People got carried away and thought the Emerald City was real only to discover the Wizard was not all he said he was. People are waking up and will start running these “businesses” as businesses, there will be government oversight and Dorothy will be back home on the farm.
Blockchain And Crypto Is Real.
There are current and will be future real world crypto applications to come. But just like in 2000 with the internet, we don’t know exactly what they’ll be yet. Here are some examples of how crypto is being used in real life:
Many governments around the globe are moving towards their own types of digital currencies.
Visa and Mastercard are both working out the ways they can bring crypto-currencies into their businesses.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, millions of dollars were donated to the Ukrainian cause in the form of Bitcoin.
After the US left Afghanistan, women there were using Bitcoin to hide their money from the Taliban.
Get Smart - Crypto Version
Crypto is here to stay and at some point in the near future, we will all have experience with it. Will that be before we all have a ride in a driverless car, I don’t know, but I think it’s important to know how this stuff works.
Before the current crypto-insanity started, I was suffering through my second serious attempt to understand the world of crypto. This includes trying to figure out how blockchains work, what are DAOs, NFTs, and DeFi’s, and what exactly is supposed to go on in Web 3.0.
While I’m not 100% where I’d like to be (insert old-fart joke here), I have discovered a couple of excellent sources of crypto education. If you are interested here are links to them:
A Normie's Guide To Becoming A Crypto Person This guide walks you through a pretty basic overview of the fundamentals.
Andreessen Horowitz's Crypto Canon This is almost an MBA curriculum. It provides links to articles, videos and papers that gives you a thorough education it bite size chunks.
I Own Bitcoin.
Yup, I invested in Bitcoin. I don’t own “a Bitcoin”, I own 0.00035893 of a Bitcoin. In February I sank $15 to get into the market so I could get reports and stay on top of what’s going on. Today, after 6 months of maturing, my Bitcoin sliver is now worth $8.14, so the yacht will have to wait.
Before you move on, what did you think of this article? Was it worth your time?
A Bit Of Humor
RETIREMENT NEWS AND SCOOPS
Retiring On A Cruise Ship, Really?
Every so often I see a news report on someone who has retired full-time on a cruise ship. They did the math and it works for them. There are challenges, and I’m not sure how I’d survive living on daily buffet lines and animal shaped towels, but good for them. Here’s an article with details about a couple who are living large cruising the world:
Read More Here About Retiring On A Cruise Ship
FITNESS, HEALTH, VIGOR, AND VERVE
How Old You Are Age Wise May Not Be The Same As How Old You Are Biologically.
You may be younger or older than you think. Based on your daily habits you may be increasing or decreasing your biological age. Here’s an interesting article on the subject.
Read More About Your Biological Age
WHAT I’M READING, WATCHING, ON LISTENING TO.
Freakonomics Radio Podcast
As the website says “ Freakonomics Radio tells you things you always thought you knew, (but didn’t) and things you never thought you wanted to know (but do). This podcast is an entertaining dive into the world of economics and how it affects our lives. A couple recent episodes:
In the 1890’s, the best selling car was… electric. Here's the episode
Why does the most monotonous job in the world pay $1 million? Here's the episode
If you want more, here’s a link to an interview that Freakonomics Radio host Stephen Dubner did with Morning Brew.
Freakonomics Host Stephen Dubner Interview
A BIT OF FUN AND FRIVOITY
Do you think traveling as a pro athlete would be great?
During the season, pro athletes are traveling for months going from Boston to LA, to Chicago, to Miami, and then to……. And they travel first class all the way. Chris Pronger of the NHL has a twitter thread about his experiences. His post lays out the fun parts and the challenges that athletes in general have to deal with on the road. It sounds tough, but if there’s an extra seat, I’d give it a try.
Here's an article with Chris' Twitter Thread
A QUOTE TO CHEW OVER
“Never keep up with the Joneses. Drag them down to your level. It’s cheaper” Quentin Crisp