I’m now five years and three months into my crypto journey, and during that time I’ve seen many people come and go. But there are also those who’ve been here the entire time I’ve been here, regardless of whether the price is up, or down, or sideways.
I like to think the reason we’ve stuck around is because we’ve each experienced the lightbulb moment. That moment when you see the magic of crypto with your own eyes and not only understand why it’s so important, and why it matters, but also allows you to see the world with a whole new perspective.
Unfortunately, the lightbulb moment seems to be a rather rare occurrence these days. Most people who are exposed to crypto rarely ever experience it. Maybe most people aren’t interested in crypto for anything other than how it can make them rich, but what if it’s also because they just aren’t being introduced to crypto the right way.
Hardly anyone these days seems to talk about using crypto. Every time I end up in a conversation with someone about it, the only thing they care to discuss is the price and what it might do in the future.
As someone who doesn’t come from a computer science background, and didn’t know what a libertarian was up until a few years ago, I consider myself fortunate to have found crypto when I did. Back in 2017 and 2018, terms like Web3 and digital gold weren’t as pervasive as they are now. There were still plenty of people who believed in Satoshi’s original idea of peer-to-peer electronic cash, and they were happy to share their knowledge with you.
Because I bought my first coins right before the BTC/BCH fork, I was forced to learn what hardforks were, how to split coins, and the importance of holding your own private keys. Perhaps even more importantly, I ended up researching why a hardfork was taking place to begin with. This led me to find out all about the block size wars and the major differences between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.
It’s how I eventually ended up finding this blogging platform called Yours.org where you could post articles and charge people BCH in order to read them. Imagine Substack with paywalls that don’t require users to reveal their identity or use a credit card. You just send the required amount of crypto and instantly the content becomes available. It was so easy and frictionless that it just made sense. This is what ultimately allowed me to experience the lightbulb moment for myself, not by reading about crypto, or watching YouTube videos. Only by actually using crypto to exchange something of value was I able to see how it could be so much better than what we have today.
Another lightbulb moment for me was playing poker on blockchain.poker. As someone who liked to gamble, I was familiar with the horrible experience of using online sportsbooks, casinos, and poker sites. Depositing money on these sites was not only a hassle, but the fees were so high it almost made it not worth the trouble. Withdrawing my money was even worse. I would have to send photos of the front and back of my driver’s license and credit card, and then wait for them to manually process the transaction. Sometimes they’d even send me my money by mailing me a check.
With blockchain.poker everything was instant, and the fees were barely noticeable. I could deposit however much BCH I wanted, play some poker, and then withdraw it right back to my own wallet anytime I wanted. It was like being able to walk into a casino, cash in, and cash out, without anyone ever having to know my name, only I could do it in the comfort of my living room. The experience of using crypto to play poker was so much better that I wished transacting could be that easy for everything.
Though you can actually use blockchain.poker with XEC today, I know most people aren’t gamblers, or poker players, and wouldn’t really have anything to compare the experience to anyway. This is why I believe what’s needed is a place where people can easily experience the lightbulb moment by paying for something they want, something they value, by using electronic cash as money. That is what I want this site to eventually become. I want it to be a place where people come to experience the lightbulb moment over and over again by using eCash the way it was always intended, as money. Until then, I will continue to work on my craft with the hope that eventually people will find it valuable enough to be willing to spend their XEC to read it.