Oh Yes. I am reading your comments. Classic case of a wrong post at the wrong time for the wrong people.
So this time, I won’t defend myself for dumping crypto onto innocent internet citizens. (I am guilty of doing that quite often though)
For the ones who lack context, this blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Bohemian Bibliophile.
When I wrote about ISC last time, I got some sort of pushback. It was something like the meme you see here.
In my defence, I am writing about crypto for over 3 years now. On this ardent journey, some assumptions were made. In the lifelong fight for crypto mass adoption, I forgot that who these adopters were. Apologies!
So what do we now?
Today, I want to put forth a perspective of why I do, what I do. No jargons, no tech. I might avoid the term cryptocurrency altogether for that matter.
So for those of you who are reading till now, this is for you! Let’s dive in.
My Crypto Story:
The month was December. Year 2017. I was working in the sales team of an Indian tyre manufacturer. If you have been in sales before, you will be able to relate to this.
It was one of those days in the beginning of the month where you are called to a central office to review your monthly numbers. And no one ever has a month where everything is just fine.
But that is not the point. The point is that after this day long agony, the entire team gets together for a few (okay a little more than that) drinks.
Now my November was particularly screwed. So I could really use a drink or two to forget about the embarrassment I had to go through.
In the middle of this, there was a nerd. A consultant working with us for some project. Lo and behold this gentleman starts to talk about Bitcoin.
And just to shut him up from this excruciatingly painful monologue about decentralization, I simply buy some Bitcoin and forget about it.
So yes. My first ever crypto purchase was due to FOMO. Perfect.
Years pass by, and I couldn’t care less about crypto.
But then, near the onset of pandemic, Mr. Musk start talking about some weird doggy coin. Dogecoin. And internet being internet, starts this meme frenzy.
And then, I buy my second crypto ever. Because of FOMO.
I think I should be exempted from saying, “This is not a financial advice”?
“Of course it’s not! Have you ever seen my track record?”
But luck was on my side. My investment 8x’ed’ in a span of 2 weeks. And you could find me talking to anyone and everyone about cryptocurrency. I became the nerd that I once hated.
Until.
One fine day I brought this up at a family dinner with my friends.
And that is when my beloved wife decided to put this menace to an end.
“What exactly is Dogecoin”, she asked.
And no matter how hard I tried, I did not have a concrete answer.
That day, I decided to learn about crypto to make these returns constantly. And the deeper I dug into this rabbit hole, more I realized that this was just a fluke.
But I also realized one more thing:
“I came in because of speculation, stayed back for the revolution”
The Trigger:
One could easily qualify this as a pandemic thing. All of us had too much time at our hands and we just didn’t know what to do with it.
But the very fact I do this for a living till date, reveals a different side of it.
I fell in love with the vibe of the crypto community. Think of us as a bunch of noisy individuals who just want to watch the world burn.
Too sadist? Okay. Let me mellow it down a little bit.
We all know that governments across the globe have a problem with Bitcoin. Duh!
Then why can’t they just shut it down? They have all the military, intelligence in the world to do that. Right?
Wrong! If they could, they would.
And that’s what intrigued me the most.
For the first time in my career as a digital professional, I found a tech that is not a function of human intent.
Isn’t that just beautiful?
Imagine creating an unstoppable force. Now you know how Oppenheimer would have felt when he first saw the Atomic bomb in action.
The only difference? This technology could do good. Not kill people but liberate them from the years of sovereign, modern day slavery.
One fine day, some pseudonymous person on the internet wrote a piece of code and the world changed forever.
If this isn’t magic, I don’t know what is!
As promised, I won’t go into the technical details. Also, I have covered it in the past here and here.
Mass Adoption?
The next obvious question is if this technology is so powerful and world changing, why isn’t it mainstream yet?
Fair question. So industry experts would say we are in the era of landline phones and pagers when it comes to web3.
Imagine this. You have become a parent off late. After bouts of sleepless nights and endless panic attacks, your kid finally evolves into a toddler. They take their first steps and you are super excited. Tears of happiness glisten through your eyes.
Now zoom out a little bit and think. He just walked. It’s a basic human function. Yet, you are on the top of the world.
This is exactly how I would define the current situation. We break the internet at every little price movement. But the journey is pretty long. Hardcore enthusiasts think of Bitcoin as their child.
In fact, each generation has had their favourite asset classes. Our grandparents were into FDs, parents loved real estate and gold, we are into equity and GenZ are fairly comfortable with crypto!
The initial use cases are frugal and borderline pointless. But that is exactly how you evolve.
Don’t believe me? Here’s a website that will redirect you to Google’s product graveyard. Imagine a USD 1.8 Trillion company is still retiring product to this day.
While I cannot predict the exact tipping point, I am extremely bullish about the days to come. It can only go up from here (I don’t care about the price, but the innovation)
Are You Game?
More important question here is what are your next moves going to be? As they say,
What nerds and misfits do on their weekends is what world will do during their work weeks in next 5 years.
-Anon
I am not trying to scare you. But think of this shift as pivotal as the advent of internet itself. Can you imagine any brand not being on social media today? No right? Web3 is going to be a 10x disruptor.
Also, this is a good segue to resort to some Blockchain rant pretty soon. And I know how much you would love to end this before that happens.
So, I will see you in the next one! Pushing the boundaries of translating tech into human language.
Got questions? Want to take it to the next level? Reach out to me using your preferred platform from the links below
Until next time..
53 responses to “Nerd Stomping Normies: A sneak peak of why i do, what i do”
So crypto is like amutual fund investment, subject to market risk. But it’s not recognised, what if it falls? What happens if I want to withdraw my money?
Not really ma’am. Principally, it is a lot more volatile and hence riskier than a mutual fund. Although you can withdraw your money any time.
Hahahaha, the first meme was quite funny! You have an interesting story. So what do you do with all these bitcoins? Can you use them to pay for anything? Sorry I’m still trying to figure!
Not yet. Some places (also countries) accept Bitcoin. But it is far away from becoming a common medium of exchange.
I made my first crypto purchase years back just because of FOMO , it crashed after that and I lost track and interest. I know it is something that the dark world trades a lot in. My financial planner advises me not to put money in this but it sure keeps luring me.
Hahah. Always listen to your financial planner ma’am. This is a usual crash landing for most people in crypto
I really want to invest in crypto but scared to invest if I lose anything. But after reading your all posts now I am planning to start my crypto investment. Thanks for sharing
I’m intrigued by the idea of investing in crypto, but the fear of potential losses holds me back. It’s a balancing act between risk and reward. I’m hesitant after hearing so many stories of people losing money around me.
True. It is one of the riskiest asset classes out there. I would suggest only put in what you can afford to lose.
I must say, your bold approach to dumping crypto knowledge on innocent internet citizens was quite a bold step 😆. And this post is like diving into a pool of honesty with a splash of humor. Love reading the post with perfect images. Can’t wait to see where your crypto journey takes you next!
Thanks, Anjali. Glad you liked it.
Ok, I am still as clueless as before, but this time with a smile on my face. I loved your writing style laced with humour and tech/crypto ‘gyaan’. Maybe in the next posts you could enlighten about teh benefits of crypto and bitcoins and also the safe ways to trade in them. Would love learning about it.
PS: The memes and images are too good.
That’s a decent topic to cover, might do that soon.
Well with this post you proved that apart from being a crypto nerd, you also have a penchant for humour! Had me laughing at the beginning with your memes. Not easy to simplify tech to layperson language – that’s a challenge for you for next time! And I see many people are considering investing in crypto after reading your post – perhaps in the next one you can talk about the Dos and Don’ts and how to evaluate before investing.
Thanks ma’am for your kind words. I will try to do more of these posts. Idea is not to make people invest. But to make them aware of the options at least.
Hey there, thanks for sharing your crypto journey with us. It sounds like you’ve been through quite a ride, especially navigating the ups and downs of the crypto world for over three years now.
It’s understandable that sometimes we can get caught up in the technicalities and jargon of the industry, forgetting about the real people behind the adoption of crypto. Your decision to step back and share your perspective in a more relatable way is commendable.
Thanks, Anon.
hahaha… you took the bull by its horns, eh?
Loved the memes you used to make your point and your post did manage to make me a little less skeptical about crypto so congratulations on that
Mission accomplished. 🙂
I’m curious about the concept of investing in crypto, but the apprehension of potential losses makes me hesitant. It’s a delicate balance between risk and reward, and hearing numerous tales of people losing money adds to my hesitation
I am still understanding the concept of crypto and how it works. Is it safe to invest money here or not?
Safety is a function of your personal risk taking ability. Nothing is safe, not even FDs. And crypto, on the other side of the spectrum is what most would call, borderline gambling.
First memes is quite funny and relatable. I learnt lots of about crypto by reading your post only. Don’t know when my fear will go and I also dive in crypto sea.
It’s okay. You are not missing out on anything.
Cryptocurrency is still at a budding level is what we understood by reading your post.
It is.
I’ve never been able to truly understand the real implications of investing in Bitcoins. Sorry, you didn’t help much here either. Would technical jargon make it easier to understand?
I will try to cover that in coming days.
I think because of the number of scams one keeps hearing about, we are fearful of investing in crypto. shares took a while to get organised and adopted, i guess similarly once there is regulation and a safety net, people will get more into crypto investments.
Fair analogy. This is exactly how it is supposed to pan out.
Man this seriously was a good read especially with the memes but I loved that this was out of jargon so made it much easier to comprehend
Thanks ma’am
I am a simple medical professional with zero knowledge in finance and so is my surgeon husband. My tech friends have earned a lot from Bitcoin but I am unsure whether we would ever invest in it.
I am a simple medical professional with zero knowledge in finance and so is my surgeon husband. My tech friends have earned a lot from Bitcoin but I am unsure whether we would ever invest in it.
That’s okay doctor. Perfectly fine to let the hype subside and then take a call.
Hahaha… Raghav the creative writer has finally emerged. Goes without saying that I could relate to and understand this post of yours the most among all the others… so yes, you’ve hit the bull’s eye!
Your story reminded me of an episode of ‘the Big Bang Theory’… the boys purchase bitcoins n forget about it for years.
P.S: i’m just curious, Did you write this post out of frustration cuz of zero knowledge readers like me?
It was a mix of frustration and unleashing the rant-y writer within. I think I will stick to this for a while. 😀
I had guessed 😛
I loved the first meme. When I began reading your posts during the challenge years back, they went over my head. Now I have learnt so much about crypto from you. Enjoyed reading about how you got into it.
Thanks, ma’am. The pleasure is all mine.
I still think I am ok with trusting myself with sovereign-backed currency which i can use to buy literally anything and everything I need. Good luck for your fortune you gathered over the years. I don’t have FOMO.
Good for you, Aditya. Wish you the best. 🙂
I found this post refreshingly honest and the memes were the icing on the cake. Understanding crypto is not easy, even if you don’t use technical terms, people like me will not get it. We need a course starting from basics. But your passion for technology and its potential for revolutionizing the world shines through. Looking forward to more insights!
The memes are hilarious! Crypto is still something I am trying to figure out
As someone navigating the complexities of crypto, I found the candid storytelling and relatable anecdotes truly engaging.
Thanks Priya. May you successfully navigate the complexities.
Such an interesting take on this. Honestly, I don’t understand it too. But love your hilarious take on this. Yes, people would need proper guidance to get into something like this. And by people I meant me! 😂
For sure, ma’am. Watch out for more.
After reading so much still I am unable to figure about bitcoin. I think until and unless you do it yourself there will always be an ambiguity. Let me try my luck by investing now.
It is okay to miss it than investing without conviction and then regretting.
I must admit that compared to the last post this one makes sense. And yes, like someone has commented before me, I am also keen to know the plusses and the minuses of investing in crypto that no one tells us. And in simple, ‘non Jargon’ language, if possible. Your posts are becoming more interesting because of the way you write. Keep writing…may your crypto tribe grow!
Thank you for your post. Until I am sure about crypto, I don’t want to make any planning involving that. 🙂
Hahaaha as someone who has perhaps progressed from the milk-fed stage to tiny bites all through your explanations – I appreciate this post. You need to dumb it down for most of us 🙂