Subnostr

I used to hate bitcoin for all the crimes it was involved in. I should disclaimer this by also adding that I had experienced "what bitcoin is" through the general media I used (i.e. Germany's public media). I saw all the scammers get away with so much money and never anything good, which isn't a surprise, and eventually got myself a ransomware attack on my server that killed my PostgresDB and later another that hid a miner on my server. Especially the last one got me really angry. And thus, I started to hate it.

Over the years - and becoming older - I started to question certain things; like, how come Bitcoin is always involved in this stuff? This can't be right. A coin has two sides, not one. So I started to read a little more into that, learned what Tor does, how it works and how it helps people and circled back to Bitcoin. But, that was that for a good decade, and I decided I had read enough.

After joining Nostr and seing a whole whirlpool (pun intended) of opinions and statements about Bitcoin and the concept of Zaps, I decided to just go "fuck it, I am digging a hole!" and decided to just take the full trip from bitcoin core full node, to lightning, to CLN plugins, to zaps. This has taught me a lot about how things work, why it is used and what it does to help people. After all, I had gone the self-sovereign route, because I did not want any rugpulls on me - but rather the ability to just `rm -rf` and leave.

As to what people are saying? "Bitcoin is the future!" "Fiat is the devil" Statements that range all the way from tame, to extreme - and then there are also the conspiracy theories being "supported" by Bitcoin. Especially the last one just makes me want to hurl. x.x I am sure there are many things the average person doesn't know (either fron literally not knowing or due to information being hidden) but I still believe that not everything that sounds "extremeist-y" is even remotely close to true - especially when there is no source. But unfortunately, this is the kind of crap that is just about everywhere and it kinda pisses me off.

Bitcoin CAN do good, but if people like that are the loudest, I am far from surprised about "normal people" not wanting to give it a shot; it sounds too far fetched, too conspiracy-y and potentially dangerous.

And, then there is trading. I don't want to go into the depths of "gambling vs trading", but to make a long story short: I could do with a few traders less in this world, or at least this platform.

So yeah o.o I've been enjoying zaps and do think it's fun! But some people really know how to ruin it for others, I guess...

HoloKat 2y ago

Wow. Thanks for sharing. It’s an unfortunate start to things but I’m glad you’re here now.

I get annoyed with bitcoin gospel myself mostly because I’ve seen it all already many times over. I understand why people go into that “mode” but I just don’t care to listen to it. Just mute those people and move on.

The thing about scams is that most of them have nothing to do with bitcoin but old media bunches it all together. It’s just people being people doing the scamming and rugging - which has nothing to do with bitcoin itself. But I suspect many people see it that way or as a gambling device. They don’t understand that it’s a new monetary foundation.

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Discussion

Ingwie Phoenix (aka. birb) 2y ago

During the panedemic, when the chip shortage was partially caused by miners buying up all the stock, there was a huge discussion about crypto in german forums - or among german techies in general. All most of us knew was, that they're mining... something. And honestly, I haven't bothered to look at the details of it either. But crypto people being the biggest cause of a shortage of consumer hardware pissed off so many people, that it felt like a whole new wave of "crypto hate", in a way.

Stories like this will keep happening, I think - but am not sure about. But, they are a big contributing factor to what people see or think of it.

I think if, somehow, in a miraculous way, crypto currency was used for something big, huge, amazing and positive for a change, it would at least sway a few people. But since the negativity currently outshines the positivity by a whole lot, that's quite a dream. x)

Personally, I see Bitcoin as a fun side project. Yeah, its money - but I can't (currently) just spend it anywhere I want. So I just use it for online things. Much like "Ingwie Phoenix" is my online identity, I see Bitcoin as said identities money. But I do my damnest to not associate it to trading - wins, losses, keeping track of courses, ... I feel like this would ruin me and introduce worries into my life I don't want.

So, I just get zapped and zap people and have fun. And if I get bored, I just delete it. Done. ^.^ Unfortunately, convincing people of this "lighthearted viewpoint" (for the lack of a better term) seems impossible to me. So I decided to be a better example!

Also thank the devs #Primal has mute buttons now, finally! XD

HoloKat 2y ago

Thanks for sharing more details. I can see why you may hold the opinions you do. Everyone is on their own journey and I can certainly relate. Only 5 years ago I had some of the same thoughts and misconceptions. Bitcoin is not an easy topic to wrap your mind around hence why they call it a rabbit hole. You never stop learning from

Bitcoin. Just when you thought you’re done and understand the whole picture, some other aspect of it blows the mind and your down the rabbit hole again. Most people don’t get that far and just think of it as a fun investment thing (if they even get that far). It’s just a process that people have to go through on their own, sometimes get burned and learn the hard way. Extra lengthy if living in developed world. In a way, bitcoin requires proof of work from the person engaging with it.