It all started in the most likely of places – amidst the chaotic emoji-storms of Discord servers during the NFT bull run. There, in the form of emoji reactions, I found Pepe. It was like unearthing a treasure, one that would lead me down an unexpected rabbit hole of digital culture.

First to come clean: I was a shitcoiner. But as I navigated through the shitcoinized world, I stumbled upon a fascinating byproduct – the sprawling universe of Pepe derivatives - especially the rare Pepes and how they intertwined with Bitcoin Culture and Art. It was both overwhelming and intriguing, sparking a curiosity that drove me deeper into the lore of this green frog.

My journey led me to explore the roots of Pepe, created by the mastermind Matt Furie. It was curious to me that his simple character turned into a global meme phenomenon. But the real plot twist hit me at an artist gathering in San Francisco. While holding a copy of Furie's "The Night Riders," I was sucked into a vortex of intense discussions about Pepe's cultural impact, including its unexpected drift into darker territories.

Here I was, a quiet conservative libertarian living in San Francisco, in the midst of liberal artists dissecting Pepe's associations with so-called fascism. It was like walking a tightrope of my convictions. In response to my constant unease around the woke disapproval of Pepe, my fascination with Pepe only deepened.

The more I pondered, the more I saw parallels between Pepe and the age-old debate of artistic inspiration versus theft. Picasso’s quote about artists stealing rang true. I know it’s everywhere – from George Lucas borrowing from old war movies for "Star Wars," to Tarantino's dance scenes echoing Fellini’s masterpieces. Pepe is just another canvas in the grand gallery of art history.

Enter NOSTR; Pepe took on a new role in my life. Sharing Pepe memes became a cathartic ritual, a way to connect with kindred spirits like Ser Sleepy, Nakad.ai and Tanel. It was a digital haven, a community where my often misunderstood affinity for a green frog wasn't just accepted but celebrated - and often zapped!

Today, my Pepe stash is an impressive collection – each one a pixel in the larger picture of my journey. It's a constantly expanding pepeverse, mirroring my evolving understanding of art, expression, and memes.

For me it turned out to be about finding a piece of myself in the unlikeliest of places – in the mischievous smirk of a green frog.

Its going to be a great 2024!

GM🐶🐾🫂☕️

> Steps that I took (and that many like me have taken) are not strictly literal, neither in numbering nor qualities, but they mostly represent the pain that some have had to endure financially, mentally, and physically throughout the journey. Many, including myself, came for the money, to make a quick jump to the wealth promised by scammers and charlatans... But they stayed for something more noble: to change the system, to change the world.

# "Crypto"

## 1. Curiosity

With a new generation comes new technologies. From a human point of view, everyone seeks their own happiness, although selfishness is what allows us as a species to optimize the limited time we have.

There are other types of humans, whom I call "scammers and charlatans" who pursue self-interest, but at the cost of other people's limited time, but indirectly thanks to them we reach convergence.

You probably entered this world of cryptocurrencies because of Xcoin or Ycoin (or some of the more than 20 thousand tokens that exist today), it was not by chance... It was marketing.

## 2. Skepticism

You probably heard from friends or social networks about someone who lost a lot of money playing with these tokens in the exchange houses' casino. Or maybe you thought it was silly and fashionable, that it wouldn't last more than a couple of months before disappearing. As a logical thinker, you gave up the idea of even trying.

## 3. Initiation

One day, you hear about a word that has echoed in your mind; either because you come from a country with many resources but bad administrators, or because you simply know someone who talks about the topic: "Inflation". You tell yourself "If I keep my money in the bank, all my savings can disappear in less than a decade" and you decide to enter the stock market. You lasted a while there, but you realized that it's not for you, you have to study and invest a lot of time that you could use for something more productive or doing something you like.

Your YouTube channel or your wall on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok is full of people who claim to have the key to a better world:

“Invest your money here with this new technology, we're going to the moon." "The next money of the world." "Everyone will use it." "It's decentralized." "Blockchain." "The next Bitcoin"...

You got it.

You decide to take a look and are surprised by how easy it is. Congratulations, now you're one of the many like me.

## 4. Speculation

At this stage, you are already what they call a "trader." You spend some of your time reviewing articles, listening to podcasts, or watching videos about the latest tokens that have hit the market. You compulsively check your phone, watching as the prices of the tokens you bought move with volatility.

It's at this point that you have probably read Tweets from a "Bitcoin maxi," calling the token you bought a "shitcoin" and confidently saying that it doesn't solve any problem that a centralized database can't solve, that what you believe is going to revolutionize the industry is just a fallacy, a mirage. Ignoring the comment or responding with a "Bitcoin Maxis are orthodox," among other derogatory comments you may find.

You live in your bubble, and you're happy there (or so you think) until the next step.

## 5. First gains or losses

From here there is a fork in the road. If you made gains from your investments, where everything is beautiful and rosy; all those green bars, where you believe everything will continue to rise to infinity… You'll think you're a genius. You'll continue to gamble your money until bad news introduce itself at your doorstep.

The Xcoin in which you had invested part of your portfolio starts to fall, and it falls quickly. You start to wonder whether to sell it now or wait for it to go up a bit more... You spend five hours, and it falls even further. Congratulations, you lost 90% of the money you invested. The reason? Xcoin was controlled by a group of people who decided to take all the money and leave the token without liquidity or apparent use.

If you're in the gains group, you'll repeat speculation until you enter the losers' group, if not, you'll take one more step.

## 6. Denial

This can't be happening. The money you invested, the time... 90% of it just disappeared, just like that. You try to find someone to blame. You go on Twitter or YouTube and demand that your money be returned. No one listens to you, and you see many others doing the same thing, all of whom are ignored. There's no response from the creator or creators of Xcoin.

In the end, it was all your fault, and you accept that you lost your money. You played a stupid game... and won a stupid prize.

## 7. Disinterest

Once you've reached this point, there's no turning back. There's no shitcoin that attracts you, nor does Bitcoin. For many, this is a moment of total cyber nihilism (speaking of Bitcoin and "crypto"). Depending on how much you've lost in one of these new generation casinos, you are more or less resilient to even be interested in this technology.

## 8. Disgust

Many people stay at this point. They are not open to any idea that has to do with "magic internet money"; Everything seems like a scam, a fraud. It's a shame that because of a few scoundrels and charlatans, opportunities are taken away from people who are desperately seeking a way out of the current monetary system.

If you live in a privileged country, where you can afford to lose a couple of thousand dollars, have a tantrum for a few days, and then forget about it... You're lucky.

Many people even put their life savings at stake, in order to play the lottery and try to make quick money. Those people, as we saw with the infamous TerraUSD and Luna; FTX Fiasco, etc… Not only lose their money but also their sanity.

What's next?

There is a way out, if you're optimistic about the future. Living with your mistakes is the easiest thing to do; learning from them and moving on is what will lead you to find the right answer.

Being a millionaire isn't bad, but even being a millionaire without a purpose will leave you exposed and unprotected against the existentialist thoughts that this life has for you.

# Bitcoin

You probably first heard of it during the waves of Bitcoiners back in 2012-2015. Or maybe on social media, but you decided not to pay attention because you didn't understand what you were reading or hearing.

Curiosity and skepticism were also part of this journey. If this journey crossed paths with your journey into the world of "Crypto," you may be even more closed off to taking the time to understand Bitcoin and what it represents.

## 9. Learning

This was and still is one of the most interesting steps for me, mainly because in theory, you never stop learning things within the whole ecosystem of a global protocol. The technology surrounding Bitcoin is always evolving.

From the moment you make your first purchase on a centralized exchange, you begin a fairly arduous research process (if you're a good investor) to know what you are buying. It is at this point that you realize that Bitcoin is more than just a way to invest for the future; it is a way to exit the current system. You came for the returns on your investment and stayed for something that is many levels above: global wealth redistribution.

## 10. Evangelization

When you know something very important, you want to tell everyone. Many will think you're foolish, while others will simply ignore what you say; but there will always be someone who understands what you're saying or at least tries to understand it. Those people will go through a process similar to yours, or perhaps they will skip all the weeds that is "Crypto" altogether, thanks to you.

Thanks to you, there will be many people who won't have to go through the pain of losing their money and time in these casinos. Give yourself a pat on the back, because in this last step, you are helping to build a better world.

In conclusion I created this writing not as a manual, but rather as a journal of my own experiences. I hope that in some way, it inspires you to do something that helps expand the horizons and hopes of many others.

**21 million is a very interesting number.**

**Remember: If it's not your keys, it's not your house; not your keys not your coins.**

### If you have getalby or any Lightning wallet feel free to send me sats if you like it! or use lurusan@getalby.com

![ZAP ZAP ZAP]()

A dónde están los boricuas de #nostr Yo no nací en la Isla pero soy boricua de sangre papi..