Rockefeller and Cryptocurrencies — Integrity

Ben Kinnard
Jul 30, 2017 · 3 min read

(This is a hastily written post with half thoughts spilling out, which I will attempt to tidy up afterwards…)

I’ve recently started reading Titan — about the life of Rockefeller (the worlds first dollar billionaire, and one of the richest people in human history), to learn more about one of the most influential business people of all time. I know the basics, but am uncovering a deeper knowledge thanks to the (long) book.

I will do a separate post about the book overall when I finally finish it, but for now I’m only 20% through, yet still feel compelled to talk about it. Its been sitting on my kindle for a few years but I wanted to read it now thanks to all the comparisons people were making with Jeff Bezos (briefly the richest man in the world himself this week), but at this current stage of the book (consolidating oil refineries in Cleveland), there are much stronger similarities between the nascent oil industry then and cryptocurrencies/ICO’s today.

Oil in the mid 1800’s was an absolute wild west, with fortunes being made and lost everyday. One thing that made Rockefeller stand out was his reputation for being a good Christian, and the connections this afforded him to get started with loans and investments from the local business community, as he had such a strong reputation and good standing.

ICO’s are the wild west of today, and one thing that can make people stand out is simply their reputation. As Warren Buffett says, a reputation takes a lifetime to build and 5 minutes to destroy.

So if you are looking to invest in an ICO, as well as looking at the strength of the concept, the technical knowledge of the team, the competition etc., I would also look at the integrity of the individuals. These people can just run off with millions of dollars if they want to, so the question is do you trust them to hold your savings for you? Would you invite them into your house at night? If you have doubts, then why would you give them so much money and expect nothing bad to happen?

Obviously this is easier said than done as you won’t know the founders of these crypto projects for years beforehand to judge their integrity, but William Mougayar points out 10 problems with ICO’s today, and #7 hits the nail on the head

For example, changing the sales rules mid-course during the ICO (citing whatever reason), by manipulating the smart contract is a breach of public trust, and shows the company would be willing to further such abuse in the future, if they chose to.

A person’s integrity is vital to their long term success, and as there are no protections for investors in an ICO world, this should be given much greater weight than it currently does. Just as Rockefellers strong Christian values were a proxy for trust and stability in the wild west of the oil industry, don’t back anonymous founders of crypto projects where they can abuse this trust if you allow them.

I’m still trying to decide whether these cryptocurrencies really are a game changer or just another fad (e.g. remember how Segway was going to revolutionise transport), and the comparisons to oil in the 1800’s seem apt. I’m sure more comparisons will be coming in the next few weeks when I’ve read more, but for now, integrity is one vital ingredient that won’t change over time.

Ben Kinnard

Written by

Trying to learn and improve

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade