The Objective-Realist vs. the Crypto-Evangelist.
A look into if cryptocurrencies even deserve to exist.
I have this phrase — “if it deserves to exist, then it does”.
It was probably inspired by Murphy’s law, “whatever can go wrong, will go wrong”, but mine differs slightly because my law is based on the idea that every single thing that exists today, exists not only because it can, but because it deserves to. While can is rooted in potential, deserve is rooted in worth, and everything that exists does so because it was worthy of existence, not because it had the potential to exist.
My Law of Existence has been on my mind a lot lately, actually.
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been accompanying Ty to these cryptocurrency meet-ups at our local university. Ty is utterly obsessed with the whole crypto thing. Being the objective-realist that I am, I have a different outlook on it than most crypto-evangelists, but we both have gotten so much value from going to these events. Last week, the host spoke about the three functions of money, and it really hit home.
We compared all three functions of money to cryptocurrencies today and essentially came to the conclusion that Bitcoin, for example, meets little to none of the requirements for each of these functions.
While Bitcoin can be a medium of exchange here in the US, it’s obviously not worthy enough to replace the system of exchange that exists today, or else it would have. While Bitcoin can be a store of value, it’s value is so volatile that it’s almost impossible to accurately determine what the present or future value of a Bitcoin is or will ever be. While Bitcoin can be a unit of account, there’s nothing to account for if the first two of these functions are obsolete, and while the idea of knowing exactly where every transaction comes from sounds impressive, how practical is it to believe that the masses will get value in knowing vs not knowing? Ever heard of the term, “ignorance is bliss”?
Though we may have come to conclude that, at least today, Bitcoin is not impressively meeting the requirements to accurately be considered “money”, it really doesn’t matter all that much, does it? Because of the Law of Existence, we know that there is obvious and undeniable value in cryptocurrency.
It deserves to exist, and so it does.
I enjoyed last weeks discussion so much because it sent me down a thinking rabbit hole. I questioned, if Bitcoin obviously does not seem to exist based on the need for it to exist as a replacement for the US dollar, then what is it deserving to exist as? What I was actually questioning, was its root value. What I was questioning was its worth.
We can’t deny that the crypto phenomenon is happening, yet the truth is that none of us actually know what’s happening.
Surely, the sole potential of simply being able to use crypto as a replacement for the dollar in everyday life in the future is not compelling enough to invest thousands of dollars today. This may be our excuse but it’s not our true reason for investing.
Like I said earlier, as an objective-realist, I have my own thoughts on the true value of crypto and it’s most likely not going to be what you’re expecting. Why do I think cryptocurrencies deserve to exist?
COMMUNITY.
Bare with me, here…
It can be argued that we humans, like money, have three innate functions of existence:
1. To learn
2. To love
3. To contribute to community.
From the moment we are pulled out of the womb, we are learning. We’re learning about sounds, feelings, pain, love, breath, all at once in that first moment of our lives, and the learning continues indefinitely from there. In reference to AI, it could be argued that the very thing that makes a human a human and a robot a robot is a human’s innate ability to learn without the programming of another human being.
We all come into this world understanding that one of the objectives of being here is to love and be loved. We say we are “emotional beings”, but all emotions are rooted in the belief in love. Having love makes us feel incredibly connected to our life purpose, and the lack of love can cause people to act inhumanely altogether. It could then be concluded that love and humanity are interconnected, and whether or not one can exist without the other is debatable.
Lastly, we examine the innate function to contribute. Every single job on the planet is performed to contribute to that society. Every morning, we get out of our cozy beds, and travel to “work”, so that we ultimately can do something that makes life easier for someone else. From Starbucks baristas to ICO advisors, we receive value from contributing to the community — physically (monetarily/financially) but also emotionally. Many studies have been done that prove that extreme isolation warps the mind and this is why. Contributing to others is a function of existence; so much so that even the mind believes it does not deserve to exist without it.
Cryptocurrency taps into this innate function of existing as a human being. It has created the ability for us to literally see just how big and how powerful our contribution to a community can be. Without the tampering of greedy corporations or their skewed data, cryptocurrency enables us to see our power in numbers, and in real time. This is why people are obsessed with checking CoinBase 50x a day. Sure the obsession is powered by the conscious inquiry to find out how much money you may have gained or lost, but I guess I believe it’s subconsciously because it’s so damn entertaining to watch it all move. All of the crypto-evangelists I know, don’t want Bitcoin to behave like the dollar. They love its volatility and that’s why they’re obsessed with it.
I think they’re obsessed with it because it’s a direct representation of the consensus of the masses. It is group-think, made monetary. It is a financial possibility, just waiting for a cause to be thrown at. Crypto is one of the few phenomena that exists that has no connotation whatsoever about race, gender, orientation or political party. Crypto is the idea that everyone who wants to be in, is. Together we are stronger. Together we can make a difference. Together we can make something amazing happen, and we don’t need mommy and daddy (corporate entities/ language barriers/ governments) to hold our hands and tell us how to play nice with each other.
Crypto is a movement about the power of an undivided humanity.
— And that is what’s worth $400 b-b-billion fucking dollars.
Crypto doesn’t care about your IQ, your race, your trans-surgery, your follower count, your bald spot, your tattoos, your bifocals, or your MAGA hat.
Crypto is the idea that if we all put the bullshit to the side, not only do we have the potential to agree on a single thing, but we also deserve to agree on a single thing.
We deserve to connect the world through one central idea about community.
Believe it or not, crypto, at its root, is the representation that we all deserve…to exist, together.
Love,
Felecia
