Taking The Long View on Crypto
E135: Field notes on ETH, WoP12
It can take a long time to become an overnight sensation
Has it already been 10 years? Yes, 10 years ago today, I watched a gawky young kid walk onto the stage, dressed in the uniform of crumpled black t-shirt1 with different parts of code on the back that was the precious swag of the event. “That is Vitalik Buterin. He dropped out of my first year math class” said the salt and pepper-haired gentleman by my side in response to my curious look.
So. This was the wunderkind that everyone had been referring to all conference … If his mom was in the audience did she also notice that the soles on his sneakers were separating?
https://x.com/JanMiranda/status/454396787080835074
I settled in to listen. I just happened to be “in the room where it happens” sitting in the audience as Ethereum was announced at Bitcoin Expo. The newly minted 20-year old opened his mouth and my jaw dropped in response over the next 30 minutes as he cogently laid out his vision of Bitcoin 2.0 and how he had extended the technology that powered bitcoin to the broader concept of “contract”.
As a mathematician, I was hooked on the elegance.
As a coder in payment and settlement space, I was mesmerized by the transaction speed.
As a blogger looking for ways to cut out the middle money man, I was stunned by the simplicity.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
It was like a room who’d grown up on Lincoln Logs and plain wooden blocks had just discovered there was now a new toy block on the market called LEGO2 with - wait for it - a unique interlocking system. What new possibilities and configurations lay ahead?
Did this Einstein brain in a boy’s body realize what he had just unleashed as he spun the technology on its axis?
It was a few phrases like “the genie is coming further out of the bottle” and “the window of acceptability is shifting” in
(WoP11 alum) latest newsletter 3 about the 2024 Sohn investor conference caught my attention:The world has taken notice … Ethereum as one of the “greatest ideas hiding in plain sight”
It jerked me back ten years. To a time before Apple Watch and Apple Pay. Before Taylor Swift’s 1989 album was available. To a moment when most of us were still lining up at ATMs to deposit our checks. Really? Has it really taken 10 years for others to notice Ethereum?
Those phrases. They felt so, SO familiar that I had to go back in time … and find some of my earliest (April 2014) blog posts from my freshly launched website discussing the Future of Money and my post CryptoCurrencies, Distributed ledger & Blockchain – Is your vocabulary set to change?4
One thing I know for certain – my vocabulary is poised to change. Whether this Bitcoin bi-plane takes off and flies, whether it spawns ideas in a parallel space that encourage us to break the sound barrier or take man to the moon – life will never be the same.
The genie is out of the bottle. Bright minds are already taking the technology and concepts that underpin Bitcoin and expanding it to other fields and constructs beyond currency, payments and finance.
A little far-fetched? Do you recall the first time you saw someone take a photo with their phone? Or someone talking to themselves as they walked down the street? And how long after that could you not imagine leaving home without your smart phone or your blue tooth?
Whether you are a fan, foe or on the fence, I just ask you to be open to the idea that the concepts and technologies that were created with Bitcoin could one day change your vocabulary.
I still do not own any Bitcoin or Ethereum. My kids wish I’d bought back in 2014 in when 1BTC hovered around $183CAD and 1ETH launched at $0.31USD. My husband calls them “funny money”. To me, crypto coins are just the matte black taps or flashy chrome rain shower heads, Moen or Grohe, falling in and out of style. The boring out-of-sight plumbing - the math and infrastructure - is where the magic happens, delivering value and productivity savings. Pure genius.
I imagined some of this magic, but like the rest of the world - I was not prepared for the ways new minds would play with these new tools and technology to re-imagine value. The creation of NFTs. The DAO. These are all constructs that may have taken a different route from ideas in the ether to actual existence without Ethereum.
Vitalik has had great impact on the world and concepts of investing and contracts in the ten years since Ethereum launched. But I think this is the tip of the iceberg. Even more ideas are possible as the fresh way of looking at value and data become apparent to a generation that has grown up with these ideas as part of their daily vocabulary.
Ten years. And the party is just beginning.
My takeaways:
Amazing ideas do not change the world overnight. Good ideas take time to move into position. Stay patient.
Good ideas need community. There has to be a confluence of new technology, need and opportunity.
A new idea in the world is like a new vocabulary. There is no telling how a generation of young minds will interprete it, translate it, or create conversations with it.
The best idea can come from anyone, anywhere, at any time (and any age). Speak up. You have permission.
Take the long view.
Over to you:
What technology have you noticed or been championing that is so obvious you cannot believe the rest of the world cannot see it’s value yet? What needs to be added to the ecosystem to support it for take off?
I was struggling to find my groove after many months away and some unexpected twists and turns. Week one of WoP12 has launched, bending my brain as usual. It asks me questions that I am not yet equipped to answer. And I meet amazing minds who are going to join my ranks of best friends. Thanks to
, , and Vic Pile for their editing insights that made essay 2.0 take a tilt towards better.Related essays, YouTubes, photos:
YouTube launch of Ethereum
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Until next week,
Karena
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I still have the t-shirts!
"R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
Did this Einstein brain in a boy’s body realize what he had just unleashed as he spun the technology on its axis? " Love this post, Karena! Teaching high school for 27 years helped me to never underestimate teenagers or judge their ideas by their clothes! His mom must have been so proud! Thank you for celebrating the contributions of young people - they give hope to the world!
Great piece Karena! And thanks for the shoutout :) Hope Cohort 12 is treating you well.