What I Learned Surrounding Myself With 12,000 Libertarians, Nerds, and MemeLords
Bitcoin 2021 Conference Main Takeaways
Good Morning from Miami, Florida 🌞
I spent the last few days in Miami, Florida to attend the Bitcoin 2021 Conference.
This week, I summarize the main takeaways I have from attending the conference, listening to awesome speakers, and meeting cool people.
Enjoy!
Takeaways
0) Memes
The Bitcoin and crypto community use an unbelievable amount of jargon. As you’d expect from the internet of money, Bitcoin culture is meme-centric.
I was blown away by how even the biggest players in the space embrace meme culture.
1) It’s So Much More Than Just “Number Go Up”
Fears of inflation rekindled my attraction to Bitcoin in the past year or so.
The money printer. The stimulus checks. Inflation is and was inevitable. With Bitcoin’s fixed supply, I thought it would be a good place to put some funds.
At this conference, I was naively expecting more of the dialogue to be about short-term price predictions. Aren’t most people just in BTC to try to get rich?
I was very very wrong.
While everyone at the conference certainly wants to see “number go up” as much as possible and soon, that was far from the main narrative.
Instead, we talked about the ability of Bitcoin to improve the human condition.
Speakers like Jack Mallers talked about how Bitcoin can help the unbanked. Millions (if not billions) have smartphones, but no bank account. If you don’t have a bank account, your options for saving are extremely limited. Bitcoin offers anyone with a smartphone a chance to start to accumulate wealth.
Bitcoin makes remittances (sending money back to a home country) much easier, more affordable, and less corrupt. Previously, remittances would have to go through the government or some other centralized authority such as Western Union. Now, remittances can be sent directly to a digital wallet of the recipient—with virtually no fees.
Bitcoin also restores some confidence to those who distrust their national currency.
These are just a few examples of how BTC advocates are promoting a humanitarian revolution. While plenty of people are trying to get rich along the way, the main dialogue was about changing the world for the better.
2) Those Who Live In Glass Houses… Beware of Arguments That Also Apply To You.
The internet mob has started to attack Bitcoin for its perceived detrimental environmental effects, association with crime, and “scammy” vibes.
BTC is dangerous to incumbents. It offers a promise of freedom, privacy, and a stable store of value outside of government control. Many people don’t want to see that happen.
At the conference, panelists addressed each of the main criticisms of BTC. This is my attempt to summarize them.
Let’s look at three claims: energy, drugs, and trust.
Claim: Bitcoin uses too much energy and it’s wasteful
Rebuttal: Bitcoin (as a percentage) uses more renewable energy than the US electric grid. Bitcoin is anywhere from 39-73%1 whereas the US grid is around 20%. Some have argued Bitcoin is actually the key to a renewable future.
Look In The Mirror: Ever heard of petro-dollars? What about the US Military? While the enforcement mechanism for BTC uses a good deal of electricity, the US Dollar is far from squeaky clean. The enforcement mechanism for the USD is the US military.
Looking exclusively at emissions from fuel usage “if the US military were a nation state, it would be the 47th largest emitter of GHG in the world, if only taking into account the emission from fuel usage.”
Claim: Bitcoin is only used for drugs and other illegal things
Rebuttal: The technology is agnostic. Cars are used to kill people. Email is used to plot crimes. Phones have been used to arrange some sketchy things. Do we ban any technology that could be used for harmful purposes?
Look In The Mirror: People buy drugs with fiat currency. Terrorists exchange cash.
The technology is neutral. It is what it is.
Ultimately, does the good outweigh the bad?
Claim: We can’t trust BTC. It’s a scam.
Rebuttal: BTC is open source. There are no secrets. No back rooms. Everything is verifiable and works according to publicized, mathematical rules.
Look In The Mirror: Do you actually know the decision-making process of the FED? What about the other government agencies? What about our president? I have no idea who is actually making decisions in the current executive branch.
What about masks? The government lied to prevent mask hoarding. 2020 taught us that the government will lie to serve “what they think is best for us.” How do we ever know that today’s version of the truth isn’t yet another example?
The Lesson.
Most of the arguments against BTC reflect a lack of technical, nuanced understanding on behalf of the person making the argument. They also fail to look at themselves critically.
Be wary of making arguments that might be more damning to you than to your opponent.
Think critically and independently.
Go deeper than the headlines.
Consider the (misaligned) incentives of the information source.
3)Watch Out For Jack Mallers
Jack Mallers was the presenter who made the announcement about El Salvador’s plans to recognize BTC as legal tender. (HUGE News if you haven’t already heard).
I was beyond impressed by him. He is going to accomplish some seriously big things in the coming years.
4) Other Really Cool People
I wanted to attend this conference to feel out crypto-culture. I am seriously considering a career in crypto, but I was worried about joining a nerd cult.
That was the furthest thing from the truth.
Instead of nerds, far-right radicals, and other “characters,” I met a diverse crowd of ambitious people eager to make a positive impact on the world through technology.
Deeply intellectually curious, highly motivated, very very principled.
The media might try to market the weekend as a super-spreader libertarian love fest event. I hope by now, we’ve learned to laugh at the mainstream media. Their credibility is below zero in my opinion. Their motivation is entertainment, not education. Please please ignore them.
The title of this email is satire. For the most part, the people I met were conscientious, independent thinkers.
5) Getting To See People In Real Life!
Besides the awesome strangers I met, I got to meet many people I’d only ever met online this weekend!
Shoutout to Guy Swann, Colton Sakamoto, Polina Marinova Pompliano, and Ryan Mannion.
Thanks For Reading!
These arguments are complicated issues. I barely scratched the surface.
What am I failing to see? Where do you think I’m wrong? Thoughts on $BTC?
As always, I’d love to hear from you.
Reply directly to this email. Leave a comment online.
Stay curious,
Louis
Hyperlinks To Various Things
Podcast Updates 🎧
LK #70 with Polina Marinova Pompliano: Learning through profiling the most interesting people in history.
LK #69 with Joe and Scott: Business lessons from Australian tech, real estate, and education entrepreneurs
LK #68 with Lisa Song Sutton: Former Miss Nevada on Creative Dealmaking, Buying Knowledge, and Political Responsibility
LK Content Coming Soon 📅
Dr. Richard Schatz, co-inventor of the Heart Stent
Cole Schafer from Honey Copy
Joel Runyon from Impossible HQ
Quick Clicks
(1) 🥩 🧠 Thought-Provoking Essay 🥩 🧠 : Is Beef Bad For The Environment?
This essay made me realize how little I’ve questioned what I’ve been told and how little critical thinking I’ve accomplished. It also is a really great summary of meat and the environment.
(2) 📚 Book Recommendation 📚 : Bitcoin Billionaires
I read this book in under 24 hours. The author wrote a fast-paced story about how and why the Winkelvoss brothers got involved in Bitcoin. Education + Entertainment ✅
Photo of the week — The Bitcoin Car
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“Much of bitcoin mining uses renewable energy; depending on the source, that number ranges between 39%-73%, which is far higher than the percentage of renewable energy in the U.S. power grid. So even going by the low estimates, bitcoin is far more energy-conscious than the average industry. Additionally, a considerable amount of bitcoin mining actually uses excess energy that would otherwise be wasted in areas where it can’t be exported to a nearby city infrastructure. For example, bitcoin miners in rural China use hydro-electric energy that would otherwise be wasted due to low local energy demand and the inability to transport that excess energy to an urban power grid.”