“In Spanish, we have a saying that when a genius points at the moon, a fool looks at the finger. I find that happens a lot with bitcoin.” - Wences Casares...
~Why I Sell My Bitcoin~
by Duncan Cary Palmer
I'm a bitcoin HODLer...
If you know much about bitcoin, you know "HODL" is not a misspelling of "HOLD;" it stands for Hold On for Dear Life.
HODL is what bitcoin maxis (like me) do.
Though I've followed and used bitcoin almost since the beginning, only recently have I become a "bitcoin maximalist," or "maxi." I believe bitcoin adoption will do more to advance the Kingdom of God than all political efforts combined, and that bitcoin is the best, hardest money tech we've ever known.
Hold On For Dear Life! (source)
Why the heck, then,
would I ever consider parting with a single Satoshi (1/100 millionth of a bitcoin)?
As it turns out, I have several excellent reasons.
I'm semi-retired.
By that, I mean that most mornings I wake up feeling as if a semi-trailer rig has retired me to the pavement.😜 I still work, frequently and intensely, but I do it on my own schedule, and—sadly—little if any of it is paying work.
"Retired" to the pavement by a semi... (source)
Semi-retired also means I've been unable to "retire" all too many bills and expenses. Until hyperbitcoinization occurs, or at least until the goods and services I personally need to survive can be readily exchanged for bitcoin, I must continue to purchase fiat to pay for my needs.
Trust me, I hate parting with my bitcoin. I do so as slowly and in the smallest quantity possible. Even so, a few things ease the pain of parting—at least a little bit.
I care about family and friends.
Whenever I absolutely must part with some sats, these are the first people I offer them to.
I want to see the people I love rescued from inflation, from the progressive and inevitable devaluation of their lives and work. Knowing my family and friends will benefit greatly from the transaction eases some of the distress of seeing my own stack shrink.
Strong hands, not faceless institutions.
Currency exchanges are profit-making enterprises owned and run by strangers. Many have been fraudulent, using "paper bitcoin" to manipulate markets and suppress the price of bitcoin far below its true value.
Friends and family, on the other hand, are individuals who—as they increasingly understand bitcoin's value proposition—will privately hold bitcoin in self custody. They may even eventually purchase and run bitcoin and lightning nodes, strengthening the bitcoin network.
I exchange bitcoin peer to peer.
Cutting out the middle-man means no broker fees. There are no fees or expenses (other than a usually nominal miner's fee) to sap the transaction value. With lightning transactions, there may be no fee at all. More importantly, peer to peer exchanges eliminate the evil fraud of KYC.
KYC regulations (Know Your Customer) are purportedly a mechanism to prevent financial fraud. However, despite all such pretense, the state is a predatory thief that (like satan, its parent) primarily seeks to kill, steal, and destroy.
When I exchange bitcoin for fiat privately, I avoid giving the state a pretext to tax (steal from) me and I shield the bitcoin recipient from being identified as a hodler.
Got dumpster dollars ($$$) for sale?
I may or may not have an immediate need for them, but you never know... Contact me privately.
*FIN*
Up In Smoke... (source)
NOTE: Most of my posts contain hyperlinks to enlightening information.
ALL IMAGES are my own, open source, or used with permission.
I would love to hear from you; please join Hive and speak your mind below!