Blockchain is an amazing and revolutionary new technology, but it doesn’t overrule common sense.
Sometimes it feels like the blockchain “debate” is playing out in two extremes. On one side you have blockchain purists, advocating for pure anarcho-capatalism and the abolishment of nation-states. I documented some of this ideology in my book review series. On the other side are the traditionalists who think blockchain is a giant ponzi-esque bubble waiting to pop.
I don’t fit into either of those sides.
What if blockchain will become mainstream AND co-exist with current systems?
Decentralization will be leveraged in increasingly impressive ways AND centralization will continue to thrive.
Individuals will be more empowered AND the government will adopt blockchain systems.
Blockchains and cryptocurrency will be regulated AND they will faciliate the frictionless spread of money around the world.
To me this feels like common sense. The internet, after all, was revolutionary beyond anybody’s wildest dreams - yet we still have books, vinyl records, and movie theaters. The revolution doesn’t need to involve burning down the old buildings - it’s more about building up some new ones, isn’t it?
The Danger of Blockchain as Religion
Blockchain will make many people rich, it’s true. Some have already profited in huge ways, crypto-millionaires and billionaires.
It’ll also make some people poor. Money lost in hacks, token values that crash, poor trading strategies combined with emotional fatigue that lead to major losses. We can’t forget that side.
When I see people doing foundationally irrational things on the belief that they are “all-in on blockchain/bitcoin/steem/etc,” I know they are lost in the religion of blockchain.
Religion is about faith, not science. You believe because you choose to believe. This post has nothing to do with organized religion, by the way - you just have to admit that faith is not a good strategy for investing money.
You don’t want to rely on faith for your finances - you want to rely on proven strategies that work while taking new developments into consideration.
I once caught myself deep in the blockchain religion. Then I charted out my personal finance assets. Blockchain has been a huge help to me, I’ve earned more than $10k from Steem alone so far, BUT, here was my distribution:
Steem Power is such a majority of my finances, it is practically all of my finances!
This will be great if Steem moons. Indeed that’s why I have an absolute bottom limit of 1,000 SP - no matter what happens, I never intend to sell my first thousand tokens.
And I hope to reach 10,000k as a new floor one day.
But none of that matters in the present moment - the basic fact that 95% of one’s assets should not be held in a high risk investment vehicle, no matter how good the benefits. Thus I began a power down to diversify some money into a USD savings account.
I caught myself in the blockchain religion and I course-corrected. Unfortuantely many people fail to make the correction.
Mistakes of the Blockchain Religion
If you find yourself saying these things, you’re deep in the religion:
- [Major Social Media Platform] is guaranteed to fail because blockchain will inevitably overthrow it.
- “The question isn’t how much to sell bitcoin for - when you’re ready, you won’t need to.”
- Trading tokens all day is a smart way to earn money.
- “I do not respect the law of government” (lol, sure)
- If you aren’t all in on Steem or Bitcoin or BCash or (any token), you’re an idiot.
These are on the extreme end of belief. I am not accusing you personally of thinking in such extremes, but I see many people using these viewpoints.
They say: Put all of your money in cryptocurrency, if you don’t support a certain token you must be an idiot, government is archiac and we’re just around the corner from a glorious world of individual liberty…
Be wary of anybody who thinks they have the answer to the world’s problems - thinking you’ve solved everything for humankind is a true sign of irrationality.
Be respectful of those who offer their best ideas, while admitting that they could be wrong, and seeking collaboration with other opinions in the search for greater truth.
Don’t drink the fucking kool-aid, ok? I love Steem as much as anybody - spending 20+ hours per week here, deriving my full income from this blockchain, and much more - but even I recognize that you shouldn’t turn it into a religion.
Retain your personal agency, your rationality, and constantly question everything.
What Do You Think?
Do you see a lot of “blockchain-as-religion” in your travels around the web?
