Drunk Uncle-Crypto, Bitcoin, and The Family Picnic
2020 and 2021 have made for a weird year. A midpoint checkup, in June, in Miami for the Bitcoiners may have been an ill-advised plan. But here we are, Bitcoin 2021, Miami. Grab a mojito, buy an entire wardrobe on wish.com, act like new money, and settle in. It is going to be a wild ride.
Drunk Uncle-crypto’s Wild Ride and the Future of Money”
Let’s recap, we’ve seen massive run-ups in Bitcoin pricing during the pandemic as every day Janes and Joes, kept inside like a pasty gamers, redeemed the time in crypto. Whereas the world of finance was previously relegated to those who speak her language, the masses seem to have caught on, blame COVID-19 Wall Street. The pandemic unemployment dollars are on the loose.
In a frenzied hysteria to learn new things (pandemic hustle porn), encouraged by Bitcoin’s network effect, and a rush of institutional investor cash, the market’s energy was frenetic. Miami, not known for its chaste atmosphere, attracted the meme-investors, the influencers, and brought about the great release of pent-up pandemic energy. It is here that we find, Drunk Uncle-crypto. The object and affection of that energy and Drunk Uncle-crypto’s obsession, Bitcoin. The result was heinous and weird, and for a watching world, a bit like trying to look away from the scattered mess left behind after a head-on train collision.
“if you’re against bitcoin toxicity, you’re against bitcoin, and you’re bitcoin, you’re against freedom” — Erik Voorhees
Drunk uncle thinks he is fun, so does Toxic Bitcoin Maximalism.
Let’s open up “toxic bitcoin maximalism” first. Bitcoin maximalism is steeped in the idea that Bitcoin dominance is the only path to passive upside riches. This maximalism would hold that allowing a universe of optional cryptocurrencies (whether alt or shit) is not just a bad idea but is wrong. “Just use bitcoin and let it own the entirety of the cryptocurrency space,” they’d say. Erik Voorhees seems to embrace this fully, even leveling up by saying, if you’re not with him, you’re against freedom.
A bold claim indeed, but drunken uncles aren’t known to be reserved.
Drunk uncle-crypto lives in this toxic maximalist echo chamber.
The maximalist self-cajoling, goading on, and ditto-heading encourages more and more outlandishness. Any effort to be foisted up as king dufflepud, in the crowd of maximalists is difficult as the volume increasingly loud. This environment requires that one get weird to be heard. Drunk on the idea of taking over world banking systems, replacing national currency with Bitcoin, and freeing the masses to unregulated finance — anD with all the zeal of a 9th grader clutching their Anarchist Cookbook, drunk uncle-crypto flocked to Miami.
- Floyd Mayweather talked about Ethereum getting as big as Bitcoin.
- Jack Dorsey talked about the importance of Bitcoin.
- Max Keizer said, “fuck Elon”, a lot.
- Paris Hilton and Tony Hawk were there (though not together, I don’t think).
- And the president of El Salvador was in attendance on a big screen, because of course, he was.
So, did folks get weird? YES
Have you ever heard about stockbroker parties? When people get geeked up on money, things tend to get weird. As the great philosopher B. Smalls said, “mo money mo problems.”
Is Bitcoin all Drunk Uncle-Crypto’s wild ride? Is this the future of money?
Yes and no.
Making money often brings about wild parties, ask wall street. However there is a balancing function, there are adults in the room. We hear more about Drunk-uncle Crypto because the media isn’t as interested in covering the clear-eyed adults. After all, Drunk-uncle Crypto is more interesting.
Every time a new evolution of technology comes along, it lives under a microscope. Old-world views resistant to change paint a disparaging picture, leaching on to any seeming inability to solve all problems (including the current issues with old-world systems).
So, is it time to run away from crypto?
Is the sky falling?
No, but if we learned one thing, it is this, Bitcoin’s underbelly is super weird, and I’m here for it!
