A Dangerous Bitcoin Culture
Elon Musk has a $258bn lawsuit raging against him, blaming him for inflating the price of Dogecoin, a bitcoin currency, whilst knowing all along that it lacked any intrinsic value. Is this indicative of a much deeper societal problem? Are we the product of a more generalized "Bitcoin Culture"?
A "Bitcoin Culture" arises when a blind eye is turned to reality, allowing us to buy into a "house of cards,” permitting us to fool ourselves for just one more day, because it’s…comfortable. "House of cards" is an apropos expression because it describes a structure (system) built on a shaky (or non-existent) foundation – unsustainable, and prone to easy collapse.? The Dogecoin lawsuit accuses Musk of building such a “house of cards” through a pyramid scheme. The danger of a "Bitcoin Culture" based on pyramid schemes is that those few at the top profit from the masses at the bottom who are deluded into believing value exists when in reality there is no intrinsic value. The 2008 Global Financial Crisis taught us to be wary of buying into such bubbles built on houses of cards. And in July 2022, economists are warning us yet again of another repeat house of cards on the horizon:
Do we keep betting on stocks that have no intrinsic value? Blaming others because we didn't stop to question if this was not just another bubble?? Deep down we suspect that the entire system is broken and that there's no intrinsic value anywhere to be found.? From global warming to our education systems, to our financial systems, to our societal values – things are broken. More than ever before – and for the sake of our kids – our financial institutions, policy makers, and communities need to address what is broken. Imagine if we could stop buying into unsustainable quick fixes.? If we could break free of our dependence on social-media “likes” and twitter-feeds that enable this "Bitcoin Culture.”?
领英推荐
In our interconnected global village, maybe this Brene Brown quote could be a start:
Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness ... We don’t have to do all of it alone. We were never meant to.
To admit things are broken demands an intense amount of vulnerability, demands not turning a blind eye just to have one more day of comfort. Rather, to begin our journey, let's step out of our comfort zone, embrace our vulnerability, and commit to not buy into unsustainable systems and ways of living.
P.S. Special thanks to close friends who shaped the above ideas.
33 years of starting & growing projects around the world. Sustainability│Innovation│Entrepreneurship
2 年Interesting question being raised here (am to be absolutely clear: I am not arguing for bitcoin): how does then one invest in startups or coins issued by yet unknown innovative startups that obviously do not yet have any real foundations. How does one fund deep tec development when it is still at infancy? If we are looking at this from a "let's sell it as a sure thing" then I am in agreement. But as a vehicle for startups new coins work nicely especially compared to traditional funding methods. Having said that I also agree that there are still too many "coins" created to generate wealth for a few companies and not to allow investors in.
Decision Coach for Executives | Strategy & Decision Facilitator |
2 年This reminds me of two quotes: "Yes, but how is that different to any other day Neo?" Morpheus "It's frightening to think that you might not know something, but more frightening to think that, by and large, the world is run by people who have faith that they know exactly what's going on" Amos Tversky
Business Growth | Offshore Outsourcing | Strategic Partnerships
2 年How urgent is this problem? Who, amongst us, will be hit the hardest?