If Bitcoin (BTC) were a country, it could be one of the largest in the world. So thinks Jeff Booth, general partner at Bitcoin venture fund Ego Death Capital and author of The Price of Tomorrow: Why Deflation is the Key to an Abundant Future.. Cointelegraph spoke with Booth to better understand and visualize the state of the Bitcoin movement in 2023.
Booth sat down for a beer and a chat about Bitcoin in Bedford, a small suburban town that has attracted Bitcoin advocates and key opinion leaders from around the world. Booth discussed the rise and resilience of the Bitcoin community and how people can get personally involved in the next decade.
Booth suggested that the Bitcoin community could bring about fundamental change in the world if its members dedicated more time to the cause. He said the change could be spurred “if all those people said: I move and spend more time on this to massively change the adoption rate.”
Bitcoin hodlers—those who hold on to their Bitcoin holdings in the hope that the currency will achieve mass adoption—are the backbone of Bitcoin. However, Booth argues that if more of those people were able to actively use their Bitcoin, the movement could accelerate and reach its goal more quickly:
“It would be amazing if people who were just holding for cover decided: I’m going to move on, I’m going to spend more time in the world I want to see and move their time and attention there. The world would move there. I saw it myself.” .
From simple steps like asking merchants if they accept Bitcoin to businesses deciding to accept cryptocurrency as their preferred medium of exchange, there are certain steps people can take to further the cause. In-person Bitcoin encounters also contribute. Booth commented on the impact of the Bitcoin-themed football team; Real Bedford, as a way to introduce cryptocurrency to a wider audience:
“He [Peter McCormack] He’s using this vehicle to advance a bunch of other things, which is really cool.”
Peter McCormack told Cointelegraph in another interview that the Bitcoin movement in 2023 encompasses much more than the currency: “It’s Nostr, it’s Bitcoin, it’s the lies of the mainstream media, it’s bad governance and regulation.” Nostr is a decentralized protocol championed by proponents of Bitcoin. Nostr apps like Damus aim to compete with Twitter and other popular social media platforms.
Booth shared that there are more and more ways to use and engage with Bitcoin since his “initiation” into Bitcoin, sometimes referred to as taking the “orange pill.” The Canadian notes that the payments network, the Lightning Network, and Fedimint, a solution for shared custody, present more ways for various Bitcoin enthusiasts to get involved. Additionally, much of the engagement and interaction with these subsets of Bitcoin takes place online:
“It’s amazing how many friends I’ve never actually met, and I consider them close friends that over time you develop these relationships, these internet relationships that you’ve never met.”
Booth added: “There’s something about meeting in person and spending that time digging into this, and there’s something about that that I don’t think can be replaced online.” Initiatives like McCormack’s in Bedford help bridge that gap and encourage Bitcoiners to engage with the local community.
Also, since Bitcoiners are distributed around the world, with communities springing up in Senegal, Guatemala, and Vietnam, Booth sees potential for local network effects to play out.
“How many Bitcoiners are actually holding and waiting?” he asked.
If the hodlers and the “have it” [Bitcoin] as cover” were they to decide to spend more time in the world they want to see, and shift both their time and attention there, then, as Booth concludes, “The world would move there.”
This interview is part of an upcoming documentary about Bitcoin in Bedford to be posted on Cointelegraph’s YouTube channel. subscribe here.
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