This is an editorial written by Obiwan Satoshi, a professional pickleball player.
Paper money gave birth to a fiat world. Fiat food, fiat jobs…and fiat athletes. In this article, I offer thoughts on what it means to be a Bitcoin athlete — an archetype that I seek to embody in my pickleball career and a model for the professional athlete in the 21st century.
Fiat athletes vs. Bitcoin athletes
Fiat athletes compete to win fiat money. They hoard their time and energy (aka their wealth) in manipulated money that steals from them, trust corporations not to censor them, and often live preferential lifestyles.
Bitcoin athletes are a new breed of elite professional athlete. Bitcoin athletes store their wealth in safe money that protects them from theft, they leverage decentralized protocols like Nostr to create unmonitored peer-to-peer relationships with their fans, they embody Bitcoin values and live a preferential low-time lifestyle.
Fiat athletes build digital identities on platforms created by companies that have the power to censor what they say that separates them from their fans. Bitcoin athletes build digital identities on open source protocols that cannot monitor what they say. These protocols enable Bitcoin athletes to communicate directly with their fans.
Fiat athletes trust banks to keep their money and leak energy with every fiat currency exchange when traveling to different countries. Bitcoin athletes keep their own money and conserve energy using global money when they travel to compete.
Fiat athletes trust politicians to maintain financial integrity. The Bitcoin mathematicians run the contract and verify that the Bitcoin monetary policy enforces a maximum supply of 21 million.
FIAT athletes live FIAT lifestyles and spread imperative values to their fans. Bitcoin athletes live Bitcoin lifestyles and spread the values of the Bitcoin protocol to their fans – the values of truth, freedom, and personal responsibility.
Fiat athletes live at the mercy of banks, politicians who control their money, and companies that control their financial sponsorship. Bitcoin athletes are sovereign and without masters. Their finances are subject to the math and they are supported directly by their fans who are sitting at the speed of light.
Fiat athletes are motivated by obligatory fame and fortunes. Bitcoin athletes are motivated by the mission to spread financial literacy to the 8 billion people on earth and unlock unprecedented peace and human prosperity. Bitcoin athletes play with a purpose beyond money. They play to save money.
Fiat athletes use centralized funds, centralized social media, and centralized sponsorship models. They have relationships with intermediaries (banks, platforms, companies) that they have the power to censor or control if they don’t pull the line. Bitcoin athletes use decentralized money, decentralized social media, and decentralized sponsorship models. They use protocols in order to restore direct relationships with their fans and reduce (or eliminate) their dependence on banks, platforms, and businesses.
win bitcoins
I believe the Bitcoin world will shape Bitcoin athletes, this new type of professional athlete who is financially energized directly by their fans, lives in alignment with the values of the Bitcoin protocol and uses their influence to improve financial literacy and fix money. The elite athletes of the 21st century will build their careers on Bitcoin and be powered by the Lightning Network.
As a professional pickleball player, I’m on a mission to show off this new model myself. I strive to perfect my sport by testing myself against the best pickleball players in the world and playing for Bitcoin.
Part of my mission as a Bitcoin mathematician is to help fiat mathematicians navigate the world of Bitcoin, to help them understand Bitcoin and secure their bits of information in cyberspace (property, identity, data, etc.) with cryptographic power. This process often starts with sending out 21 sessions after a match so they can experience the magic of Bitcoin firsthand and then helping them create a Nostr account so fans can financially support them directly.
I believe professional athletes in the 21st century will be powered by Bitcoin. They will communicate directly with their fans through zaps and store their life energy in scarce digital and cryptocurrency money. They will run nodes, share proof of work, and connect with fans on Nostr. They will be uncontrollable, unstoppable and sovereign in their endeavor to support their career financially.
This is a guest post by Obiwan Satoshi. The opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.