Last night, I had the pleasure of having an in-depth conversation with Jeff Booth, who I often refer to as Eckhart Tolle Of Bitcoin.
Booth, speaking gently but directly, focused on one point in particular in the conversation that, although I didn’t understand it at first, ended up deeply resonating with me.
He has said several times “We are Bitcoin” trying to make the point that Bitcoin will continue to work if we keep making it successful.
At first this statement seemed contradictory to Bitcoin. Technically, of course, we are not Bitcoin. Bitcoin is an open source protocol that allows people to transfer value securely and without permission. Also, Bitcoin is designed in a way that actually requires less human involvement than traditional monetary and financial systems, as the inflation rate cannot be changed by humans and there are no intermediaries involved in Bitcoin transactions.
However, we are Bitcoin, just as Booth said.
We are the ones who have to rotate the nodes to keep the network decentralized.
We are the ones who connect miners to help operate and secure the network.
We educate others about Bitcoin as well as advocate for it in the social arena.
We are human nodes in the network, doing our part to keep Bitcoin running technically and spreading information about Bitcoin to the world.
Without us taking responsibility as human nodes, Bitcoin becomes less decentralized, less secure, and less understood.
So, if you’re reading this, know that you and Bitcoin, one of the components of the most wonderful system of human freedom and prosperity that has ever existed, are both enjoying it and acting accordingly.