When I first discovered Bitcoin, it was right around the same time that I discovered Tor, and both technologies seemed incredible (and still do). Bitcoins were about $2.50 each, and while I thought theyd probably increase in price, I was solely interested in them because I was intrigued.
Not much later, I returned to see how they BTC was doing, it was up to $6! I kept thinking that I could have more than doubled my money, and it was at this moment that my mind switched to a complete pro-profit mindset. I bought a decent amount at $7, and finally sold all of them at $12, overjoyed at the time at how well I had done.
Fast forward a year, check back, the price has skyrocketed. I started speculating again, and ended up even buying a bunch of LTC for a few cents, that oddly shot up to a few dollars apiece a week later. I checked BTC-E constantly, selling, trading, but all of this time my goal had been to gain more US $.
One day though, (and I think its right around the day we wrote our first insurance policy with Bitcoin) I realized that at this point, I care more about Bitcoin surviving, and the economy flourishing. The idea behind it is incredible, and I truly feel that its something that I should be working towards helping. This has changed how Ive felt about a lot of things, below are several:
Alternate Cryptocurrencies: I know there is room for as many of these as can be thought-up, but I really feel like overall it is diluting the image of bitcoin, at least right now. I view nearly all of the other coins (NMC, PPC, etc) as having little to no chance of surviving as anything other than a pump and dump. And while I am probably wrong, I realize that I have been using these SOLELY for speculation, there is absolutely nothing that I can or want to buy with anything other than BTC (And even that is hard at the moment).
Selling BTC: I dont want to sell my BTC on exchanges anymore, I want to spend them on other things within the BTC economy. I am trying to stop seeing BTCs value in USD amounts, when I spend it, I want to spend it in its BTC form. I hope that makes sense. I just found out a dental office not far from where I live is now accepting Bitcoins, and just knowing that about them is enough for me to want to use them just to support BTCs growth.
Purchasing BTC: For better or worse, the easiest way for me to obtain BTC right now has been to transfer money to Dwolla then to MtGox. I have NOTHING against MtGox and actually love using them. However I feel that a tremendous weakness for Bitcoin is centralization and a reliance on very few exchanges. I am a system admin, my goal is to eliminate any single points of failure. Mtgox is almost, but not quite, a single point right now for BTC. I realize there are other exchanges, but the price would crash substantially if something were to happen to MtGox. I will be buying from other exchanges as often as possible to fix this, I actually just used Coinbase and it worked out very well.
Conversations: I have been reluctant to bring up Bitcoin for a long time to most people, however recently this has completely changed for me. I believe in this, I really feel like this is something that is going to change the world, and I am proud to be a part of it. I am doing my best to promote BTCs acceptance anytime that I can.
Anyway, thats just how Ive been feeling. Does anyone else have any ideas on promoting Bitcoins growth?
Thanks!
Ken
Not much later, I returned to see how they BTC was doing, it was up to $6! I kept thinking that I could have more than doubled my money, and it was at this moment that my mind switched to a complete pro-profit mindset. I bought a decent amount at $7, and finally sold all of them at $12, overjoyed at the time at how well I had done.
Fast forward a year, check back, the price has skyrocketed. I started speculating again, and ended up even buying a bunch of LTC for a few cents, that oddly shot up to a few dollars apiece a week later. I checked BTC-E constantly, selling, trading, but all of this time my goal had been to gain more US $.
One day though, (and I think its right around the day we wrote our first insurance policy with Bitcoin) I realized that at this point, I care more about Bitcoin surviving, and the economy flourishing. The idea behind it is incredible, and I truly feel that its something that I should be working towards helping. This has changed how Ive felt about a lot of things, below are several:
Alternate Cryptocurrencies: I know there is room for as many of these as can be thought-up, but I really feel like overall it is diluting the image of bitcoin, at least right now. I view nearly all of the other coins (NMC, PPC, etc) as having little to no chance of surviving as anything other than a pump and dump. And while I am probably wrong, I realize that I have been using these SOLELY for speculation, there is absolutely nothing that I can or want to buy with anything other than BTC (And even that is hard at the moment).
Selling BTC: I dont want to sell my BTC on exchanges anymore, I want to spend them on other things within the BTC economy. I am trying to stop seeing BTCs value in USD amounts, when I spend it, I want to spend it in its BTC form. I hope that makes sense. I just found out a dental office not far from where I live is now accepting Bitcoins, and just knowing that about them is enough for me to want to use them just to support BTCs growth.
Purchasing BTC: For better or worse, the easiest way for me to obtain BTC right now has been to transfer money to Dwolla then to MtGox. I have NOTHING against MtGox and actually love using them. However I feel that a tremendous weakness for Bitcoin is centralization and a reliance on very few exchanges. I am a system admin, my goal is to eliminate any single points of failure. Mtgox is almost, but not quite, a single point right now for BTC. I realize there are other exchanges, but the price would crash substantially if something were to happen to MtGox. I will be buying from other exchanges as often as possible to fix this, I actually just used Coinbase and it worked out very well.
Conversations: I have been reluctant to bring up Bitcoin for a long time to most people, however recently this has completely changed for me. I believe in this, I really feel like this is something that is going to change the world, and I am proud to be a part of it. I am doing my best to promote BTCs acceptance anytime that I can.
Anyway, thats just how Ive been feeling. Does anyone else have any ideas on promoting Bitcoins growth?
Thanks!
Ken