pull down to refresh
122 sats \ 6 replies \ @Scoresby OP 1 Aug \ parent \ on: How do you hedge self-custody? bitcoin
I mostly do ignore him. But every 1.5 years or so he seems to come across my attention and as unsavory as he is, I don't think ignoring him is the solution. It's kind of the same with the Bankless guys or eric wall -- if we pretend they don't exist, we risk having a blindspot.
Okay, let me entertain this for a moment just out of curiosity sake: Which past blindspots do you feel have hurt people by ignoring Udi, Eric or the Bankless podcast? This is a honest question; I don't know any myself, but this is because I no longer roam the tweeter sphere due to these types of people wasting my precious, precious time.
reply
I found the wizards stuff very annoying. I thought I had more eric tweets bookmarked, but the only one I have is this about OP_CAT. I remember various occasions where I've read critiques of his about Bitcoin culture that aren't wrong. Udi less so.
As for Bankless, I would say they believe (or have bags in) eth to the same extent that many bitcoiners believe (or have bags in) btc. I find observing their bias a healthy reminder that the bias also exists in our world. It's easier to see it when my base assumption is that they are shitcoiners, but seeing it there helps me see it here.
the blindspot into which these characters offer us visibility is unique: critics from traditional finance usually don't even engage with the main value propositions of bitcoin; the crypto bros -- especially the more bitcoin literate ones -- make me stay sharp in defending the usefulness of bitcoin.
It is also possible that I am less exacting with the value of my time and squander it in ways that I should not...
reply
I remember various occasions where I've read critiques of his about Bitcoin culture that aren't wrong.
Not everything Eric or Udi says is wrong. That would be a Guiness-worthy achievement. However, most of the reasoning seems to be coming from a starting point and with a goal of maximum controversy (because that generates attention) and then you get recommendations like using FTX as your wallet, or normalization of shitcoinery.
If you want to generate maximum controversy because your goal is to change behavior, that is fine, but don't make victims out of the people that you actually influenced. That is imho spending your influence capital unwisely: solving a problem by creating another problem. Thus, ignoring is often the best choice because the solutions suck.
As for Bankless, I would say they believe (or have bags in) eth to the same extent that many bitcoiners believe (or have bags in) btc. I find observing their bias a healthy reminder that the bias also exists in our world.
I sometimes talk to shitcoiner (devs) at conferences and not online, not to validate them, but to learn what they're dealing with. I have tried also talking to influencers at conferences but they are not really interesting because there is nothing to learn. Even the philosophical ones. There are many cypherpunk devs involved with (select) shitcoins that, if you talk to them about the right things they try to achieve on (imho) the wrong platform, there is a conversation to be had when you focus on the tech, not the platform. I don't try orange pilling these people because often they found themselves excluded in the early days and I get that, because it was extremely hard to participate as an outsider back in the Gavin days for example, it scared me away too. Influencers on the other hand often have nothing solid to offer and I avoid most of the Bitcoin-native influencers too for the same reason.
the blindspot into which these characters offer us visibility is unique: critics from traditional finance usually don't even engage with the main value propositions of bitcoin; the crypto bros -- especially the more bitcoin literate ones -- make me stay sharp in defending the usefulness of bitcoin.
Agreed, but then these are, in my opinion, among the poorest of critics. Personally, I'd rather follow web3privacynow than bankless. Both are Eth oriented, but the former is working on solutions, the latter... shilling whatever makes more ad revs.
reply
web3privacynow
Thanks for the rec! I hadn't heard of this. May the lord save me from speaking with influencers and keep me ever watchful from treading the dark path into influencer-dom myself.
reply