So why are some people using Bitcoin today? Ultimately the answer is: because they are bitcoiners. Because they got caught up in the infinite (beautiful) rabbit hole that Satoshi laid down in front of us.

These people invested the time, asked the right questions, and listened to the answers. They understood the system is broken and that Bitcoin is the only way out. Whether it’s saving for a better future, preventing the government from seizing your money or transacting while preserving your privacy.

And we have to realize: today, for Bitcoin to be a solution to your problems, you have to be a bitcoiner. Otherwise you wouldn’t go through the pain of using it, and you would choose other, better, solutions for your problems.

The Internet would have never taken off if the only way of using it was by getting an IP allocation and peering traffic with two or three neighbors. That would have maybe solved some people’s (nerd’s) problems, but not everyday people’s problems.

The reason why the internet worked was because we managed to use the tech in a way that made people’s lives easier and better, without them even knowing how the tech worked or why that specific protocol stack was the right choice. Things just worked. Things became simpler. Protocols evolved. All of this was part of making the internet, or more importantly, products running on the internet the right solution for most people’s problems.

I think this isn’t happening with Bitcoin today: it’s almost as if we are stuck in our bubble, looking at Bitcoin directly and thinking about how it can solve problems. But Bitcoin is just a primitive, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. By itself it won’t solve too many problems. What will allow it to shine will be using it as part of a larger, more complex set of protocols and products. Products which will hide the technical complexities and become truly accessible to most of the world.