Crypto Success Stories Suck Hard

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Do you remember how you got introduced to cryptocurrency? Chances are you either heard or read a story. More precisely – the crypto success stories of how some people made a ton of money with nothing but a small early investment in Bitcoin.

Or maybe it was about how crypto is a market with miraculous gains, where all you need to do to get rich is to just randomly invest in any of the available assets.

Crypto success stories are heartwarming, they give you hope, they give you promise, they make it seem so easy.

And they are also extremely dangerous.

Let’s look at how regular people are introduced to crypto. More likely than not, they stumble upon an article about a mystical Bitcoin millionaire. Or one of their friends enthusiastically tells them a story about someone they know who invested in crypto early and is now super rich. So, without even the slightest understanding of the principles (be it technical or moral) of the crypto technology, they immediately start to correlate the crypto-world to a magical place where you can get very rich, very fast, without doing anything, without knowing anything, just on the merit of speculation.

Listening to (and spreading) crypto success stories can have very big consequences for everyone involved. The reason is very simple. When a vast majority of the people get introduced to crypto through “get-rich-fast-and-easy” stories, you get a group of people whose main motivation is greed. Not only is greed the main driving force, but they also have zero understanding or regard for the ethical principles behind the technology.

This is related to the mindset of the entire community. All the people who get introduced to crypto through get-rich success stories might be lost forever for the community. As they equate value creation to speculation and making a huge ROI on your investment, there is practically zero hope for them to contribute to the community in any meaningful way.

There’ll always be many speculators in a field that promises huge and fast returns, but for the crypto community to move in the right direction, it needs people who understand and spread the underlying ethics and morals of the technology.

Crypto success stories rarely mention values or principles. They rarely talk about the technology and its potential to make our world better. In these myths and fables, crypto doesn’t have a mission – only a promise to generate wealth for the lucky early investors. Early investors, who often did nothing more than invest a small sum at the right time. There is no mention of hard work, of committment and dedication, or the many other elements of every true success story.

No wonder the crypto community is full of speculators, scammers and egomaniacs.

People can be lazy and conditioned to look for the path of least resistance. Crypto success stories pander to the same mentality as pitchmen on late night TV. They give hope of achieving all your financial dreams easily – it’s surely within grasp! Simply invest in cryptocurrency! The stories have proven it – what could possibly go wrong?

But if you are truly passionate about blockchain technology, you should hate crypto success stories. You should hate them, condemn them, and maybe never even share any. It corrupts the mind of the the external financial community with greed. The network effect is only valuable so long as it is a positive feedback loop. Newcomers who only want more money may actually act to the detriment of the decentralized economy, and the benefits it could, and should, bring to our civilization.

For reference, look to the swarm of ridiculous ICO CEOs, eager to take your money.

So, stop listening to crypto success stories, stop spreading them; and if you are one yourself, don’t tell anyone.

Instead, spread the values, ethics and promises that the right applications of the blockchain and cryptographic technologies could bring. Spread these values and perhaps, instead of brainless greedy bastards, you’ll bring to the community a passionate, intelligent, hungry-for-knowledge person, who will help crypto fulfill its promise.

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