Bitcoiners Are Building The Future They Want To See: Experiences From 30 Bitcoin Meetups

While traveling crossed the state visiting Bitcoin meetups, Captain Sidd recovered Bitcoiners person galore things successful common, but astir importantly, they are each doers.

This is an sentiment editorial by Captain Sidd, concern writer and contributor to Bitcoin Magazine.

“When deeds speak, words are nothing.” — African proverb

Grokking Bitcoin’s imaginable interaction connected the satellite often starts with diving into the enormity of the occupation with fiat currency. The immense motivation hazards and twisted incentives inherent successful immoderate centrally controlled monetary strategy oregon marketplace marque for plentifulness of pains to highlight. It’s nary astonishment past that Bitcoiners — particularly connected the net done forums similar Twitter — often lambast institutions that question to power markets and radical successful the sanction of fixing the precise problems to which they’re often a large contributor.

Keeping america informed astir authorities encroachments connected liberty oregon misinformed policies that make much problems than they question to lick is important work. I admit those messages and what they marque maine alert of, however, being inundated with these views and attitudes tin go depressing and demotivating. It’s my consciousness that societal networks are fantastic astatine curating the contented that triggers an affectional effect — which tin rapidly devolve toward the negative.

However, erstwhile I spell retired and interaction grass, I americium excited by the radical who are responding to this changing satellite by doing and gathering beardown and beauteous things: families, homesteads, movements that pb to healthier, happier people. While it is casual to spot a batch of negativity successful the Bitcoin community, determination are besides agleam rays of anticipation astir the aboriginal that I seldom spot successful different communities. I wanted to conscionable the radical bringing a amended aboriginal to bear, and I figured what amended mode to conscionable them than done Bitcoin meetups.

Through 11,500 miles crossed the U.S. during summertime 2022, I visited 30 Bitcoin meetups connected my Harley Davidson and spoke with hundreds of Bitcoiners. Several Bitcoin-only companies sponsored my travel and helped beforehand the ngo of highlighting grassroots Bitcoin initiatives: dollar-cost averaging work Swan Bitcoin; multisig vault and fiscal services institution Unchained Capital; media instrumentality Bitcoin Magazine; and Bitcoin mining services institution Upstream Data. Here’s a speedy snippet of my trip:

Through this trip, I met galore incredibly industrious and hopeful Bitcoiners who are going retired and gathering the aboriginal they privation to see. Each meetup organizer I met — by virtuousness of the information that they are each volunteers gathering these meetups for their communities — is simply a large illustration of that anticipation and enactment ethic. Meetup organizers are gathering these communities successful their spare time, often putting unneurotic speaking engagements, reaching retired to businesses successful their assemblage and educating radical who are wholly caller to Bitcoin.

A large illustration of a Bitcoin meetup organizer is Justin, from Huntsville, Alabama. He has large plans to marque his metropolis a powerhouse for Bitcoin acquisition and development. When I visited Justin’s meetup, the radical stayed retired until astir midnight aft gathering astatine 6:00 p.m. A varied radical of men and women of each ages came unneurotic implicit the nighttime to speech astir bitcoin, privateness and what makes Huntsville unique.

The Bitcoiners I met successful idiosyncratic connected this circuit don’t fto fearfulness oregon daze demotivate them; they are doing what’s indispensable to physique the aboriginal they privation to unrecorded in.

Here are a fewer examples of Bitcoiners I met during my travels and the projects they’re pioneering:

Stak And Nifty With Bitcoin Education

One of my archetypal stops connected the circuit was Houston, Texas, wherever I was fortunate to beryllium introduced to @stakamoto21 and @niftynei. Stak and Nifty some person afloat clip jobs — Stak astatine Unchained Capital and Nifty astatine Blockstream — but they besides enactment unneurotic connected a Bitcoin acquisition institution called Base58. Their flagship people is simply a clang people successful the cognition of the Bitcoin protocol, teaching students however to usage Bitcoin’s bid enactment interface and however transactions travel done the system. They not lone pull individuals funny astir Bitcoin, but besides ample corporations looking to bid their employees connected the interior workings of this caller monetary network.

Several devices which we constructed astatine the Astrobits meetup for a Bitcoin “live enactment role-play” that Stak and Nifty run.

Stak and Nifty besides launched BTC++, a Bitcoin developer’s league successful Austin. While I wasn’t capable to be the conference, I met a Bitcoiner (who is not adjacent a developer!) successful Denver who said helium learned a ton there.

Thank you @stakamoto21 and @niftynei for pushing guardant a amended method knowing of Bitcoin!

Karl And Homesteading

While traveling done the Midwest, I stopped successful Benton Harbor, Michigan to sojourn the section Bitcoin meetup. Karl, 1 of the caller participants astatine the meetup, invited maine to enactment successful his newly-constructed yurt situated connected his permaculture homestead — close successful the sheep pasture!

Karl gave maine a circuit of his property, wherever he’s bringing beingness backmost to the onshore done regenerative cultivation practices, specified arsenic rotational grazing of his sheep and increasing vegetation successful a “food forest” benignant alternatively than accepted monocropping. We talked into the precocious hours of the nighttime astir however Bitcoin engenders and enhances a thrust for independence; for Karl, that takes the signifier of increasing his ain nutrient (plus a surplus). 

The yurt adjacent to a pasture

After 4 years increasing his homestead, Karl went from 3 sheep to implicit 50, with capable lamb, maple syrup and vegetables to commencement selling to others. Since regulations marque it astir intolerable for Karl to merchantability his homegrown products to market stores oregon different distributors, helium sells locally. His Bitcoin meetup is simply a large spot to find different like-minded radical looking for healthy, section nutrient — and they are consenting to wage successful his wealth of choice: bitcoin.

Karl’s enactment is an illustration and inspiration to different Bitcoiners who whitethorn beryllium funny successful increasing their ain nutrient supply, and if not, helium has the surplus to supply you arsenic well. 

The Beef Initiative And Better Food

Speaking of regenerative agriculture, I besides had the accidental to conscionable a gangly Texan by the sanction of Slim who is bringing the galore problems successful our nutrient strategy to light. Slim went connected the roadworthy this twelvemonth arsenic well, driving from Texas to the East Coast gathering ranchers and Bitcoiners to speech astir bitcoin and our food.

Slim is moving with ranchers similar Jason Wrich and Cole Bolton to physique a transportation straight from ranchers to meat-eaters, cutting retired the agro-chemical companies that person agelong captured the market, taking profits and decreasing quality. That enactment is coming done the Beef Initiative, wherever you tin find acquisition worldly connected nutrient and bitcoin arsenic good arsenic ways to bargain beef straight from your section rancher.

The Beef Initiative besides puts connected conferences bringing unneurotic ranchers, Bitcoiners, nutritionists and doctors to stock cognition and amended 1 another. I attended the archetypal Beef Initiative league successful Kerrville, Texas successful April 2022, and the 2nd 1 occurred successful precocious July successful Crawford, Colorado astatine Wrich Ranches (run by Jason Wrich). At slightest 1 much league is successful the works earlier the extremity of the year.

Slim is simply a spark kicking disconnected a grassroots question for amended knowing of wherever our nutrient comes from and much forms of marketplace entree for some producers and consumers.

Dern And Michael Atwood Orange-Pilling Businesses

As galore of america Bitcoiners know, knowing Bitcoin is often a precise agelong and dilatory process. Helping others recognize it sometimes takes adjacent longer — a measurement of patience and debased clip penchant is needed. Dern from Chicago gets this; that’s wherefore helium combines his play buying astatine the section farmers’ marketplace with Bitcoin education. He asks vendors if they judge bitcoin often, and helps them get acceptable up with outgo solutions erstwhile they amusement interest. He’s having success, dilatory but surely.

Bitcoiners from astir the satellite are helping these efforts with open-source solutions similar educational brochures that we tin usage erstwhile visiting businesses oregon talking to radical astir Bitcoin. A takeaway assets similar this tin beryllium conscionable what’s needed to crook a abbreviated speech into a agelong dialog astir the workings and imaginable benefits of adopting bitcoin.

Michael Atwood from Oshi App is besides a believer that businesses should beryllium accepting bitcoin, if lone due to the fact that they tin prevention 3% connected recognition paper fees erstwhile accepting bitcoin instead. Plus, accepting bitcoin means attracting a full caller assemblage of customers who are already connected a bitcoin modular and privation to commercialized their bitcoin for worthwhile goods and services.

Barnminer The Traveling Bitcoin Miner

Right aft I purchased the Harley Davidson I utilized for the Bitcoin Tour crossed America, I met up with Barnminer for lunch. I learned that helium often travels for work, and is utilizing Twitter to find Bitcoiners portion connected enactment trips. His travels are dilatory morphing into much than conscionable for work, arsenic he’s turning his passionateness for at-home bitcoin mining into helping caller miners astir the state get their ain operations acceptable up. Barnminer is 1 of galore location bitcoin miners I met crossed America who are sharing their knowledge, whether successful idiosyncratic oregon implicit the internet, to assistance caller bitcoin miners participate the field.

The clip fixed and cognition imparted by these location miners is particularly inspiring erstwhile you see that caller miners coming online technically little the rewards for each the different miners arsenic good due to the fact that there’s much contention connected the network!

Fun Fact: Barnminer was the archetypal pleb to beryllium connected the Bitcoin Harley, earlier I adjacent had the saddlebags painted orange.

Jordan Bush With Bitcoin And Christianity

Jordan Bush was the archetypal Bitcoiner I met aft I departed Bitcoin 2022 successful Miami, and our speech near a heavy content connected me. Bush was a missionary successful Uruguay with his household for galore years earlier moving backmost to the United States. We sat down for java and talked astir his passionateness for the intersection betwixt the tenets of his Christian religion and the cognition of bitcoin arsenic honorable money. Bush adjacent published a publication titled “Thank God for Bitcoin” with co-authors that see Bitcoin programmer and pedagogue Jimmy Song and 1 of the founders of the Phoenix Bitcoin meetup George Mekhail.

While we were talking astir settling backmost into beingness successful America, I asked Bush what’s adjacent for him. His reply served arsenic an inspiration for maine arsenic I embarked connected my circuit (and I was lone connected time 3 erstwhile I met him).

Bush remarked that helium had a fewer plans, but was waiting for God to capable successful immoderate of the blanks and constituent him successful the close direction.

I’m not a spiritual person, but Bush’s sentiment resonated with me: Sometimes we cannot unit things to hap and we indispensable hold to spot what the beingness has successful store for us. Many of the Bitcoin meetup organizers I met, unrecorded this ethos with their meetup; they are not forcing growth, they are letting their assemblage mature organically done connection of mouth. While I met galore ambitious Bitcoiners connected my tour, they usually had a akin cognition astir beingness and their projects arsenic Bush has with his projects. Overplanning and overworking tin often make problems and obstacles alternatively of clearing them away.

I took that proposal passim my trip, being cautious to permission clip for spontaneity and caller directions to unfold alternatively than prescribing them acold up of time. Just a fewer days aft my speech with Bush, my accent astir the travel melted distant and I started having wholly unexpected and astonishing experiences, similar accidentally ending up successful the archetypal imperishable colony of the Louisiana Purchase portion dodging a storm. 

Touch Grass And Get Building

While the net and societal media are adjuvant for gathering accusation and making connections, they tin often bring a downside successful the signifier of hijacked affectional responses and drained energy. We cannot fto these networks dilatory each of america down from gathering the aboriginal we privation to see. Many of the Bitcoiners I met retired successful the existent satellite are steadily and softly gathering the futures they privation to spot for their families and communities.

With galore of the Bitcoiners I met, each of their projects started precise small: with a speech oregon a portion of writing. With dedication and plentifulness of remainder days, their projects grew to practically person a caput and momentum of their own. I americium saying this arsenic overmuch for myself arsenic for you: Resist the impulse to fto immoderate Twitter echo chambers hijack your emotions and instrumentality vigor distant from your projects.

Go distant and build!

This is simply a impermanent station by Captain Sidd. Opinions expressed are wholly their ain and bash not needfully bespeak those of BTC Inc oregon Bitcoin Magazine.