I'm 37 and from the UK, My observations and views on Cryptocurrencies... Part 1
As stated I'm from the UK (just outside London) and have been interested in Cryptocurrencies since 2013.
Since that time the whole environment has developed at quite a staggering rate. I consider myself to be lucky that I got into Bitcoin back where it was A little less complicated and as a result I could really appreciate the Ideology and principles that Satoshi laid out.
Over the last year or so I have tried to explain what Bitcoin is all about and how it works to friends and colleagues. I Try not to get too technical, firstly because i'm not overly technical myself but more importantly I found you don't need to bore people with all that to get to the point across. I like to us analogies to explain the idea of a trust-less distributed ledger. I have the pleasure of working with some well traveled and intelligent people so the majority listen intently, ask the right questions and respect that if I see a potential for the technology it probably has some merit.
It is hard to explain that Bitcoin and other crypto currencies can mean a handful of different things to different people. For example:
-Finite supply leading to deflation and a store of value,
-Speed and cost of transactions
-Cross boarder transactions
-Trust-less nature, no third party required
-Ability to opt out of the current financial system
-Not issued and controlled by a central bank or government
Once you've explained all of that people are either bored or think you're insane!
The most common response to my pitch is “the current financial system seems to work well enough for me” which of course is a more than valid point, I then find myself trying to explain that because of credit card fraud we all pay a premium to cover losses and with crypto you have the option to take responsibility for your own security and save money.
Most of the people I speak to are probably 30 years plus and that leads me to my point. Whilst trying not to offend anyone of that age range here. I get the feeling the whole crypto revolution may pass us by and be left for the youngsters to pick up the baton. I make an assumption here that anyone on this site has at least a curiosity when it comes to cryptocurrencies so I'm not trying to preach to the converted. I would love to have a discussion and see if anyone here has the same opinion.
I have tried hard with friends and colleagues to introduce them to the space. A handful of them I have even set up wallets and given them a bit of bitcoin to play with. That has mixed results, some start to explore ecosystem and some just take the piss and ask me if they can retire yet on the 0.01 BTC I have given them?
For Obvious reasons I can't speak for the under 30's but this is my theory. Youngsters today have grown up with the internet. I didn't have access to the internet until my mid teens. I think youngsters ask more questions (about everything) because they know they can find information quickly pretty much wherever they happen to be. I also think this leads to a certain curiosity that the pre internet age does not have. We have become accustomed to the status quo as we get older whereas the next generations will pick it apart and opt for something different.
I should probably leave it there for now.....
Please, any comments would be most welcome, I you feel that my comments are completely misguided or something I have said strikes a cord let me know.
Thanks