The 2018 Year of Cryptocurrency Challenge – Week 27

At the beginning of 2018, I wrote an article outlining a New Year’s resolution that I thought could help boost cryptocurrency adoption and awareness in 2018, as long as enough people were doing it. Last week was the twenty-sixth installment of my challenge. This week I’ve been around a lot of industry professionals. It was fantastic being around so many like minds. However, I was most excited to take what I learned and discuss that with those who are not industry professionals.

I caught up with a colleague over some ciders this past weekend. He and I discussed the merits of blockchain technology across many different industries, but also where blockchain technology currently falls short. You’ll never hear me say that everyone needs to implement blockchain technology – in fact, there are many instances where blockchain technology is not necessarily the most relevant technology, and may even create unnecessary inefficiencies at times. A current example is “immediate” zero-fee transactions. At this point, credit cards perform this better for many people. This is not to say it will always be this way, but it is important that we acknowledge both the strengths and weaknesses that blockchain may have. Our conversation turned to music soon afterward (Lollapalooza was in Chicago this weekend).

One of the neater things I learned this week was that the blockchain and cryptocurrency industries are actively seeking more social scientists like myself. Anthropologists, sociologists, writers, and others who have a knack for communities, culture, and humans at large add massive value to many industries, but particularly this one. We social scientists knew this, of course, but it is nice to see the industry acknowledge it as well.

One of the main reasons that social scientists do well in this field is that, when you think about it, all of these networks and connections are comprised of people, of communities. Math is math, code is code, and these things exist independently of people, but none of it really matters if there aren’t people to discuss and discover. Calling all anthropologists, I guess is what I’m saying.

I’ve continued to donate Litecoin to my friend who is a streamer. I prefer sending him LTC over using Paypal and other non-crypto payment methods because this way I feel like he gets it without condition. Paypal and other platforms would take a larger cut, and force him to wait for a certain payout threshold. With cryptocurrency, he can have it immediately (or rather, when the block containing my donation is mined).

I find myself trying to donate to all of my favorite content in crypto, when possible. For instance, I am an enormous fan of Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History Podcast (highly recommended if you’re a history fan). To my delight, Dan accepts BTC donations, though I’m surprised that they haven’t updated their donation address to be a SegWit address. Though it’s completely up to them, I just would expect they’d want to lower their fees, especially if there are smaller transaction amounts like the dollar here and there typically associated with donating to podcasts.

How’s your challenge going? Going strong? Is it even a challenge or just part of your daily routine at this point? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter!