(I put this out to my general profitmagnets followers a few days ago but should have shared it here as well).
23rd April,1968 - If you don't go back that far, don't worry there would be other more recent days that you could probably remember that have the same feeling about them as this day did. I actually remember this very well even though I was only a tender nine and a half years old.
You see I remember both sets of grandparents (particularly) and to a lesser extent my parents, moaning like drains because we were going into the first stage of decimalisation. On this day, 23rd April, 1968 the shilling and the two shilling coins were replaced by the 5 and the 10 new pence coins and they started to slowly work their way into the nation's purses and pockets.
For some reason, most adults could not get their heads around these new and (let's face it) simpler coins and much of the adult UK population were declaring the start of the end of the world. It was all to come to a head in February 1971 when use of the old coins completely stopped. The 5 new pence and 10 new pence coins started that process.
Decimalisation simply changed the need to work in multiples of 12 (very confusing) and replaced it with a system that used multiples of 10 (so much easier) but, of course, it was change and we hate change. Back then the big conspiracy theories ran amok with accusations of fiddling the books to rob us of money.
Sounds very familiar with what I hear people saying these days about cryptocurrency. Yes there are some bad uses, nasty scams and so on - but that is people creating problems and being dishonest and, sadly that is just part of life. Those people are always around hiding in the shadows.
Why am I discussing this? Well because the fact is that whenever you mess with money you piss people off. Create a financial problem for someone and see if you get a christmas card next time around. There is nothing in life more harrowing for people than change and when the change involves money it is always greeted with (at best) total distrust and suspicion and (at worst) with out and out resistance and anger.
We all hate change. I've heard some people say they embrace change and, to a degree, I do. Really though, all they are saying is "I am in the habit of ignoring the fear signals in my mind and moving forward regardless".
But change, nevertheless, still creates fear in those types and absolutely in me to a degree. I get the what ifs pounding inside my head just as, I am sure, you do. The difference, perhaps, between us, is I let the fear go and look for facts based upon my own experience. Everyone in this world has an opinion. Why are we all so willing to hear the opinion of those who are not qualified to give one?
But here's the big thing to remember.
It is not only inevitable for us to resist change, it is pretty much chemically programmed into us to do so. At our core, we are all just a bunch of cells floating about in this familiar human shaped container. Cells have a built in core literally programmed to maintain something called homeostasis. It is a chemical reaction that forces a cell to resist and block change in its make up and around it.
Our entire immune system, if you think about it, works on the basis of attacking cells that are "different" and therefore, by basic definition, threatening.
And you don't need to take my word for this, you can google it and look it up. This chemical reaction manifests as "inertia" and we will go with inertia over activity and change by default unless we get into the habit of regular change and pushing the fear of change away.
The same thing that makes us fail to change or adopt an exercise routine - inertia - (even if we know it will be beneficial) or rock the boat at work - inertia - or go on a diet - inertia - or start a new part time business - inertia - is the same thing that makes us hate any change to do with money even though changes to how we use money are as inevitable as death and taxes.
But money is changing, will continue to change and (just like back in the 1968 to 1971 period) we will like it or lump it. So, if I were you, I would start to embrace the inevitable changes that are coming down the line now.
Blockchain technology is an absolute and is as inevitable a part of our future as anything out there could ever be.
There was a time when we all used to say (still say to a degree) that something was or is "as safe as houses". That was a reference to the inevitable safety of property as an investment. Maybe property ownership isn't quite the safehouse for your money that it once was because of so many outside influences from regulation and taxes and so on but it is still considered to be one of the safer places for our money.
After all, property ownership started to dramatically increase in the 80's courtesy of the marmite lady (Maggie love her or hate her Thatcher) and become one of the largest wealth transfers in history. Cryptocurrency will be seen in time as another of the great wealth transfers and, eventually, gold will have its day again.
But property is still pretty much considered a safe haven, certainly, for those of us who enjoy some basic freedom.
The day will come in the future, it absolutely will, when people coin phrases like "safe as blockchain" because they will understand that blockchain is a permanent, tamper-proof record of where things are and who owns them. The whole point of using a blockchain is to let people, in particular, people who don't trust one another, share valuable data in a secure, tamperproof way.
That's what governments and banks set out to do isn't it? But can we really trust those institutions now? My faith in them went out the window a long time ago. Billions are made every day around the world by institutions that do no more than interfere and take a bite from everything we do.
We are not as aware of it here in the UK as people are in Africa and Asia. In fact in Mexico they have an expression that translates to "a small bite" which relates to bribery and the payments that go on under the counter to get things done or to avoid unwanted attention.
Guess what, banks etc. do it here too, they just dress it up and call it something else. We accept it because they are part of an industry that sets up services to allow us to transact business without having to worry about trust. That is precisely what blockchain technology has been invented to do. To create trust among strangers so that they can do business together.
And so, I leave you with this thought. Are you going to bang the drum about the end of the World when blockchain functionality becomes more common and you start to see it every day? Or are you going to let go, just a little, of your fear of change and accept that it is just another step along the line towards improvement?
And with blockchain comes newer and better forms of money that we will be able to rely on. Look it up, do a little research and you will see how it can improve so many things.
Perhaps more importantly, is the time to start getting some cryptocurrency now when we are still at the beginning or would you prefer to wait until everyone has boarded the train? if you want any advice on this stuff, feel free to send me an email.
That's all for now, just a few moments of musing triggered by historical events...
John
Nb - Trust is critical of course but also critical is security. When you first start to get involved with crypto and where to keep it you need to be very aware of security. One of the reasons I instantly pre-ordered a K1 Impulse phone is that it will give me absolute end to end encryption and, for the first time ever, a totally secure way of dealing in and holding cryptocurrency securely and without fear of hacking.
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