## *Dateline: 1990's* Long before Bitcoin was a twinkle in Satoshi's eye, I was introduced to an organization called the *Barter Exchange, Inc.* which rose to some regional prominence in the US Southwest from the early to late 1990's. I bring it up, because it represented my personal introduction to *"alternative financial systems"* on a larger scale than just your basic neighborhood book exchange. The idea was that there was a *"hub"* for businesses and business owners where you could list your excess product or service capacity and *exchange* it for other products/services you actually needed that *other* exchange members might have. It differed from straight barter in the sense that there were *"B.E.Dollars"* as a temporary store of value in the interim, so paint could be exchanged for secretarial services for legal consultations for office furniture, etc. Looked really good... *on paper.* ![0113-Boat.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/denmarkguy/23zRwAgV8V8Ajk65RazunEYwFvWaPoPwkHiaUNMGHdSbMLGvNCpxewWxMWVFLyzc7abqK.jpg) ## *The Downfall* Although the system continued operating for some years, it ultimately failed miserably because it became heavily leveraged by those who saw it as nothing more than an opportunity to *"dump cheap crap"* and exchange their accumulated *B.E.Dollars* for overstock gold jewelry they would then take *outside* the system and liquidate for US dollar *cash* at the melt value. That effectively left a handful of people basically *"profiteering,"* and the majority sitting with *"B.E. Dollars"* they basically couldn't *buy* anything with. I'm not going to editorialize on the greed/profit motive, but on the greater issue of a potentially viable system being *drained* rather than *legitimately used.* Any larger scale benefits were basically negated by exploitation. ![0944-Duck.JPG](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/denmarkguy/EpXKyCwu6bgRFw1eWSbXgqe44183HqFJfRz8kB57pu19YEorq6sPsoKZQUDo4nqdX3A.JPG) ## *Meanwhile, This Thing Called Bitcoin...* Somewhere around Christmas 2012 I was standing in my kitchen, listening to my *not-at-all-technologically-savvy* sister-in-law talking about this new kind of *"electronic money"* that she felt I would be interested in, called *"Bitcoin."* All other history aside, her primary pitch *(remember, this was late 2012!)* was that Bitcoin was *alternative money,* like a global currency you would be able to use *everywhere,* getting rid of the need for exchange rates, international currency transfers and all those high cost wire transfer fees and such. It sounded like a really awesome idea, so I did check it out. After learning that *"mining"* was just not my gig *(too technical),* I *still* even checked out a fledgling company called *"Local Bitcoins"* to see about buying some, but nothing came of it. I wasn't prepared to drive over 100 miles to meet some stranger at a Starbucks, just to hand them my hard-earned cash in exchange for something that felt highly... *theoretical.* Again, it just seemed *too complicated* and the timeline for actually being able to buy a latte or a pair of shoes with this new *currency* seemed too uncertain and far off. Too bad, in retrospect, because I had enough cash to buy 100 BTC! Oh well... ![0120-MapleLeaves.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/denmarkguy/23vi665UfNuDnf1RpTpkUppScTdvVQo73TCV6avm4TJ6Z1PJtzcwemRHDFHHUGYtGWwqf.jpg) ## *Fast Forward: 2017* Even retrospectively, it can be hard to pinpoint when a *"tipping point"* actually happens. Part of what sucked me in to the St€€mit project in January 2017 was that they seemed to have finally *made it simpler* to be part of the Cryptosphere. Instead of endless chains of garbled characters, your wallet address was a *name* that could be remembered and *made sense.* There was no hours-long wait time for *"confirmations."* Even *"blogging to earn crypto"* seemed like a *huge* progression in terms of coming up with a use case the greater world could easily relate to. Maybe this was *finally* the evolution beyond *"nerd money."* Pardon my naivete, but I quite honestly thought that it was the perfect setup to develop commercial decentralized applications to finally bring ecommerce... and subsequently fill the promise of the *alternative CURRENCIES* I originally read into the ideals behind Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies. ![0846-Ladybug.JPG](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/denmarkguy/23wgKv8SwsLJMsAcQB58nwYcKbEjZ9bZ4u8yBdVBXZJkNxgmaZrXndeEC6qypzTHaAMub.JPG) ## *Tulip Bulb Mania, 2017 style...* We all know what happened in the second half of 2017, and we all know what followed after that. I won't retell history, because it's *boring* by now, and it misses the point. What I *do* want to touch on is the underlying *psychology* of how the Cryptosphere is *generally viewed* as a result of those events. Maybe I'm being overly skeptical, but Cryptocurrencies pretty much *lost* any and all image as actually being *currencies* (aka *"a means of exchange"*) and instead assumed an image/reputation as *exotic high-risk investments.* Now, you might look at that sentence and say *"so what?"* The *"so what* part has to do with this thing we've all been longingly harping on about for so long: *Mass Adoption.* ![0613-Onions.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/denmarkguy/23wWrwaDh34M1pA5c4hWH4hJ9vvjjvsnAmhcfiwsMRBJoasehgM62RzYxbBiDfW55xUTV.jpg) ## *Reaping What You Sow...* Short version: High risk exotic investments are very much a small niche market. Alternative *currencies, marketplaces and commerce* has a much *much* broader appeal. Getting extremely *"local"* with it, I'll use myself as an example. I have *almost zero* interest in throwing my hard-earned fiat money — of which I have precipitously little — at pie-in-the-sky promises of 1000% returns, but I'd *gladly* take part in something like a crypto-based *marketplace* like an eBay/Amazon/Craigslist clone that operated entirely in HBD. Or Hive. Or some other *currency.* And yes, I recognize that the *tender beginnings* of this kind of activity is slowly happening. However, the crypto field — as a whole — has an *"image problem"* that's going to keep a *lot* of us on the sidelines, for a long time. Why? Because *SO* much effort among crypto peeps and blockchainiacs is *still* being directed towards the dream of "*Mooning for Lambos."* ![0441-Purple.JPG](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/denmarkguy/23yThHJYzy6fpSV1DnGU5AdmLLNPPyKkoa2botUSiUQKP87bNikEGhFMKVhwh9hA2xsT3.JPG) ## *Coming Full Circle: The Fiat Issue* Going back to the Barter Exchange, and a bajillion other *opportunities* since then, the destructiveness of greed tends to follow the same path: Get in, exploit to make a fortune, get out. Again, I'm not going to editorialize on *"Greed vs. Business Acumen;"* instead I want to finish with a few words on the *"get out"* end of the equation... which tends to ultimately be what *breaks* systems and good ideas. It may have been a while since the BTC Genesis Block in 2009, but we still always *exit to fiat* when we think of cryptos, working with them, and what we *do* with them. Often, crypto projects are *far* more concerned with *looking for INVESTORS* than *looking for USERS.* Projects like LeoFinance and Hive are a rare *exception,* not the norm. Not surprising, because we inside the cryptosphere don't have much to offer in response to the question *"What do you DO with these tokens?"* aside from *"invest in them."* ![0333-Rialto07.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/denmarkguy/2423jReLYoFs9pFwcQrvSKWsUpDxH1RTjZawbtGm4sYrH4Q4JM6x2MV5ZUnwb9o8bmJJT.jpg) ## *The Computer and Internet Parallels* Change comes when something new *effectively starts making sense* to people, and move past the excitement of *the IDEA, itself.* In their earliest days, people would invest *"in computers"* and they would invest in *"The Internet."* In 2024, I doubt you can find many people who get excited about *"Computers"* or *"The Internet"* as abstract concepts. These days, we have near-complete market saturation with *both* of them, and both were disruptive technologies. But we got there because people started focusing on what you can *DO* with these technologies, not the technologies *themselves.* In order for cryptos to attract the next level of users on the path to mass adoption, we have to get there, too. And that means everyday *business use cases* that don't obsess over *"When Moon?"* every other day. Well, with that, I'm off to pack up my eBay sales for shipping. Because I *still can't DO that* on the blockchain... Thanks for reading and have a great weekend! ***Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!*** ![HivePanda.gif](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/denmarkguy/nnhCakFg-Hive-Panda.gif)

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