CoinGeek Conversations Holiday Special: Goodbye 2020!

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Sharing their picks of interesting Bitcoin SV moments captured on video, CoinGeek’s Natalie Mason, Charles Miller, Kurt Wuckert Jr and Bitcoin Association’s Patrick Prinz close out the year in a special CoinGeek Conversations episode. And what better way to start the conversation, than hearing from the one and only Dr. Craig Wright on the importance of owning your digital identity.   

“2020 is a year like no other,” Charles admits while tossing out a surgical face mask he calls his “prop of the year.” But despite a very challenging year caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying restrictions, everyone agrees it was a pivotal year for Bitcoin SV. 

In October, the BSV community successfully carried out its first virtual CoinGeek Conference with studios broadcasting live simultaneously from New York and London. As Charles puts it, “despite everything, it was real tribute to the strength behind the growth of BSV.”

For Kurt, 2020 was a landmark year for Bitcoin. The year started out strong with the completion of “Genesis,” an update bringing back Bitcoin’s original design. This was followed by the CoinGeek London conference in February—which feels like a lifetime ago, given that March lasted 5 years. As Kurt points out, to a greater degree people have surpassed talking protocols and instead are debating token protocols. “We agreed that opening up the protocol and allowing it to scale, however it may, has changed the way discussions occur in Bitcoin so much for the better that I can’t even describe how happy I am to see that.”

Bitcoin SV’s 2020 highlights 

Kurt chose to share an inspiring video clip filmed during a CambrianSV event in Lisbon. In the video, Paul Martin of RelayX gives a passionate speech about Portuguese explorers, comparing the adventure seekers to BSV developers and entrepreneurs. Paul notes both have taken immense risks to be a great part of history. “One of the things that motivates me the most about Bitcoin is not just the fact that it incentivizes, this sort of risk taking to make the future a better place for our descendants, but the fact that now we have this anchor of truth.” 

Inspired by Paul’s speech, Kurt views Bitcoin as an opportunity to be an explorer again. But it’s more than that, he says “the goal is noble, there’s that opportunity to fundamentally change the world.” 

In the clip, Paul Martin highlights the risk that many early BSV followers faced, being “looked at like pariahs, you’ve taken much risk. Career risk. Financial risk. Reputational risk.” It’s amazing how much the BSV ecosystem has grown this year. Both Natalie and Patrick were keen to point out that with so many enterprises choosing to build on the BSV blockchain, choosing BSV is now a legitimate and wise business choice.

Next, Charles shared a part of his interview with economist and writer George Gilder. In a remarkable quote, George compares the cryptocurrency movement to the internet movement stating, “The cryptocurrency movement is smarter and more sophisticated about computer science than the internet movement that preceded it.” 

Patrick agrees, admitting it’s part of the reason why he joined the Bitcoin SV community. As he explains, he saw a multitude of talent and a diverse group of people with a level of professionalism which he failed to see in other camps. As Kurt was there with George on the day, he gives a moving personal insight into just how dedicated George was on the day. A testament to Gilder’s passion and dedication to speak out on what he believes in.

Natalie is next to share her favorite clip of the year—a jaw dropping moment. It was a heated debate between Unbound Capital founder, Jackson Laskey and Twetch CFO, Aaron Burns about whether or not there is space for venture capital in Bitcoin. “If you’ve been in this space for more than 3 years, you know somebody who has a million bucks in their pocket right now and can give you $100,000, right now. Right? You don’t have to go to this guy, to go get that same 120,000 dollars for him and his friends to take 35 percent of your companies” says Aaron, laying out his argument for why it’s about angel investors over venture capitalists. 

With most of the panel agreeing that venture capital, thankfully, isn’t going anywhere soon as Charles puts it, to witness “two extremely thoughtful and energetic people with opposing views.” The debate is certainly a moment worth checking out in full—between two great forces in the BSV space.

Lastly, Patrick shares one of Natalie’s recent CoinGeek Conversation interviews, with Peter Bainbridge-Clayton of Kompany. In the clip, Peter explains how other blockchains fell short—taking us through his experiences that led to finally finding a workable model: Bitcoin SV. 

Working on the frontlines of business adoption of this technology, Patrick has seen many enterprises experience the same situation. “They typically start out with Ethereum then moving over to Hyperledger and realizing that neither of them satisfies the demands of the requirements they have for their business.” Patrick firmly believes that once companies find BSV, they don’t look back. 

Kurt perceives companies with an “exit plan” go with Ethereum and the likes, pointing out a big distinction for businesses who want to scale and have a long term plan: BSV is the only way to go.

Expectations for the year ahead 

Charles hopes to have get-togethers in person and see people having drinks together which he says is that “extra bonus of business lubricant that will just power things up to the next level.”

From a Bitcoin Association perspective, Patrick sums it up in two words—enterprise adoption.

As a Bitcoin historian, Kurt hopes to make people understand what Bitcoin SV has been through in the past to get to where it is today. He looks forward to “writing those rhetorical wrongs of the Bitcoin journey.” 

In closing, Natalie leaves the last word to founder of Ayre Group and CoinGeek, Calvin Ayre, who sets his expectations for 2021 and beyond: “We see unique consumer facing applications and unique enterprise solutions that take advantage of the superpowers of this technology, which is its nano transaction capability and its immutable data storage on a public blockchain. With those two things combined together, this technology has a global monopoly- which is patent protected.” 

From the whole CGC team, happy holidays! We can’t wait to see what next year brings for BSV!

For more insight, check out the episode and watch the full videos shown and referenced in the conversation, linked below.

In order of appearance: 

• Craig Wright on Owning your Digital Identity
• Paul Martin on Inspirational Historical Explorers
• George Gilder on Craig Wright’s “great vision” for Bitcoin SV
• Aaron Burns – Is there a role for venture capital in Bitcoin? 
• Peter Bainbridge- Clayton on why Kompany has chosen BSV over other blockchains
• Calvin Ayre on the magic powers of BSV

Referenced in the discussion:

EHR Data 

Brand in Focus

Extended Panel Discussion

Kronoverse

Chief architect David Case on CoinGeek Conversations: Pioneering eSports on Blockchain 

CoinGeek Conference

CoinGeek Conference New York Oct 2020

Bitcoin Association

CoinGeek

See you next year! 

You can also watch the podcast video on YouTube.

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