If you have ever played Final Fantasy IV then you are aware of the story of Cecil, the Dark Knight who constantly questions his position as lead commander of the King’s army.
While having earned the respect of his peers, he carries out orders without question regardless if he feels they were the right thing to do. He eventually renounces his position in order to take control of his life.
I posted an image of Dark Knight Cecil on Twetch after deciding to leave my company where I worked for seven years since graduating college in 2012.
I have no negative feelings towards my former company and enjoyed my time there—I learned so much, was able to travel the world and met many lifelong friends.
However, my experience at the recent CoinGeek Seoul conference showed me that it is time to move on.
Why I decided to move on
I’ve had an obsession with Bitcoin since I got into crypto for all the wrong reasons back in January 2018. This obsession has taken nearly all of my free time since then such that my ability to work on and seriously contribute to Bitcoin-related projects has been very limited.
At the 2018 CoinGeek London Conference, I met a friend who mentioned that if he were to obtain a Bitcoin related job, he could then spend his free time on fun stuff like video games, hobbies, etc. I had forsaken those things for the most part since the beginning of 2018.
For a time, I attempted to merge Bitcoin with my full-time position at a large accounting firm in the U.S. As I attempted this within my company, I quickly realized that this would be extremely difficult given how misunderstood Bitcoin is outside (and inside) of the cryptocurrency ‘community’.
Even with a day job I had managed to make some contributions in the BSV space via sporadic article writing, developing proof-of-concepts, panel/podcast discussions and even a presentation on _unwriter’s tools at CoinGeek Toronto.
At CoinGeek Seoul, people who I had never met from all around the world approached me and complimented my work! This was very nice to hear and extremely fulfilling. Naturally, I started to have the thought that if I can contribute something that makes such an impact on others in such a limited time, imagine what I could do if I fully commit to Bitcoin.
Through various conversations with friends I had met online or from previous CoinGeek conferences I slowly began to convince myself that it was time to make the leap. I had never been so passionate about a project before and finally by the end of my conference I had decided.
I made good money at my former employer—well over six figures and had a very comfortable lifestyle. I had great benefits, excellent health insurance, everything one would expect at a large accounting firm.
Last month, I gave all that up to work on Bitcoin.
Value != Money
Another factor in leaving my job is the conflation of value vs. money. Corporations today often seek profit in situations even if little or no value is being added. Through the economics of Bitcoin I have learned that the amount of money spent on some good or service does not necessarily represent its value.
For example, I feel that I have been able to add some value to the BSV society in a very limited capacity where I was not paid for that work. In this case I was rewarded intangibly (example above) yet no money changed hands. I envision that with a deflationary currency that must be earned through proof of work, I have the potential to flourish and the opportunity to become wealthy.
Bitcoin has enabled me to quit, not from its price rising but its innate overwhelming value proposition.
Working for myself
On my last day employed, 10/25 I posted a picture of Paladin Cecil on Twetch:
This is the role Cecil took on after deciding to live for himself and his ideals rather than others.
Paladin means ‘a champion of cause.’
I truly feel that Bitcoin can change the way humans interact as we know it. Given the choice of working for a company 9-5, its clients vs. working for myself freely, having autonomy and the prospect of working on the most innovative system since the Internet, this decision ended up being a no-brainer.
Now I join the BSV society properly.
The road ahead
A consequence of Cecil renouncing his old role is that in the game he starts at Level 1—meaning from scratch. Fortunately for me, many of the skills from my software consulting/development do translate over to Bitcoin but I still have much to learn.
In the short term I will take a bit of a break and while writing articles and playing with the bevy of applications and projects coming out while taking in as much knowledge as I can. After that—I am open for business.
The goal of this article is to share with others my thought process through all of this and hopefully embolden others to seriously consider the unique opportunity we have in front of us.
Bitcoin enables us all to be part of something so much more that I think we can even comprehend.
New to blockchain? Check out CoinGeek’s Blockchain for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about blockchain technology.
