by Jeffrey A. Tucker
The American Institute for Economic Research
In the early years of the Bitcoin boom, I attended a raucous and truly hilarious conference of newly rich digital titans. The year was 2014, I believe, the town was Miami, and Bitcoin had just hit $1,000. In those days, the ethos of the early investors was to spend. Like crazy.
After all, this goofy spendable token seemed to be growing on trees. One day your computer is grinding away “mining” magic money that no one used, and the next thing you know you have $100K in your paw. You did nothing to “earn” it other than volunteer some processing power. Why not live it up?
There was strange psychology at work in those days. That this tiny protocol worked defied belief and yet it was real. Let’s test just how real!
At this conference, yes, living it up was the way. Ferraris and Maseratis filled the Miami streets.