Build Now, Settle Later

TL;DR - at the bottom

(Before I start) … I wanted to say a huge thanks to everyone for the kind welcome you gave me yesterday!

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Whilst many general categorisations can and have been made between groups of people throughout history (I’m not talking pejoratively), one I have always liked is the distinction between those who are Pioneers and those who are Settlers

Neither is better or worse than the other. Pioneers courageously explore. Settlers carefully build. Some like to travel the world, and some like to build a permanent abode and enjoy the consistent rhythms of daily life. In fact, we will move back and forth between these categories at different stages of our lives

There is no doubt blockchain technology is pioneering infrastructure, which will become as commonplace as the internet before it. What is being pioneered by the few now will be settled in by the masses soon. Unimaginable adoption and utility will come, and faster than expected. Some legacy systems will jump in the river, and some will watch the river flow around them. Adapt or die

Crypto is still such a nascent environment. Influencers, bros, megalomaniacal narcissistic CEOs, all manner of growing pains. However, if you understand what you are invested in, and are not over-invested, the bear becomes a builders’ blessing and you are able to cut through the noise. We have to pioneer and settle simultaneously

Like those who explored new worlds and walked beyond the boundaries of their present-day maps, we are riding the new wave into the shores of a digital and technological revolution that will turn the world upside down. The biggest and smartest banks and businesses know it. They couldn’t ignore it, they couldn’t destroy it, so now they’re running towards it

True, hard money in Bitcoin, software platforms with smart contract capabilities, utility tokens earning revenue from real world usage and application. This revolution cuts out the middle man and has been dubbed the “Ownership Economy”. We can all own the building blocks of this coming age

Let’s be honest, we’re here for the tech and for the money. That’s the point of this so-called Ownership Economy. We don’t simply hold supply to say we’re a “tokenised fan” of a project; we own protocols and earn revenue from them. We hold digital gold, we earn yield on the next iterations of operating systems, we are paid to secure decentralised networks

Blockchain adoption is inevitable. So with uniform position sizing, wise project diversification, and most importantly patience, the Pioneer has an advantage. Once this space is settled by the masses, many of the biggest opportunities are lost

The greatest threat to Pioneers with long-term horizons during lacklustre markets is creeping boredom. It is important for us all to remind ourselves that being focused, courageous and patient Pioneers is the best way we can work towards realising a future as free and secure Settlers

TL;DR - Blockchain and crypto is the next age of technological innovation and societal revolution. I want to be courageous in this frontier now, so that my family and their children can enjoy a better quality of life than I had. I want to pioneer, so that one day we can all settle together, and enjoy the fruits of what we had the vision to build