Let me share why I’m so excited about Bitcoin. When people think about Bitcoin they tend to think in terms of computers and coding. After all Bitcoin is just math. I don’t pretend to be a coder and the white paper doesn’t make much sense to me. However, I understand the community that is growing around Bitcoin.
Peer to peer interactions are at the heart of the Bitcoin community. Many think Bitcoiners only talk about generational wealth and how to combat inflation. However, what I most commonly hear them share are ideas about how to address climate change by becoming carbon negative and how to achieve economic freedom for women in developing countries. In other words, the community supports an exchange of ideas, the same thing that creatives do everyday.
Creatives naturally understand the concept of proof of work. Artists and musicians that I know spend hours, weeks, months and years developing their craft. I know that the first novel I wrote took over five years and is still buried in a corner of my closet, because it wasn’t just right. I needed to complete that work to grow.
At my gut level, Bitcoin made sense. So practically, how does it work for creative people? To fully understand the application, take an illustrative walk with me. It’s a beautiful spring day, trees are starting to bud in Loring Park in Minnesota. An acoustic guitar player strums a tune that mingles with the birds chirping in the branches above him. The song sounds like warm sunshine on my face. I reach into my pockets and realize that I haven’t carried cash in months. But it’s okay. I see a QR code by his guitar case. I open my Strike wallet and send him Sats that he can spend that day at the local coffee shop when he finishes. Thinking about coffee I realize that I haven’t had my daily jolt of caffeine, so I stroll to the coffee shop. The walls are decorated with paintings by a local artist. One catches my eye. The girl’s face haunts me. I look at the price tag, which while fair compensation for her time, is out of my budget. Besides, I wouldn’t have a place to put it anyway. But not to worry. She also has a QR code. Zap! I send her sats to tell her that I appreciate her work and it moved me. Coffee in hand, I continue to a local bookstore to listen to a writer. Mesmerized and slightly envious of his reading, I eagerly stand in line to buy his book. Guess what? You probably know by now, he accepts Bitcoin and I buy his book. Not to worry, he will compensate the bookstore owner as all of the Bitcoin payments will settle before he boxes up his books and says his farewells.
This is how Bitcoin can work for creatives.
You may be thinking, “but Paypal or Venmo can do that?” Yes they can, assuming that I have a Paypal app, which I don’t. Or the musician may accept Zelle and the artist may have CashApp. The beauty about the open source software community is that all wallets play nice together. That is the point. It is about minimizing barriers to access and increasing peer to peer interactions.
If you are a creative person and would like to learn more, please reach out to a Bitcoiner. They would be very happy to share what they know. After all, open source is more about the community than the code. Or you can send me an email at trimavera@gmail.com, follow me on Twitter @michelleCLeigh or visit my website http://www.michellecleigh.com.
This is a guest post by Christine Bothun. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Satoshi’s Journal.
