I woke up at 3 a.m. on the night of the election, checked my phone, and decided not to go back to sleep.
Trump was firmly in the lead, a landslide was imminent, and in that moment, I was euphoric.
For the past decade or so that I’ve been interested in crypto, it’s been this weird, niche, outcast society of internet weirdos spending time together talking about their funny internet coins.
But deep beneath the weirdness, the ponzis, and the giant flashing casino, is a truly groundbreaking, revolutionary technology.
From the moment Satoshi solved the Byzantine Generals' problem, those that took the time to ignore the rhetoric and think deeply about it saw the potential:
Global, borderless money, immutable and uncensorable.
A ticket out of despotic dictatorships or failing regimes.
The first time in recent history you had a chance to separate money from the state, empowering individuals in a way that has never before been possible.
And it is for this reason I was euphoric on November 6th.
For as long as I can remember, politicians have attacked crypto.
They’ve called us criminals and con artists.
They called our internet tokens rat poison.
They said it was all a giant ponzi.
And despite the fact that they are mostly right, they continually missed the point.
This is a technology that can and will change the world. This is a technology that can make life better for a billion people across the globe. This is a technology that can keep central bankers in check. This is a technology that allows anyone, anywhere, to experience economic upward mobility, based purely on the merit of their actions.
And finally, now, after many, many years, the crypto industry can stop being a pariah.
I can finally stop being embarrassed to tell people I work here.
Talented developers are now free to come and work in crypto without having to be afraid of going to jail or being sued by rogue government agencies.
Of course, the majority of the industry will remain a casino; there will be many, many scams, people will get hacked or lose their keys.
But these downsides will be massively outweighed by the overwhelming positive force of global, immutable, uncensorable money.
And now that the career risk for developers to enter crypto is minimised, we are about to see a flurry of funding, new talent, and new innovation appear in our industry.
With a powerful whirlwind at our backs and a growing legion of passionate crypto advocates by our side, we can finally set out to change the minds of the masses.
Crypto is here to stay, and I couldn’t be more excited.