Paulchen’s Sermon

Paulchen’s been on my case about Bitcoin for years. Get in now or regret it later. Litecoin’s the future. Ethereum’s going to change everything. The blockchain will solve… something. The pitch blurs together after a while, but I keep thinking the same thing: can code actually stop people from wanting to get rich?

I haven’t put any money into it and I’m not going to. Not because I think the whole thing’ll blow up—I genuinely don’t know what happens—but because I can’t stand hype. The moment a company says coin or blockchain, everyone loses their minds. It’s always the same feeling: get in now or get left behind. I’d rather stay out.

John Oliver did this thing on Last Week Tonight about cryptocurrency that’s actually worth watching if you want to understand how any of it works. He breaks it down while making fun of the absurdity of it all, which is kind of the point—most people talking about the future of crypto don’t actually understand it. They just know someone made money and they want that to be them.

There’s always a pattern. New technology shows up. Someone tells you it’s the future. Anyone who doesn’t get in early is an idiot. The story matters more than the thing itself. Some people get rich. A lot more just lose money while other people’s money disappears too.

I’m skeptical. Not paranoid, just tired of watching the same story in new clothes. Maybe the technology’s real. Maybe the applications work out someday. But right now it feels like watching people bid up something they don’t understand because they’re terrified of missing out. I’d rather sit on the sidelines and see what sticks.

Paulchen still texts me about it. He always will. He’s not wrong to believe in it—I genuinely don’t know if he’ll make money or lose it. He just decided a long time ago that he was going to be the kind of person who gets in early on new things. I decided I was going to be the kind of person who doesn’t. Neither of us will know if we made the right call until it’s way too late to change it.