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A long time ago I remember hearing someone tell me you should “start with why.” It obviously made an impression, because I still remember it even though I’ve forgotten many more important things in life like passwords, birthdays, and where I was for most of 1994. So I figured this might be a good place to start with this blog. Why am I doing it?
I’m solidly in the middle of Generation X. My generation grew up watching things that only existed in sci-fi become everyday products. Wireless communications devices, biometric security, worldwide interconnected computer systems? All sci-fi in the 1970s and reality today. Most of my generation didn’t have the internet in college. If we went to a good school, we might have had rudimentary email on campus-based intranet. In the mid-90s, AOL came along and mailed out what seemed like billions of CDs, trying to onboard people to this new Internet thing that many considered a fad. Gen X lived through the internet bubble and watched this crazy idea called Amazon grow from its infancy to economic domination. We watched 8-tracks and vinyl be replaced by digital music. We’ve watched the video store on the corner (with the beaded curtain separating the “adult section” from the rest) be replaced by Netflix and PornHub.
I would argue that Gen X has seen more innovation and tech than any other generation. So it’s a little surprising that so many of my Gen X friends haven’t jumped on the crypto bandwagon. Crypto is simply another tech, and Gen X has eagerly adopted every type of tech from cable TV to cell phones to PayPal to spacecraft (remember, Elon Musk is Gen X). But for some reason, many in Gen X have resisted adopting crypto. I didn’t have any exposure to it until I started reading articles about smart contracts on the blockchain, and being a lawyer, I found this topic interesting enough to research. Spending months reading up on crypto projects and innovations convinced me that this is something that will be part of our everyday lives for the foreseeable future. But it seems like I am still in the minority among my Gen X peers.
“Crypto is a scam.” “It’s not backed by anything.” “It can go to zero any day.” “It’s too volatile.” Most of my friends I’m quoting are at the top of their game in their respective fields and in their prime earning years. Many of them are far smarter than I am. Well over half hold advanced degrees. Nearly all of them have a 401k or some similar retirement plan that is invested in stocks, bonds, and other types of traditional financial assets. I have spent most of the last 20 years as an estate planning attorney working closely with financial advisors and CPAs and am aware of the assets my clients hold. I very rarely see crypto holdings of any kind in my Gen X clients’ portfolios. It’s honestly surprising.
And yet, I answer a couple of Facebook messages a week from friends, mostly Gen X, asking me to explain crypto to them. What is it? How do I buy it? How do I get out of it if I need to? Is crypto useful for anything? Why do so many have dog pictures? It’s as though they don’t want to publish the fact that they’re interested, but they still want to learn. They see what everyone else sees: people becoming overnight millionaires by buying crypto while they plug away steadily adding a few thousand to their 401k every year earning a few percent on those assets.
As a result, I have spent dozens of hours over the past 6 months trying to help my friends understand the basics of crypto, or at least pointing them to places where they can do more research on their own. I’ve helped friends make their first purchases and token swaps. I’m not a financial advisor and nothing I say should ever be considered financial advice. I will never tell anyone to buy a coin or token, but I will help them understand the process of how to buy it if they ask.
Because I don’t like to reinvent the wheel dozens of times over, I’m starting this blog here to hopefully help more people understand crypto and get into the space. I’d personally love to see all of my friends be on the upside of the mass adoption curve so they can take this ride with me. It’s going to be an interesting next few years.
