ABOUT
THIS PROJECT
BTC TouchPoint is a project in full development that we want to make as useful as possible. Your opinion counts for a lot!
Facilitating the Learning
Falling into the Bitcoin rabbit hole is a truly joyful surprise. It combines the bountiful acquisition of sound knowledge with the encounter of a rather unique community:
2017-2022 has seen an explosion of high-quality content published on the Internet. More is coming everyday and it is taxing to follow! I spent 1000s of hours consuming this material. And I thought it would be great to spare newcomers a fastidious sorting effort by providing them a selection of outstanding content and some guidance to engage in this dense learning process.
They care for society, cherish the family unit, and hold Nature sacred. They favour long term investments respectful of nature over predatory ventures yielding short-term gains. Not quite the picture that the mainstream media is painting to you! You will find out by yourself, bitcoiners shines a light of hope in the rather gloomy tunnel the world is now travelling through.
Arrival - Inspiration
Denis Villeneuve, the Canadian film director – Dune (2021), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Arrival (2016), Sicario (2015), Prisoners (2013), Enemy (2013), and Incendies (2010) – designed a real masterpiece with this stunning Sci-Fi film. Timeless landscapes, an entrancing soundtrack, and a plot slowly unfolding, subtly revealing us a delicate, universal an all loving intelligence.
The movie Arrival (originally titled Premier Contact i.e. first TouchPoint) has been a beautiful source of inspiration for this project. It tells the story of a female linguist and a male mathematician called in emergency to decipher the language of visiting aliens.
It takes them a few touch points with these visitors before they can start assembling the puzzle. The linguist undergoes a cognitive and psychic maturation and as a result and she breaks the code. All around the world experts join forces in awe of the gift this speech represents for mankind. It changes people's worldviews and brings peace.
The parallels between Arrival (one of the most beautiful sci-fi film ever) and our encounter with Bitcoin are profound. As we fall in the rabbit hole, we shockingly realize how little we know about money, this primordial form of speech, of which Bitcoin is the most advanced expression. The deeper we fall, the more our “time preference” changes: we engage in more meaningful activities, letting go of more futile consumption patterns seeking instant gratification.
In Arrival, the main protagonists learn a new, cryptic, language. There are striking similarities with our own learning processes as we discover Bitcoin: it takes multiple touchpoints to start embracing the complexity of the speech; the comprehension of Bitcoin opens up a new paradigm ; and the benefits derived from Bitcoin, individually and collectively are life-changing. Bitcoin is hope!
About me
As a late teenager I was a mad windsurfer, a Civilization II addict, and a fan of Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, and Pink Floyd. I left University with the mind of a (mostly) rational engineer. For a time I fancied Sci-Fi literature, pop science books, conversations between David Bohm and Jiddu Krishnamurti, entertaining the dream of witnessing a proper Kuhn's scientific revolution. I never thought I would see a paradigm shift the magnitude of what Bitcoin is bringing about. Not only is this real, all around us, changing institutions, behaviours, culture and mindsets, but we can all partake in it actively!
Throughout my career in the so-called 'development aid' sector, I have contributed to numerous projects aimed at improving people's lives in a sustainable way, most often through research and evaluation, partnership building and training. Discovering complex institutional and cultural contexts, analyzing ways to improve access to water and sanitation in rural areas or booming slums was all very stimulating. Ground realities challenged my mental maps and I collaborated with people from diverse horizons, both competent and honest.
As a programme evaluator, however, I have come to appreciate the questionable effectiveness and sustainability of many of these initiatives. The modalities of intervention of these programmes framed by bi- or multilateral agreements seem to prevent leveraging the genuine and effective endogenous development drivers and dynamics.
Unfortunately, the agenda of donors appear increasingly at odds with the priority needs of the so-called "beneficiary populations". Despite the best intentions and all the skills it brings together, this sector is struggling to learn from the systemic limitations of its actions. Gradually but surely, I came to question the usefulness of my involvement in this sector.
Actively searching for an exit strategy, it wasn't an exit door that I found, but a rabbit hole, which I fell into during my 2nd touchpoint with Bitcoin. Gluttonous consumption of hundreds of hours of videos, in particular those of the incomparable Andreas Antonopoulos.
As the months went by and the data accumulated highlighting the economic, social and environmental relevance of Bitcoin, it became clear to me: my exit strategy was to support Bitcoin adoption, despite all the risks involved, including reputational risks. Carving a profesional path more in line with my convictions was urgent, and I could not ignore this unique opportunity.
Bitcoin is a super concrete and effective way of meeting the humanitarian, environmental and socio-economic development objectives that were at the heart of my initial vocation. And people have not yet realized how much Bitcoin can teach us on key issues such as transparency, accountability, and good governance.