I have a friend who has made a significant fortune out of bitcoin. He is one of those enthusiasts who happily hands out the cryptocurrency to others in the interest of spreading adoption.
All of that is good. However, one thing has always infuriated me: his boasts, especially last year, that he was spreading belief in bitcoin because the small amount he’d distributed to random people over the years was now worth X times more in dollar terms. He loved it, he said, when they’d call to thank him.
Why on earth would I have an issue with this generosity of spirit? Because it perpetuated a narrative that speculative gains, measured in fiat currency terms, was bitcoin’s core value proposition for the world.