I've been following the development of Bitcoin Private since November of 2017. As I look at my calendar, it seems impossible this much time has passed. I became involved as a vocal contrarian at first, standing for the financial rights of humanity worldwide, and eventually as an ambassador.
I reloaded https://btcprivate.org over and over, eager for updates.
Glowing with pride, I mined some of the first coins as the network came online.
We stood vigil as Z Classic fell from grace, a grim reminder of what we'd given up, and what we had left to do. We came for freedom, and we wouldn't be paid off this time.
I helped users with wallets as best I could post-fork in March, traded hard at the HitBTC listing, and continued until I began my own personal project in the Crypto-world these past few months.
All the while, waiting, watching, knowing https://btcppay.com/ would introduce the best opportunity for adoption of any crypto in the game.
Privacy continues to be a hard-fought battle around the world, and we we're the soldiers of the crypto-front. Dictators and the power-hungry would not rest, so we couldn't either. We would tell the world - we built the coin that sets us free from ourselves. The sacrifices of whistleblowers and collective information of worn out journalists would not fall on deaf ears. Technology allowed privacy to be invaded to a great extent, could it also give it back to us?
The new blockchain was beautiful - gloriously fast, with obvious attention to user experience on the front end. The early users knew we were onto something huge. It felt good to use. It could indeed fulfill its use-case. We began to ask the hard questions; what did the price in USD matter if we were purchasing with BTCP? What good was privacy tech if we signed our identity over to exchanges like they were Banks, version 2.0? Which coins are protecting our privacy, and which ones just say they do? Bitcoin Private was a technological goal as well as a philosophical pipe dream.
So, when I heard https://btcppay.com/ was coming online, I felt deeply emotional. I had spent a great deal of time debating and raising awareness and now suddenly, something that meant so much to me was really happening. It was validation that other people truly believe in the same dream; a world free of surveillance, and full of opportunity.
Thank you to the community that adopted me because of what I believe, rather than what I've done. What I believed to be true wasn't wrong after all, just uncommon.
I would like to offer what was given me to others who believe, but are not yet involved. Join the conversation with us, please. Every voice, no matter how squeaky or rude or silly, they are heard here. I believe BTCPpay will come to represent a nation of the mind - a place for those who seek to create their own life without monitoring or manipulation. Join us, be yourself, and be heard.
https://t.me/BTCPrivate
https://twitter.com/bitcoinprivate?lang=en
https://www.reddit.com/r/BTC_Private/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/bitcoinprivatecommunity/about/