With the recent happenings in crypto, I felt it was necessary to make some updates to my Intro to Bitcoin & Blockchain course for beginners. Whenever these bear markets show their ass, we're thoroughly reminded why we're here in the 1st place...decentralization and self-sovereignty. Since the beginning, these characteristics have helped form the "ethos" of Bitcoin...and whenever we lose track of that, the market as a whole can find itself in deep water.
Taking that into consideration, the updates I made were focused on emphasizing self-custody and warning about the dangers of trusting 3rd parties. Here's some text directly from the lesson on decentralization:
What Does It Mean To Be Decentralized?
Free from a central authority
Able to perform without a “trusted” physical 3rd party, such as a bank, government, or remittance company (Western Union, Moneygram, PayPal, etc.).
Overall lack of 3rd party risk.
No master computers, or computers that perform independently from the consensus network.
*Note that all blockchains are not decentralized.
It is probably in your best interest to make understanding decentralization a priority! When interacting with a new market and a new technology, 3rd party/custodial platforms can expose you to:
Counterparty risk
Platform risk
Smart Contract risk
Risk assessment should be at the forefront of any investment strategy and in this space, you have a lot more to worry about than just price action.
Its also necessary to stress the fact that decentralization, or lack thereof, is more of a spectrum than it is an absolute. Think of the maxim, "Same in nature, different in degree." All crypto projects rest somewhere on the spectrum, some near the extreme poles.
I like to think of Bitcoin and HIVE as the projects that are closest toward the extreme pole of decentralization. Like I stated earlier, this isn't absolute, and both have their inherent flaws. But hey, what's perfect? Just try to align yourself with communities and blockchains that are pushing in that direction.
As someone that does a lot of onboarding, I would be doing people a disservice if I wasn't placing more emphasis on learning the basics of self-custody. I've always made it a priority, but it is becoming more of a prerequisite. Especially with the moves I've been making with the Future Proof Org collective. Being part of an organization that hangs it hat on education comes with a lot of responsibility.
After adding more lessons, resources, and a 30min follow-up, I increased the price to $49 (it was $19 previously). Even though my clients were pleased with the course, everyone wanted to have a follow-up call to further comprehension, implementation, and to talk about my own experience in the space. Instead of charging for a seperate consultation, I bundled the follow-up with the course. This post isn't to promote the course persay, but to highlight the importance of gaining a thorough understanding of why an understanding of self-custody is paramount.
The F&G Index says we're in a scary place, not as scary as last week, but the market is showing a lack of confidence nonetheless. I'm personally DCAing it out. Trying to time the bottom is pointless. I'd rather just slow roll into the protocols I like long-term that are actually building infrastructure.
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