I’ve been staring at cryptocurrency for about five to six years now. I first acquired Bitcoin via localbitcoins.com from a guy named Tony. We met at a coffee shop and chatted briefly about Bitcoin before I gave him $600 in cash and he sent 1 BTC to my wallet.
Fast forward a couple of years and I am working at a traditional bank in risk. For the first time in my professional career I am able to leverage my interest in cryptocurrency; I could study it on the clock, and I could contribute professionally on the subject of cryptocurrencies at the bank.
About two months ago I was doing some risk analysis on crypto and got in to a bit of a disagreement with a few of my colleagues. I proceeded to do something unprofessional (by most accounts); I wrote a two page essay explaining my position and sent it off at 10pm. I continued thinking about it after I sent it. Then when I woke up the next day I started writing again and shipped another two page essay, doubling down on my previous position.
Unprofessional — but my analysis was correct. All of my (more senior and tenured) colleagues came around to my view with an understanding of the consequences and implications, and we went to work. The work will be in production later this month.
This is not meant to be a flex. Over the time elapsed since my first two-page essay to today, I have not stopped thinking about or writing about cryptocurrency. This is new territory and behavior for me— while I have evangelized cryptocurrency loudly since I discovered it, I don’t believe I really came to understand what it all was until very recently.
And so now I’ve started this Medium to document the journey.
