I thought I would post my speech today for all of you that could not be here in person.

Ignore and innovate
I want to start today’s talk off with a quote about the internet…

“The growth of the Internet will slow drastically… and by 2005 or so, it will become clear that the Internet’s impact on the economy has been no greater than the fax machine’s”

That is was delivered by nobel prize winning economist and New York Times writer Paul Krugman in the late 90s.
Now, it’s easy to point fingers and laugh. But let’s look some history.
The Internet was developed in the 70s and early 80s.
It took decades for the internet to be widely considered more than just a fad.

The way I look at it, Technologies whose time has come will never go away.

Science, telephone, the printing press…

There’s just too much value. They capture something about the human spirit.

But just because it doesn’t fizzle away doesn’t make them mainstream.
Science, telephone, and printing presses were… luxuries for many years.
And as far as the internet…

Well, the truth is, when it was getting started in the early 80’s, it wasn’t… that useful.

Was…basically a way to send text messages between computers.
Nothing about the original internet allows for photos, blogs, ecommerce… even websites.

What makes the internet what it is today is the mind bloggilng number of the innovations behind it.

HD streaming, social networking, being able to buy alpaca socks…
None of that was destiny.

None of that was built into the internet.

All of these came about because people were willing to do something no one else had done before.

People who ignored people like Paul Krugman and saw the potential the potential inside the internet. And so innovated. And built technologies like… HTML, GIF & JPEG, Flash Video, PayPal, Wordpress…

These were the things that took the idea of a globally connected network and actually made it mean something to everyday people.
Until these came about, the internet was only valued by nerds and geeks.

Bitcoin is in EXACTLY the same position the internet was in in 1990

Well… bitcoin is in EXACTLY the same place the internet was in the 90’s.
A powerful protocol with immense potential

But there’s little else behind it. It’s still a young technology. There hasn’t been much time for innovations to emerge.

It’s those kinds of innovations that actually make the technology useful to people who don’t understand it.

You can’t rely on teaching. The internet didn’t change because suddenly everyone understood TCP.

It changed because you could type words into this thing called netscape and find useful things. Easily.

Why innovate?
Just like the internet, bitcoin isn’t going to get widespread adoption on its own.

It’s just a sophisticated technology with immense potential.
“Blockchain” doesn’t mean the smallest thing to people outside our industry.

Most people aren’t nerds like us.
Most people who use the internet day in and day out have no clue how it works.
Including myself. I know little about it all.

But that’s the thing. It doesn’t matter that I don’t understand it.
I can mash my fingers on my keyboard and see cat videos.

That’s what bitcoin needs.
It needs the innovations behind the technology that connects it to people…

Without them having to understand it.

This is the only way it’s going to get where we all see it could go.

What our company is doing to innovate
I’m not just preaching here. This is what we’re doing every day at my company.

GAW’s mission is make cryptocurrency as widely used as as possible.
We’ve focused on one area…mining… and have an incredible team doing the best work of their lives building the innovations that’ll allow mining to connect with as many people as possible.

Even people who don’t understand cryptocurrency itself.
Mining has become a dirty word to many of us in the industry.

But I still think it has an incredible ability to capture people’s interest.
…Who doesn’t want a money-making machine?

Now, what makes us different? I mean, there are a ton of mining companies out there. They’re a dime a dozen.
Hell, even the FTC has one now : )

What we do differently is we’ve developed a way to remove all the cables, ip addresses and… complications from mining.

And just leaving the fun experience of, literally, making money.
The fact that we use the most effiecient hardware in the world doesn’t mean a thing.

Anyone can do that. That isn’t innovation.

Innovation is allowing grandma to access that hardware and understand how to use it.

Innovation is giving uncle bill the chance to purchase and begin mining within minutes.

Innovation is letting cousin amy, who doesn’t know how to setup an ipod, mine with the best bitcoin mining datacenter in the world.

We’ve made big strides in that area… and we’re working to improve that every day.

Our next target is tackling the bitcoin acceptance problem.

Companies are not accepting bitcoin as fast as we’d like.

So… if they won’t go to bitcoin, we’ll bring bitcoin to them.

We’re developing a neat technology that allows anyone to buy from the sites they, like using bitcoin…
…Even when those sites don’t accept bitcoin.

It’s pretty neat.

And we’ve patented the hell out of it : )

That’s our role right now. Make mining and spending mined cryptocurrency accessible to as many people as we can.
That’s where we’re focusing our efforts.

What you can do to innovate?
But there’s a lot more that needs to happen before bitcoin will lift off.

Will it be done? I think so.

The question is who will do it.
How long will it take.
And who will get the credit.
Bitcoin is a young technology. Hardly anyone understands it. And hardly anyone can use it.

Change that.

Bitcoin is only being used by geeks like us.
So of course the doubters are going to doubt.
Ignore them…. Ignore them and innovate.

Build the technologies will effortlessly connect bitcoin to people outside our industry.

Build the technologies that let people interact with crypto without having to understand it.

Build the technologies that seamlessly integrate bitcoin into people’s lives… and add value

You are living in a time that will go down in history not unlike the industrial revolution.

It’s going to take innovations to amplify the value bitcoin offers and proves the doubters wrong.

Cryptocurrency is here to stay.
But there is work to be done.
Don’t be discouraged by market prices. That’s all temporary. And you know it.

Look at what happened to the internet in 2000. The internet bubble burst. The amount Tech stocks plummeted by was in the trillions of dollars. And every Paul Krugman of the world felt vindicated.

Look what happened.

Innovations like Google, Amazon, Facebook, Wikipedia, YouTue happened…

And all the early adopters were proven right.

It’s bitcoin’s turn.

Just like the internet, Bitcoin will never fizzle away.
But it isn’t going to go to the moon until people like you do the work that needs to be done.

When you go back home from here, I want you to think about what you can develop to make bitcoin useful to people who don’t understand it.

Stop looking to others for examples of what you can do. We’re in a new industry. So make something new.

Make something no one has thought of that will capture people’s interest in bitcoin.

And if you end up saying to yourself “I don’t know what I can do that no one else has done”

Then do something YOU’VE never done.

Everyone here already understands the potential bitcoin has.

Now recognize that it won’t mean a thing until the world has the innovations that connect it to people.

The blockchain is too powerful to disappear.
The world has changed forever.
And cryptocurrency is here to stay.
But there’s work to be done.
And as I said before, the question is
Who is going to do it
When is going to get done
And who is going to get the credit

The internet took decades to mature to what it is now
Crypto will take time as well. But it will happen as long as people like you step up.

You have the chance of a lifetime to be part of what could be most important innovation in finance in literally thousands of years.

This is your time.

You are the brightest minds in this industry.
You’re more passionate about bitcoin than anyone else.
You understand the technology better than anyone else.
And you see it’s potential better than anyone else.

So ask yourself. If you don’t innovate the world behind bitcoin. Who will?

The Paul Krugman’s of the world will continue to doubt.

Let’s embarrass them.

 

 

-josh-