I think it's time for me to move on

[proudhon]

Here's the thing - I really like bitcoin.  Every time I actually use the system, I'm instantly reminded of why I thought this thing was so cool in the first place.  In a way, I've become a victim of my own trolling, just as some of you have suggested.  Here's my story.

I found out about bitcoin in late February/early March 2011.  A few weeks after investigating the idea I decided to start mining.  My decision to mine instead of buy outright was motivated by the fact that I was in the market for a new gaming PC anyway, and so mining was a sort of hedge against the market working against me.  I turned my machine off a few months after the 2011 crash.  I also bought a fair number of bitcoins before May 2011.

I was enthusiastic about bitcoin and new to markets and trading.  The 2011 crash was depressing and it changed me.  This, despite that I was lucky to more than double the number of bitcoins I mined and bought before the crash.  The project began to look like the sort of thing that was being torn apart inside an out.  I became a vicious troll, because, in a perverse way, I wanted to help what seemed like the project's inevitable end.

At some point my awful trollishness became too much and I issued an apology for my tone, but not my content.  I trolled on, just with less vitriol.  As the project recovered I began to fight with myself.  My trollish character had sort of developed a mind of its own, even as I began to appreciate bitcoin's innovation and value again.  I developed a sense of obligation to the community to post as Proudhon The Toll because of a community expectation and, in a way, to balance out over-zealousness with the same thing in the other direction.

When I switched gears and began posting bullishly not long after this most recent crash I was playing to the joke that I had become a sort of contrary indicator.  "Playing" the character of a more even-headed optimist made me realize that, well, that's not really a character, because I am actually optimistic about bitcoin, even if cautiously.

This is sort of a good-bye to the speculation forum, though I might stick around and respond here for a little while.  I intend to spend more time discussing bitcoin, and cryptocurrency in general, in political/economic/and philosophical contexts, and so you'll find me posting on bitcointalk.org and other places in areas more suitable for those sorts of discussions.  It's been extremely educational, depressing, exciting, frustrating, and fun around here.  I think I've ultimately learned what I needed to learn from the speculation forum - I'm not a bitcoin trader, I'm an investor and a user.  And yes, my paper wallets are safe and sound.

[1714624600]

1714624600

[1714624600]

1714624600

[BTC Books]

Here's the thing - I really like bitcoin.  Every time I actually use the system, I'm instantly reminded of why I thought this thing was so cool in the first place.  In a way, I've become a victim of my own trolling, just as some of you have suggested.  Here's my story.

I found out about bitcoin in late February/early March 2011.  A few weeks after investigating the idea I decided to start mining.  My decision to mine instead of buy outright was motivated by the fact that I was in the market for a new gaming PC anyway, and so mining was a sort of hedge against the market working against me.  I turned my machine off a few months after the 2011 crash.  I also bought a fair number of bitcoins before May 2011.

I was enthusiastic about bitcoin and new to markets and trading.  The 2011 crash was depressing and it changed me.  This, despite that I was lucky to more than double the number of bitcoins I mined and bought before the crash.  The project began to look like the sort of thing that was being torn apart inside an out.  I became a vicious troll, because, in a perverse way, I wanted to help what seemed like the project's inevitable end.

At some point my awful trollishness became too much and I issued an apology for my tone, but not my content.  I trolled on, just with less vitriol.  As the project recovered I began to fight with myself.  My trollish character had sort of developed a mind of its own, even as I began to appreciate bitcoin's innovation and value again.  I developed a sense of obligation to the community to post as Proudhon The Toll because of a community expectation and, in a way, to balance out over-zealousness with the same thing in the other direction.

When I switched gears and began posting bullishly not long after this most recent crash I was playing to the joke that I had become a sort of contrary indicator.  "Playing" the character of a more even-headed optimist made me realize that, well, that's not really a character, because I am actually optimistic about bitcoin, even if cautiously.

This is sort of a good-bye to the speculation forum, though I might stick around and respond here for a little while.  I intend to spend more time discussing bitcoin, and cryptocurrency in general, in political/economic/and philosophical contexts, and so you'll find me posting on bitcointalk.org and other places in areas more suitable for those sorts of discussions.  It's been extremely educational, depressing, exciting, frustrating, and fun around here.  I think I've ultimately learned what I needed to learn from the speculation forum - I'm not a bitcoin trader, I'm an investor and a user.  And yes, my paper wallets are safe and sound.

Good for you.  Growth.  But growth and wisdom is to be shared, no?  Going away only compounds your loss...

[Rallye]

That takes some real balls to admit something like that.  I applaud and respect you for that.

Cheers!

[proudhon]

Here's the thing - I really like bitcoin.  Every time I actually use the system, I'm instantly reminded of why I thought this thing was so cool in the first place.  In a way, I've become a victim of my own trolling, just as some of you have suggested.  Here's my story.

I found out about bitcoin in late February/early March 2011.  A few weeks after investigating the idea I decided to start mining.  My decision to mine instead of buy outright was motivated by the fact that I was in the market for a new gaming PC anyway, and so mining was a sort of hedge against the market working against me.  I turned my machine off a few months after the 2011 crash.  I also bought a fair number of bitcoins before May 2011.

I was enthusiastic about bitcoin and new to markets and trading.  The 2011 crash was depressing and it changed me.  This, despite that I was lucky to more than double the number of bitcoins I mined and bought before the crash.  The project began to look like the sort of thing that was being torn apart inside an out.  I became a vicious troll, because, in a perverse way, I wanted to help what seemed like the project's inevitable end.

At some point my awful trollishness became too much and I issued an apology for my tone, but not my content.  I trolled on, just with less vitriol.  As the project recovered I began to fight with myself.  My trollish character had sort of developed a mind of its own, even as I began to appreciate bitcoin's innovation and value again.  I developed a sense of obligation to the community to post as Proudhon The Toll because of a community expectation and, in a way, to balance out over-zealousness with the same thing in the other direction.

When I switched gears and began posting bullishly not long after this most recent crash I was playing to the joke that I had become a sort of contrary indicator.  "Playing" the character of a more even-headed optimist made me realize that, well, that's not really a character, because I am actually optimistic about bitcoin, even if cautiously.

This is sort of a good-bye to the speculation forum, though I might stick around and respond here for a little while.  I intend to spend more time discussing bitcoin, and cryptocurrency in general, in political/economic/and philosophical contexts, and so you'll find me posting on bitcointalk.org and other places in areas more suitable for those sorts of discussions.  It's been extremely educational, depressing, exciting, frustrating, and fun around here.  I think I've ultimately learned what I needed to learn from the speculation forum - I'm not a bitcoin trader, I'm an investor and a user.  And yes, my paper wallets are safe and sound.

Good for you.  Growth.  But growth and wisdom is to be shared, no?  Going away only compounds your loss...

I agree.  I'm not going away from bitcoin or bitcointalk, I'm just leaving the trolling game and the speculation forum.

[BIGMERVE]

I always knew you had a bunch of coin invested, otherwise there would be no point in you spending so much time trolling. Who will take over as lead troll on the forum now? It will seem like a piece missing if there's no one there to put us in our place.

[notme]

Dude.... quit giving a fuck about your community persona.  Worry about yourself, and post what you think.  Not what you think we want.

[notme]

I always knew you had a bunch of coin invested, otherwise there would be no point in you spending so much time trolling. Who will take over as lead troll on the forum now? It will seem like a piece missing if there's no one there to put us in our place.

Down with bitcoin!

[calian]

Hmm, I liked perma-bear Proudhon. That way one could alternately join or leave his team as desired. It's funny at about $235 all the stuff you'd been spouting since $20 or less all of a sudden started sounding really sane. Well, single digits for years... not so much.

[dalamchops]

this is bullish news

[BTC Books]

I agree.  I'm not going away from bitcoin or bitcointalk, I'm just leaving the trolling game and the speculation forum.

Actually, the spec Forum can use non-trolling input more than any other...

I'll tell you something, proudhon - our stories with bitcoin are very similar.  I turned on my first miner the last week of March '11 - although you were correct to start buying:  you did so earlier than I.  Eh.  Hindsight.

I'll share my terrible story though...

When I was around twenty Reagan was president.  Interest rates were insane and silver was spiking like a mohawk.  I had some coin silver (I was working a cash register while studying physics):  it was easy to find in change in those days.  But I also made the greatest financial mistake of my life.

For a lousy one thousand dollars, you could buy a CD at a bank, and they guaranteed you to be a millionaire when it matured.  I forget how long that was:  30 years maybe?  I could figure it out, but I hate interest calculations.  It was paying over 17% though - locked in.  And with the contempt of youth for anything that smacked of the staus quo, I passed.  I even had the money...

And yeah - those things change you.  So when bitcoin tanked in June '11 I pretty much just blew it off.  Maybe because that terrible mistake had already changed me as much as anything could; where money was concerned, anyway.  I kept mining (occasionally at a theoretical loss) and well... fuck it, right?  I'd already made up my mind about bitcoin, and I wasn't going to change it just because the shit crashed to damn near nothing for a few months.

Think about it...

[BitcoinAshley]

*Applauds*

Thank you for sharing your story, proudhon; may others learn from it.

Sometimes in the "speculation" subforum it's hard to remember that there's more to P2P cryptocurrency than just... the fiat price of Bitcoin in the present moment and future. A LOT more. I would do myself well to remind myself that, and bulls and bears alike need to learn this lesson many times over  

 

[oakpacific]

A crash is when Bitcoin shows its real strength, you know why a Bitcoin crash has to be so violent? Because the global stock can be moved into an exchange to be sold in a matter of hours. Fiats, on the other hand, takes a long time to arrive. Bitcoin amplifies the panic to sell to an extent that any early adopter who has survived until now probably is not interested in selling at all.

[NamelessOne]

I remember your apology quite well, hehe, I've always felt you were playing your forum character and having fun with it. Amusing to see that was exactly the case! Despite your extreme bearish posts, I will miss your presence, haha. 

[Frozenlock]

But... but... who's gonna be the inspiration around here?!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7TuFy0fcuw

[BTC Books]

But... but... who's gonna be the inspiration around here?!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7TuFy0fcuw

I think evolve can manage that banner:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=39106.msg479353#msg479353

Check the date... 

[Crypt_Current]

Hey guys, the market's getting too big and my trolling efforts are achieving diminishing returns.  Thus, I've decided to move to Canadia and build a wind / solar powered ranch with my awesome bitcoin wealth I've achieved over the past couple years.  I'll be raising Alpacas AND Llamas.  Website where you can buy socks for LTC COMING SOON!  Nirvana rules!
Peace out errbody,
-- Proudhon

[solex]

Nice and honest piece, Proudhon.
I agree that constant focus on the speculation forum can lead to burnout. Perhaps the best thing to do is remember that this is a long-term project, so the short-term fluctuations in the fxrate are not important, just twists and turns in the road to Bitcoin's destination.

[evolve]

[Matthew N. Wright]

I've got you on Skype. You'll never escape.

[Franktank]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?nomobile=1&v=31g0YE61PLQ