Hey guys. It has been a very long while since I was last here. It feels like it was almost a lifetime ago. Much has happened in my personal life and in the world of Bitcoin. It pleases me greatly that Bitcoin has appreciated in value to the point where it is now considered viable.
Where do I begin?
The last time I was on this forum, my original username was Atlas. Yes, THAT Atlas. I also had a autobiographical book commissioned "King of Bitcoin". Allow me to explain my actions and mindset at that point in time of my life.
I first discovered Bitcoin in early 2010 being mentioned and discussed on 4chan. From there, I downloaded both the client and the mining software and started "mining" Bitcoins. I did it at the time because I honestly believed in the viability of Bitcoin as a concept. I also realized that in order for Bitcoin to prosper, Bitcoin needed both exposure and hype in traditional media (newspapers, magazines, radio and television) in addition to online media.
Online media I had covered down pat, I posted on Reddit, managed to get a sub-reddit created and was for a short period was the administrator before handing the keys to Theymos. I also posted extensively on here and on other online forums and social media. Noticing that the forums at Somethingawful.com were denigrating Bitcoin both as a concept, its viability as a medium of exchange and its value, I quickly sprung to its defense. I and other associates recruited from here, 4chan and real life sprung to its defense.
I also cut some deals and recruited people from the above-mentioned places to spam online and commissioned a script to pay people who mentioned Bitcoin on 4chan, reddit and other social media sites.
Having hype and exposure in media is only positive for Bitcoin if the hype and exposure is positive. Because Bitcoin was a completely new concept, any negative hype and exposure would be extremely crippling to its ability to gain acceptance to the general public at large. At the time, Bitcoin already had a negative stigma attached to it as a "medium of exchange" for criminals. The unfortunate thing is that once a negative stigma becomes attached to something, it tends to stick. I feel that Bitcoin still is regarded suspiciously by the general public because of this.
The unfortunate thing is, that because I was bringing hype and exposure to Bitcoin both online and offline, I was attracting negative attention to myself both online and offline. Online, I was targeted by somethingawful.com for ridicule and harassment. Offline, the "friends" I made were just my friends because I was being extremely generous with my money. The result of this was that two of my bitcoin wallets were stolen. Additionally, I was beaten up and robbed and my girlfriend at the time was sexually assaulted.
As for bitcointalk, I was also cheated out of mybitcoins because I foolishly trusted some of the people here. I am not bitter. I matured and learned many things from all these experiences:
- Don't respond to harassment online or offline
- You cannot trust anyone regarding money
- People get jealous over financial success
- People (including women) only want to be with you because you have money
- It is better to remain anonymous then to seek attention
I already proved my point. They made fun of us claiming Bitcoin was a pie in the sky dream. I can now think to myself "Yes, at one point Bitcoin had greater value then a troy oz of gold". My suggestion to all of you here is to remain anonymous otherwise you too may suffer the same problems I did.
As a side note, I am no longer posting on any internet sites or social media (I read, but I do not interact). Anyone claiming to be me is an impersonator.
Kind Regards,
Atlas / HBOne / LoveLess / SelfCtrl
Some of those things can be changed such as
-It is better to seek attention once you have a shit ton of money
- You can trust your wife etc
- Respond to harassment only if you're 100% sure that your identity is unknown online, like all those youtube/cod players who bash others.
