The Bitcoin Bear Market Diaries are a series of interviews featuring various important voices and perspectives in the Bitcoin ecosystem. Each interviewee was carefully selected and asked the same group of questions. The main goal was to provide the world with a collection of commentary and opinions on the state of the current Bitcoin and crypto market. Some of the names you will recognize while others don’t wish for the limelight but have great insight and experience we all can learn from. These interviews are raw and unfiltered with no agenda other than giving each individual their opportunity to speak their mind. If you like what you see, please share with your friends. If something offends you, you should probably X out and find another crypto fluff piece that gives you warm fuzzies. Blake Anderson is an MIT educated cryptographic economist and information/computer scientist who has been into Bitcoin longer than most. Blake’s experience and perspective is something we call can learn from. Name Blake Anderson Country USA How do people know you? I was active early on before ditching my pseudonym for my real name. I’ve spoken at several conferences, written articles and appeared on various shows including appearing regularly on the World Crypto Network for about 5 years. How long have you been into Bitcoin? Not something I talk about. Best Bitcoin experience? Using profits to have another child Worst Bitcoin experience? Getting scammed by Butterfly Labs. What do you think is Bitcoin’s biggest threat? Currently there is a risk of too many people ignoring psudoanonimmity best practices making strong privacy harder for those who wish to preserve the option. What are your thoughts on the various Bitcoin forks? I wish people who forked off would leave the community they forked away from alone and focus on their own work. What are you optimistic about in this space? That we have made such amazing strides towards giving people the ability to protect and transact the fruits of their labor. Biggest regret during the last bull market? Not talking to my mother enough which caused her to large fomo buy at the top instead of sticking to a dollar cost averaging strategy. What have you learned during the current bear market? Every bear market reinforces for me that during down times is where important work takes place and when things get done. What is the biggest fail you have seen during the bear market? Kevin Pham What do you think helped trigger the current bear market? Market conditions. What kind of damage do you think latest price drop has done to buyer sentiment? Not any of a long term kind which would persist through future uptrends. How do you feel about the current state and future of lightning network? I think it’s a fantastic project and an interesting way to tie micropayments into the robust security offerings of Bitcoin. What are your thoughts on HODLing Bitcoin? Holding Bitcoin over long horizons is a very good idea for personal gain and for the benefit of mankind. What are your thoughts on alt-coins? Digital storage of value inflation aimed at fleecing low information pigs. Do you hold any? If not, why? No. I don’t think it’s a good idea to inflate digital storage of value without a strong value proposition which doesn’t exist for many of these “projects” trying to use a “blockchain” as a sub-par database. What kind of impact do you think the radical drop in alt-coins will have on their future? Coins which have radical drops, from which they do not recover, will sour a certain calibur investor on speculation without utility. Thoughts on the notion of bitcoinization? Bitcoin and digital storage of value, metered by mathematical scarcity, will usher in an era of competition in mediums of exchange which have been pushed off by wasteful central planning for far too long. What Bitcoin startups are you excited about? I’m a fan of node projects and startups. What “crypto influencers” do you think get it wrong and why? I think anyone pushing Bitcoin should learn everything there is to know about rights versus duties and should be able to argue the superiority of existentialism in all real situations before presuming they can assist with endeavors engaged in by cypher punks. What “crypto influencer” do you think get it right and why? Janine is a real journalist who will dig for the truth and works hard to get it out when her findings are important. She is not self important and doesn’t endlessly seek attention. She doesn’t blow things out of proportion allowing her to sound the alarm effectively when the community is at risk. @J9Roem What’s it going to take for this bear market to turn around? Cycles are a part of markets and as we continue towards the halvening demand for Bitcoin will increase. How bullish are you on Bitcoin despite this recent pullback? I’m just as bullish on Bitcoin as I was when it was worthless. Any tips you want to give to people new to Bitcoin? Find out why Bitcoin is valuable and create an investment thesis including dollar cost averaging and long horizons. Avoid day trading and technical analysis lest you be eaten alive by bots, whales and Judas candles. Best tips for storing Bitcoin? Multi signature cold storage. Name some of your favorite information sources and/or podcasts in the space. Block Digest Any last words of wisdom? The task of modern man, in the age of information, is to philosophically understand rights and ethics. We teach reason to machines and software relative to understanding what is right and just and the importance of these endeavors must not be understated. Stay tuned for the next Bear Market Bitcoin Diaries. You can find more volumes and articles here!
