In poker, you need to know when to stay in a hand, and when it’s time to cut your losses. Put another way, it’s about figuring out whether you’ve still got outs, or if you’re drawing dead.
We all make these kinds of calculations regularly, whether we realize it or not. It might be about a job, a relationship, a business decision, or even a literal poker hand.
A few months ago, I wrote about whether it was time to panic regarding the price of XEC. I was cautiously optimistic then, but I also noted that maybe that wasn’t a good sign. Here’s what I wrote: “This may not be a good thing since it’s usually only after I feel total despair that we reach the bottom, but perhaps this time it’s different?”
It wasn’t different. Things got worse.
So now the question is, have I reached that place of total despair? It’s hard to say. But I do know I’m feeling less optimistic than I was back in February.
After eight years of being deeply committed to the idea of peer-to-peer electronic cash, I find myself wondering if I’ve been chasing a dream. What if people just don’t care about P2P digital cash the way I hoped they would? We’re all different. We all have different interests, goals, and values. Who’s to say mine are any more valid than anyone else’s?
It’s especially difficult seeing Bitcoin soar past $100K while eCash continues to struggle near all-time lows. It makes me wonder, what if I’d gone all in on the idea of digital gold instead of digital cash? I might be retired by now.
Likewise, what if I’d focused all that energy into my actual day job instead of writing and advocating for eCash? Would I be further ahead in my career?
While it’s hard not to dwell on these “what if” scenarios, I also have to ask: are those imagined outcomes what I really want? After seeing footage from the Bitcoin Conference currently happening in Vegas, I’m not so sure. While it would certainly be nice to have more money, would I feel fulfilled?
So what do I really want? What would I consider enough?
Even today, I could liquidate everything and use it as a down payment on a modest home. I’m fortunate to have a family I love and a steady job that covers the bills. Shouldn’t that be enough?
Maybe. But the truth is, everyone’s “enough” is different. Some people are happy spending their days surfing on some beach and hanging out with friends. Others aspire to be the next Steve Jobs or Elon Musk. So what’s my enough?
It’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but I’ve never really thought about it until now. It’s a difficult question, because often, you won’t know the answer until you’ve actually achieved your goal. But if I had to say today, for me, “enough” comes down to one word: freedom.
Yesterday, I watched Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road who was recently pardoned by President Trump, give a talk at the aforementioned Bitcoin 2025 Conference. In his speech, he emphasized that not only is freedom worth the struggle, but also reminded us that it isn’t binary.
I bring this up because I agree with him. It’s easy to lose sight of how important our freedoms really are, and how easily they can be taken away. Freedom doesn’t just mean living outside the walls of a prison. Nor does it simply mean having enough money to avoid working every day like most of us do. For me, freedom also means being able to build without constantly battling bureaucracy. It means not being forced to fund a dysfunctional (and sometimes outright harmful) government. And perhaps most importantly, it also means ensuring that kind of freedom for future generations.
Looking back, I feel incredibly lucky to have grown up when I did. I was fortunate to live in California at a time when government wasn’t totally broken. When you could feel safe and free, whether you were in Beverly Hills, or just a few blocks from Compton, which is where I lived for most of my childhood.
I was raised in a time when the economy made it possible for a single mother who barely spoke English, had never worked a day in her life, and had lost her husband less than four years after immigrating, to get enough government assistance and find work to raise two young boys on her own.
Despite our disadvantages, I grew up well-fed and only hungry for success. I got to experience getting my first car, attending a four-year university, and landing my first job in San Francisco at a time when the world felt full of possibility. I got to enjoy the benefits of a modern, relatively free society without many of the downsides we’re seeing today, and I attribute that to the advantages of a free market economy.
What I want more than anything is for my sons to experience at least as much freedom as I did, if not more. But I worry that such a future is under threat.
Maybe I sound like a doomer. Maybe I worry too much. But I’ve seen the changes firsthand. I lived in San Francisco when it was vibrant, full of promise and energy, a place for dreamers and builders. But now, when I see footage of what Market Street has become, with shuttered stores and addicts slumped over in the empty streets, it breaks my heart.
I blame San Francisco’s downfall on bad policies that limit the freedom of its citizens while expanding it for criminals. And if it can happen to San Francisco, I have to believe it can happen anywhere.
So here I am, still holding my XEC, still believing that the promise of P2P electronic cash is a key to expanding economic freedom around the world. Maybe you think I’m chasing a fantasy, that we’ll never have money independent of the state. Maybe you think I’m drawing dead and should cut my losses.
The way I see it, I’m pot committed, in what may be the biggest hand I’ve ever played, but as long as Bitcoin ABC is shipping code, and the builders are still building, I believe I’ve still got a few outs left.
Great content!
May everybody, all people use eCash ASAP.
I remember when BTC was under $200, maybe even closer to $20. Back then, you could mine with a CPU. I joined some of the early mining forums and knew Bitcoin was going to be huge. But I was young, both mentally and financially. I didn’t have an income, didn’t know how to buy BTC, and lacked the discipline to hold onto what I mined. I’d sell for a few bucks here and there, then immediately regret it. I’d tell myself to HODL, but I never took my own advice. When it eventually hit $60,000, the regret was intense. But over time, I realized that if I had become rich with the mindset I had back then, it probably would’ve ruined me. I wasn’t ready. I would’ve become drunk on the money, careless, and lost. Missing out might’ve been a blessing in disguise. It forced me to grow. I’m still on that path, trying to become someone who can handle success without it handling me. That’s part of why I still believe in eCash. If it ever takes off, I feel I’d be in a much better, more grounded place to manage it. That said, it is discouraging with so many digital currencies and tokens popping up left and right. How does the world even function with this many? Imagine walking into a store and asking, “Do you take Bonk? No? How about Pudgy Penguins?” It’s getting out of hand. That’s part of what holds me back from buying more. BTC made it to the top because it had the advantage of being first. These days, a new e-currency needs more than just code. It needs presence. Charisma. Real utility. And a voice behind it, someone influential who can promote it with conviction. Without that, it just sits idle and forgotten. Maybe one day the holder of that mystery wallet will surprise us and step into that role. Maybe that’s what eCash needs. As for me, I want to invest more, but I can’t. I’m living off savings, disabled, and doing my best to get on my feet. If I had the means, I’d stock up, but right now I just have to hold what I’ve got and hope exposure grows. Thank you for the post and for the faucet gift.
Thank you for sharing. I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who thinks this way. By any chance is DDragon a reference to One Piece? 😉
Very apt words, ‘the truth is, everyone’s “enough” is different’.