Inspiration strikes in the most unusual of places. Even in Reddit. And yes, even in Ethtrader where I happened across this cross-posted tweet: “OH — if Crypto is pop culture; Chamapesa (which marries Kenyan tradition with modern tech to create a new type identity) is Bob Marley and the Wailers.”
Now normally I consider anything in Ethtrader with the highest level of suspicion, but having just watched Ready Player One, a virtual reality world dominated by pop culture references from the 1980’s where players ‘earn coin’…. new synaptic pathways were created in my mind linking crypto, pop culture and VR. But then maybe these pathways weren’t exactly that new.
Having keenly followed Bitcoin for many years I’ve often found myself comparing the crypto-scene with the music scene of my younger years. Whether that’s punk (even though my Mum wouldn’t let me have a pink mohawk when I was 9) to the rave/club culture of the late 80’s early 90’s in which I, ahem… most definitely partook. Crypto has similar sensibilities and memes, think… lambo, think… drugs, think for yourself and fuck-the-system.
Then there’s the tribalism, Mods vs Rockers, Teddy Boys vs Skinheads, Emos vs Daylight. Is this really so different from Bitcoin vs Ethereum or even big blockers vs small? Well maybe apart from the comeback tour… nobody wants to see a Crypto King Pin reduced to a speaking tour because they lost their private keys — SO BACK DAT SHIT UP
Crypto is the new Rock n Roll. There, I said it. If you don’t believe me go and watch Ready Player One and keep your eyes peeled, I even noticed a newspaper article on-screen promoting ‘OasisCoin’. This is happening!
I’d like to go back and explore how we got here. You see, once the ‘satoshi-had-dropped’ and I slipped down the crypto rabbit hole, I kept being drawn to the central mystery of Bitcoin — Who is Satoshi? This tapped into my inner fan, and this time I didn’t need a pink mohawk.
Satoshi has created one of the most important inventions of the past 100 years. This is not merely a global superstar known for singing, dancing or acting, all of which help us escape briefly from the banality of life but doesn’t satisfy deeper needs to be truly free. What Satoshi had done, was something new! A new idea in the world. As I trotted out the classic newbie moves — trying to convince everyone in the world that the future of money was here, the disbelief that met was astonishing — nobody seemed to have any vision. By pure chance I happened to catch a rockumentary on the BBC in which a young Paul McCartney (circa 1963) was asked how long he thought The Beatles and his pop career could last — he said he couldn’t see himself playing ‘From Me To You’ when he was an old man of 40. He even laughed like that could NEVER happen.
Well, as it turned out Sir Paul was in the charts with Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder in the year he turned 40, and he would be on stage singing his Beatle hits to the Queen when he was 70.
So even those at the centre of a new phenomenon have no idea how big it can grow, nor how quickly it can get absorbed into the mainstream. Nobody dancing in fields to rave music in the late 80’s would have dreamt that the BBC would use a dance track as an intro to their flagship news channel. To be honest, we barely knew how to get out of the field.
The List
Bitcoin was the first global superstar of Crypto, therefore Bitcoin is Elvis. But just like Elvis, Bitcoin originated by standing on the shoulders of giants.
The Godfather, the OG…. The Originator…. In 1983 eCash (later named DigiCash) is born to a proud father, David Chaum. Chaum is the crypto Chuck Berry… c’mon, Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” is the only rock-and-roll song included on the Voyager Golden Record. I would also argue that they were both particular pioneers… Chaum brought high grade encryption to the masses whereas Berry was breaking down racial prejudices
Next and equally unequivocal in my belief is E-Gold (Douglas Jackson/Barry Downey 1996) — This is Jerry Lee Lewis (1954), both had early success and showed huge potential before getting into problems with the authorities.
Hashcash — (Adam Back 1997) — Carl Perkins (1954/5)… Everyone recorded Perkins material, most famously Elvis with Blue Suede Shoes, so with the Proof of Work algorithm at its heart I’m going with the rockabilly king.
B-Money (Wei Dai 1998) — Bo Diddley (1954/5) — I don’t know much about B-Money and I don’t know much about Bo Diddley so the association seemed obvious to me ;)
Bit Gold — (Nick Szabo 2005) — Johnny Cash (1955) — This association is based more on character, I dont think I’ve ever seen Szabo being light hearted, surely he’s crypto’s ‘man in black’… I think I can almost hear Johnny singing “…and don’t trust third parties”
Bitcoin (satoshi nakamoto 2009) — Elvis (1956)…. Duhhh!
Ethereum (vitalik Buterin et al 2015) — The Beatles (1962) — hell it’s almost exactly the same amount of time between them, and my logic is simple. Bitcoin does one thing really well, like Elvis, who sang really well. Then along came The Beatles, who like Elvis could sing really well but could also write and play their own instruments, which I think of as being like ‘Turing Complete’. Also, with recent public appearances Vitalik seems to be back to fighting the war for peace.
Other Notables
Tim May, Cypherpunk spiritual leader who penned the manifesto.
…is Robert Johnson, the musician who went down to the crossroads and sold his soul to the devil, thus beginning a movement of young people who didn’t care what it took or the price being paid for their music ability and fame.
Ian Grigg: ricardian contracts, triple entry, e-gold, r3, eos, Chamapesa [and therefore the inspiration for this article]… is Eric Clapton. Started off with different bands, always growing his musical reputation and ended up knocking it out of the park, also hung out with bad company.
Joe Luben has to be Berry Gordy as ConsenSys are the Motown of Crypto.
So what about your current favourite project? Where does it sit in pop’s great lexicon… Is EOS The Rolling Stones? Monero, The Who? But don’t forget, as far as the crypto space is concerned, we’re still in the Sixties when it comes to western pop music, so no cheating and claiming that zCash is Punk ;)
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