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2024-12-05 01:08:38Well, this is not what I intended to write about this morning but I feel obligated to do so. I was supposed to talk about Trump becoming the new King of Canada. Haha. Just kidding. Kinda. Getting into bitcoin is a very unique experience. It is totally voluntary and you are forced to build your own web of trust. It is a very scary and lonely feeling off the start. When I first got into the crypto space, I was desperately trying to find someone I could trust. I knew there were a lot of bad actors out there and they can be hard to detect. When I started listening to bitcoiners speak, everything changed. It was a much different feeling. It seemed like they were in it for the people and a revolution, not just their bank balance. It turns out I was onto something. I still feel the exact same way about bitcoiners. But there are definitely some exceptions. And even if their intentions aren't bad, the way they are conducting business is. I started my YouTube channel out of necessity. I never had any plans to be a guy with a daily show on YouTube. But I received 3-4 calls in a matter of weeks from people who got scammed. They lost tens of thousands of their life savings to faceless scum with a well designed website. I wanted to get ahead of this and be a trusted voice in the space. This blog post is coming from the same place. Over the last few weeks I have talked to several people who have been burned. And although they didn't get "scammed" they did lose a lot of their bitcoin. One person spent $3,500 USD (paid in bitcoin) to get help setting up a Coldcard and running a node. A portion of that was meant to be for collaborative custody through this company, but they ended the program a month later. And never refunded his payment. Just like the recent Swan debacle, he got "credits" for future advisory services. Another guy is so dissatisfied that he made it his personal mission to let everyone know how badly he was ripped off. Which is how I ended up talking to him. Again, I do not think their intentions are bad. I always give people the benefit of the doubt before I have any hard evidence suggesting otherwise. And when I opened up my email this morning, there was yet another person who spent a lot of their bitcoin with a sour taste in their mouth and without a clear path forward. This is not the bitcoin way. We are very early and most bitcoin companies that exist today will not be around in a decade from now. It is not easy to be the first to walk through the door. But I feel it is my duty as a bitcoiner to call this out. Keep in mind I do not have any personal experience dealing with this company. But this information was first-hand from some very disappointed bitcoiners. I do understand that shit happens. But when shit happens you fix it. Or you refund the sats. Imagine being charged 4 million sats to help set up a Coldcard and run a bitcoin node. That's not the bitcoin way. So if you are a bitcoiner - new or seasoned - looking to protect your stack... Do some research. Do not blindly trust a company just because they have bitcoin in their name and pay a bunch of YouTube channels to promote them. Join a few online bitcoin communities and ask others for recommendations. Most bitcoiners are more than willing to help or share their experience. There are so many great and very knowledgeable people in this space. You just have to put in the work to find them. --- PROJECT POTENTIAL - You can now find the expanded audio versions of these on the new podcast - Project Potential! I will be sharing the video versions here for the LITF members but you can also find it for free on Spotify and of course Fountain! Here is the link to Episode 005 on Fountain: https://fountain.fm/episode/r00ZDxpAdfb7QIQT3TKa --- Have a great day everyone! And remember, the only thing more scarce than bitcoin is time! Jor