Bitcoin needs talent to achieve mass adoption

Bitcoin needs talent for mass adoption. This is something that me, Johns and people near us in the space have been talking about for months. How do we bring more talent over? And what is the most efficient way of bringing talented people over to the space?

This post takes inspiration and points from this recent twitter spaces discussion and gives you my take on the problems addressed in a story Johns recently published called The Bitcoin Takeover: Dealing With a Deficit of Talent and Innovation in Bitcoin. So without further ado, let’s talk about how to get people over into the space, the limitations of bitcoin, and why we need to make these limitations apparent.

Limitations of blockchain and why it matters

This past summer we were sitting in a coffee shop and got into a conversation with someone that wanted to put everything on the blockchain. As silly as this conversation might seem, it inadvertently brought to light a serious problem impeding bitcoin development: the expectations that people have of what bitcoin can and should do.

Why is this such a problem? Talent is scarce and therefore valuable. By not knowing the limitations of what we can use bitcoin technology for, we end up working on fanciful problems or unnecessary technologies, for example, smart contracts, or the comical “everything” on blockchain. Some of these ideas can be useful, but they don’t need to go onto a blockchain. Time spent on the development of such technologies gives rise to the following problems:

• builders waste time and energy going down “shitcoin” roads instead of using this energy for developing bitcoin

• wasted time and the consequent failure is a demotivating factor and takes the builders back to their regular jobs and makes them disbelievers bitcoin

• slows down the overall mass adoption of bitcoin

For builders to avoid these negative pathways, we need to make the limitations clear about what bitcoin and blockchain technology can and should do. Considering the one-dimensionality of a payment transfer and the complexity of reality, we see that blockchain technology is a perfect fit for recording money transfers and nothing else. Therefore, we don’t need blockchain for anything other than as a ledger for payments! Making this clear will not only prevent people from “shitcoin” pathways, but it will also create a more focused development of bitcoin.

How do we attract and keep talent?

We can achieve mass adoption only through education as content. Since bitcoin technology can be daunting, creating accessible and easily digestible content will help inform and welcome people to the space. Namely, content that highlights the possibilities and limitations inherent in bitcoin technology. Media should include:

• guides and other written content, such as blog posts and books

• discussions on podcasts and videos

• building and learning in public to encourage the sharing of knowledge and to motivate talent

Conclusion

Time and energy are precious. Teaching is the safest and most efficient way to use these resources, as it gives a shortcut to students from the errors made in the past, so that the student avoids repeating these same mistakes. Therefore, mass adoption of bitcoin can be achieved by setting out clearly what bitcoin can and can’t do. Talent will then put its efforts into useful tasks, avoid the discouragement of trial and error, and will feel proud in building the original and only cryptocurrency that matters. Through accessible education, we can make the daunting into inspiring and bitcoin into the currency of the world!