My [slight] change of heart about Bitcoin Cash

in #cryptocurrency7 years ago

I am not new to crypto. I am not new to Bitcoin. I am not a "to the moon" meme poster nor am I a lamborghini-driving signal-reading investment genius. I am an average Joe who (thinks he) does thorough research.

I have always been 100% anti Bitcoin Cash for a multitude of technical and non-technical reasons. I don't claim this to have been an entirely-rational opinion, but it was mine nonetheless.

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In March 2018 I stumbled across a twitter profile called @eatBCH with the description as follows, "We are Venezuelans trying our best to help our neighbors in these difficult times. Want to help? bitcoincash:pp8skudq3x5hzw8ew7vzsw8tn4k8wxsqsv0lt0mf3g" this piqued my interest right away. I thumbed past dozens of photographs of impoverished Venezuelans receiving free food that was purchased for them with Bitcoin Cash that was received via donation. My heart felt heavy as I looked at the tarnished clothes they wore and the overwhelming lack of muscle in most of the pictures. What stood out the most is the mood in these guerilla photographs. This was not something that was intentionally conveyed (to my knowledge). What can be seen is human SUFFERING due to failures by government.

For those who may not already know, Venezuela "voted" to adopt Democratic Socialism back in the early 2000s. Ever since the death of Hugo Chavez and the reign of Maduro, we've been witness a downward spiral into full-totalitarianism. Under President Maduro Venezuelans suffer famine, lack of medicine, high unemployment and even higher crime. Political dissidents are silenced, jailed or killed. Peaceful protests regularly turn violent due to fascist policies that favor tear gas and face-clubbing over free speech.

I have spent time in rural Latin America, I have observed first-hand the way citizens suffer under the police state. I have served with missionaries in orphanages for disabled children in Guatemala and as a translator at a camp for special needs kids. I watched a malnourished Dad carry his paraplegic toddler on his shoulders for miles to receive a free wheel chair. The poverty & government corruption in latin american is REAL and the people pay the price.

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While I haven't yet morphed into a BCH investor, I am ready to applaud Bitcoin Cash in assisting with the what I consider to be the mission of all cryptocurrencies, and for that matter almost all blockchain technology, which is to circumvent the state, to advance technology, to decentralize the financial world thereby creating a more level playing field for all.