Thread by @bquittem

1/ Bitcoin is a social phenomenon with many parallels the mushroom. Bear market blues got you down? Let’s explore Bitcoin hype cycles, Ethnomycology, and the Cult of Satoshi.

Part 2: Mushrooms

medium.com/@BrandonQuitte…

Thread 👇

2/ In my previous article, “Bitcoin is a Decentralized Organism” we explored bitcoin through the lens of mycelium. Decentralized consensus, the network archetype, adapting to environmental stimuli, arbitrage, bitcoin's role in ecology (immune system).

https://twitter.com/bquittem/status/1072864756296486913

3/ Our fungi story is not yet complete. Next stage in fungal life cycle is to produce mushrooms (reproduction organs). After maturation, mushrooms release tiny mushroom seeds (spores) capable of producing new life. This parallels hype cycles in bitcoin.

4a/ When fungi sense favorable conditions (temperature, humidity, etc), it sends up a mushroom above ground. They explode out of the ground doubling in size each day until reaching maturity.

Some fungi produce mushrooms with enough force to break through asphalt.

4b/ Upon maturity, mushrooms crescendo by releasing millions of spores (seeds) before quickly decomposing.

Most spores perish, however a small percentage will form new fungal colonies. New colonies might stay underground for several years before the cycle continues again.

5/ Fungi Fact: Spores are lighter than air which makes travel very easy. Theoretically, spores could catch a draft and leave earth's orbit. Spores are one of the few biological entities capable of surviving the cold vacuum and radiation of space.

Panspermia anyone? 👽🍄🌏

6a/ Bitcoin hype cycles mimic mushroom reproduction. Most of bitcoin’s life appears boring - months go by with little action. Then when conditions are right, bitcoin explodes into life, hijacks consciousness of observers. Price moons, the media mouths hyperbole, normies flood in.

6b/ Like a mushroom passed its prime, eventually bitcoin exuberance decays and price plummets.

Like mushroom spores, most new bitcoiners don’t survive. However a small % form new colonies in bitcoin land. These bear market survivors become new hodlers of last resort.

7/ The bear market narrative is driven by surface level activity (price). Unsurprisingly, bitcoin detractors can’t see the mycelium (big picture) for the mushroom (hype cycle).

h/t @Nic__Carter

8/ Bears rejoice in 2018: Amnesiac pundits proclaim bitcoin dead for 335th time. Fiat maximalists take victory laps. @Nouriel hosts bear market BBQ to roast the proverbial (bitcoin) mushroom while patting each other on the back.

@saifedean offered grilling advice, got "blocked"

9a/ If the bear market blues make you frown, just look "underground."

Bitcoin improvements in 2018:
-LN picking up momentum ⚡️
-SegWit adoption ~40%
-@TheBlock__ sets journalistic standard
-Schnorr signatures being built
-@Blockstream satellites + mesh networks 🛰️

9b/ bitcoin improvements in 2018 cont:

-Running full nodes gets easier @CasaHODL @pierre_rochard @nodl_it
-Passed peak miner centralization (bye @BITMAINtech)
-New metrics emerge (RealCap)
-Better data @nomicsfinance
-New scribblers attempt to describe bitcoin in novel ways

9c/ bitcoin improvements in 2018 cont:

-New devs trained @jimmysong @_JustinMoon_
-Foundations for financialization (Fidelity/Bakkt)
-@TraceMayer “Proof of Keys” stress test, self sovereignty, minimize risk of rehypothecation
-PoW FUD debunked (77% energy from renewable)

10/ Eventually market bottoms. Remaining hodlers cling together like a Band of Brothers. Bitcoin’s float (actively traded supply) decreases, creates foundation for growth.

What happens when supply is decreased/constant + demand 📈 🧐

blog.unchained-capital.com/bitcoin-data-s… via @dhruvbansal

11/ Sometimes people say crypto can be a bit “culty.” This is both true and probably a net positive. Before we get into bitcoin’s religious tendencies, let’s learn from our long history with mushrooms…

12/ The modern western world suffers from “mycophobia” - the irrational fear of fungi. Just like bitcoin, people fear what they do not understand.

Let’s face it: most people think "mushrooms are vegetables.” 🤨

However, it hasn't always been that way...

13/ Humans have had a relationship with 🍄 for a long time. Food, medicine, religious inspiration. Anthropological evidence suggests humans partnered w/ fungi had an evolutionary advantage.

As people understand fungi (and bitcoin), they realize how important they just might be.

14a/ Ancient man relied on mushrooms to survive. Ötzi, the “Iceman,” (died 5,300 years ago), was discovered carrying two mushrooms (Amadou + Birch Polypore) tethered on a leather strap. One 🍄 was used to start fires, other was medicinally active against a parasite in his gut.

14b/ One of our oldest examples of cave paintings was discovered in northern Algeria, estimated to be over 6,000 years old. This painting depicted “bee man” who has mushrooms in his hands and growing out of his body. Clearly our ancestors had mushrooms on the mind.

14c/ The Koryak people (Siberia) revered the “Fly Agaric” 🍄 (Amanita Muscaria). They drink urine of humans/reindeer who recently consumed the mushroom. You can recycle urine in this way up to 5x while achieving desired effects. Wonder how they discovered this phenomenon? 😂

14d/ Have you ever examined the parallels between the Fly Agaric and our Christmas Traditions?

Get out your Mad Hatter “Tin Foil Hat”
inhabitat.com/santa-and-the-…

14e/ Mazatec culture from present day Mexico revered the mushroom as sacred. Gordon Wasson discovered this as detailed in a famous article in the 1955 edition of @LIFE Magazine. Tourists still visit seeking to learn from the famous mushroom shaman (Maria Sabina) and her kin.

15/ Homo Sapiens are uniquely capable of cooperating en masse. Enables us to collectively agree on abstract concepts: nations/gods/money. h/t @harari_yuval

Just as humans form religious cults around the mushroom, one way to describe bitcoin is a neo-money religious movement.

16/ The Cult of Satoshi's anonymous genesis helps breed fanatics who dedicate their lives to promoting the “good word.” Multiple religious sects emerge.

Some cling to the ancient text (whitepaper), others interpret Satoshi’s will via his forum posts.

https://twitter.com/yassineARK/status/1047978606297792513

17/ Bitcoin’s social contract coalesces around a few simple rules. These agreed upon rules become a Schelling point, are then ratified in the bitcoin protocol automating social consensus. h/t @hasufl

Each rival sect (BTC vs BCH) is a competing social contract.

Thread cont. 👇

18/ Disagreements about Bitcoin’s priorities, evidenced by the scaling debates, lead to hard forks and fractured “congregations.” Not unlike Martin Luther fracturing the catholic church by pinning the “Ninety-five Theses” on the church door in 1517.

19/ Messianic figures like "Faketoshi the Fundamentalist" (@ProfFaustus) brand his sacrament as “Satoshi’s Vision,” as laid out in the “bible” (whitepaper). Nevermind the obvious 👇

“Functional details are not covered in the paper, but the sourcecode is coming soon.” 
— Satoshi

20/ Let's say Faketoshi’s fork of a fork WAS closest to Satoshi’s original vision... does it even matter?

No. The essence of bitcoin is intimately tied to the ever evolving social consensus surrounding the protocol. Social consensus has spoken; market doesn't value fork spawn.

21/ Fork spawn failures = prime example of bitcoin resisting corruption from bad actors by requiring social consensus in order to change the network.

Bitcoin replaces social assumptions w/ mathematical assumptions. We'll explore these consequences in part 3 (coming soon).

22/ "Forking bitcoin inflates supply.”

That’s like saying: when Zimbabwe prints more money it devalues the US Dollar. h/t @MustStopMurad

BCash fork spawn copied code (bitcoin protocol) but failed to mobilize the people (social layer) resulting in an asset with minimal value.

23/ Is religious fanatic behavior a good indicator of future success?

We’re witnessing a new commodity being monetized in real time. No living person has has witnessed such a phenomenon. In order to pull this off, we need to change the collective consciousness of the planet.

24/ Convincing people that money isn’t green paper and it doesn’t need to come from governments will take time. In order to overcome this inevitable adversity, it just might take some “religious zeal.” Each new convert increases the chances of hyperbitcoinization.

25/ Money is the ultimate network effect - its value is determined by the number of people you can interact with. In bitcoin, not only does it capture its user’s imagination in a religious sense, but there are also financial incentives to recruit new members into the congregation

26/ Each new user that buys bitcoin, increases the value of bitcoin. This benefits all previous hodlers. Then that new user is incentivized to convert their friends. Who then convert their friends. And the cycle continues.

27/ As price increases, so do incentives to improve security as evidenced by the difficulty adjustment (one of Satoshi’s most brilliant contributions). Price increases → mining more profitable → more miners contribute hash power → better security → bitcoin more valuable.

28/ Cordyceps mushrooms turn insects into zombies. After eating the host insect, it sends a mushroom out it's head that launches spores designed to infect nearby insects. And the cycle repeats.

Parallels new bitcoin converts compelled to spread the good word at the dinner table.

29/ The recent hype cycle (mushroom) has died… however the bitcoin organism (mycelium) is still thriving underground.

With each passing day bitcoin is eating more fiat, becoming more robust, more decentralized, and more Lindy.

#TheFungusIsSpreading

30/ Bitcoin is an inevitable consequence of nature trending towards higher orders of complexity. Trust minimization + immutable foundation enables a more socially scalable society. Join me in Part 3 (coming soon) as we explore "bitcoin as a catalyst for human evolution."

31/ Thanks for reviewing: @danheld @nic__carter Rob Fox

Mentioned: @MustStopMurad @hasufl @pierre_rochard @CasaHODL @CoinSharesCo @PaulStamets @MartyBent @nic__carter @danheld @harari_yuval @ClayCollins @nlw @saifedean @_JustinMoon_ @jimmysong @Blockstream @PaulStamets @joerogan

END/ PS: Many people have asked for resources to learn about fungi. My favorites below. Please share yours!

@PaulStamets on @joerogan:


Stamets @TEDTalks: ted.com/talks/paul_sta…

@Radiolab "From Tree to Shining Tree"
one.npr.org/?sharedMediaId…