Dogecoin is the 4th most searched term on Google in 20211. I don’t blame the people who’ve reached out to me in the last year asking about it. For them, it’s the introduction they needed to start learning about cryptocurrencies. Ironically enough, Dogecoin is the first coin I acquired (through mining it) in 2014. Regardless of where you start your journey, it is important to find the signal through the noise.
It is easy to get caught up in the sensationalization of the latest trend. May that be blockchain, smart contracts, NFTs, or DeFi. There is a difference between jumping on a trend, and understanding the deeper purpose and utility of your investments/actions.
In this letter, I talk about how and why I see bitcoin as a signal and all other cryptocurrencies as noise.
Noises and Signals
It is profitable to distort signals. There is money to be made by confusing, and thus convincing VCs, institutions, and retail investors to invest in the latest sensationalized trend.
Cryptocurrency project owners and stakeholders can make money by capturing more mindshare2. That is, the attention and awareness of consumers. But if the thing they’re selling you is “the next big thing”, or will “make you rich”, then you might be being sold noise, rather than a signal.
What is a Signal?
A signal is something that has utility and purpose. A signal conveys information. May that be instructions, or knowledge that has the ability to benefit the listener. A signal is broadcasted consistently, and with intention.
What is the Signal of Bitcoin?
Bitcoin conveys a very specific message. People that choose to run bitcoin, buy bitcoin, save in bitcoin, talk about bitcoin, or spend bitcoin all are more or less aligned in spreading this signal. It is the idea that the world should have a consistent, predictable, transparent, tamper-proof, egalitarian, leaderless MONEY. This is the signal, and everything else that doesn’t fit this description is noise.
What is Noise?
Noise — Irregular fluctuations that accompany a transmitted electrical signal but are not part of it and tend to obscure it.
This is exactly why I advocate for thinking about bitcoin in a separate vein than all other cryptocurrencies. As far as I can tell, bitcoin is the only thing in the world that fits the particular signal I described above.
Begrudgingly, I have to admit that all other cryptocurrencies are doing a good job of obscuring the signal emitted by bitcoin. So much so that they have formed a potent distraction from the purpose embedded within bitcoin.
Noise - unnecessary information or activity
I find the following image useful to illustrate the difference between a signal and noise. Like I stated previously, a signal is predictable, and relays actionable, meaningful information. Noise is communicated alongside the signal in order to obscure or distort it.
The stronger the noise, the more difficult it is to restore and distinguish the underlying signal. Whoever is paying attention to the message may misinterpret and confuse the noise for being a part of the signal.
Cryptocurrencies are Noise
I’m not saying that cryptocurrencies don’t have value. There is a time and place for cryptocurrencies. But we mustn’t confuse cryptocurrencies as being aligned with the signal or purpose that is being communicated by bitcoin.
Cryptocurrency projects are trying to make people rich, or create virtual real estate, or sell jpegs of apes and cats. These projects often make use of coordinated, well funded marketing campaigns that bring the words metaverse, dogecoin, NFT, smart contract, and DeFi into the social zeitgeist in an effort to capture mindshare.
Regardless of the intention of these projects, they distract from the signal.
Bitcoin is the Signal
During the Dogecoin craze in February, Shiba Inu’s rise in April, the NFT explosion in the summer months, and the growth of DeFi throughout, Bitcoin has been broadcasting an unwavering signal.
Bitcoin is trying to rewrite the financial operating system on which the world runs. It is giving equal financial opportunity to every inhabitant of earth. Bitcoin is completely removing the ability to tamper, or intervene in the supply of the thing the world calls money.
It is redefining money itself to be analogous and representative of time. That is, finite, valuable, and out of the control of individual entities or actors. I will go so far as to say that the undertaking being pursued by bitcoiners all over the world is noble, and righteous. It is such because the underlying utility and purpose of bitcoin is devoid of greed, or coercion.
Amplify the Signal
We have a moral duty to amplify the signal of Bitcoin. Run a node. Buy Bitcoin. Save in Bitcoin. Talk about it. Educate on it. I believe one of the most important teachings you can give to newcomers is that bitcoin is different, and distinct from the rest of the cryptocurrencies.
Whether or not you should invest in cryptocurrencies, and whether or not you should invest in bitcoin, are two totally different conversations. Buying bitcoin is not necessarily a monetary or financial investment. It is an investment in the financial wellbeing of all future generations of the people of the earth.
As Michael Saylor puts it, “Bitcoin is a Cathedral in Hyperspace”. It is a shared goal that we can all work towards, regardless of your ethnicity, culture, historical background, social status, or financial wellbeing. This is why I choose to separate the signal of bitcoin, from the noise of cryptocurrency.
I’ve been loving the amount of feedback and emails I’ve gotten from you, my reader lately. By taking an extra 60 seconds after reading my pieces to respond to me, you’re giving me the fuel I need to write my next article. Some of you are critical of my writing, and others commend it. I need, and welcome both!
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Regards,
Keegan
I love this piece. Makes a lot of sense thank you. I am a newbie and a small investor currently. I believe I am about 60/40 bitcoin/crypto. But hearing your story about being 95% and hodl is very inspiring. I absolutely try to put what I can into bitcoin. Currently only have it on Cashapp. Can you recommend a wallet? I am in the U.S. thank you very much.