A weird car ride
I mean how is this an interesting conversation?
*today is just a storytelling edition! No links or anything x Names have been made up.
“Oh wow. Solana is going crazy” he said in the back of the car.
We just met, I presumed that because the profession they are in, it was some athlete’s name. Or they were talking about a mutual friend of theirs even. I realized I was wrong after 10 minutes of this guy just talking nonstop.
“Max, I swear. You should listen to me on this. If the prices drop on December 31st this year - I’m not a professional on this stuff, but I know a ton about this you know. I can go on and on for hours you know but what’s happening with bitcoin is that - .”
And there it was. I’ve entered bitcoin talk with two white older gentlemen. Well I guess it’s more accurate to say that I’m now ease dropping on a conversation.
“Wait so what if I …”
I couldn’t follow what the older gentleman was asking, but I could feel an energy from the bitcoin enthusiast that some grand explainer pitch was about to happen. He took a deep breath and he went off on bitcoin.
“Ok - so bitcoin is …” My brain absolutely froze after this. It’s one of those things: I don’t want to learn. Nothing is sticking onto my brain. Whatever number or words he’s saying are just blobs to me. This happens to me when it comes to taxes too. It’s so terrifying to me to learn it, I tried so many times but my brain resists it. I picked up on keywords like, ethereum, Solana, blockchain, 20 million (?), 20% and nothing more.
“I think I bought bitcoin like four years ago but you are telling me to sell? That Jack Dorcy guy said not to sell for at least 4 years.” This is probably the older gentleman’s first and final question to the guy. He spoke very little the whole ride but seemed to have been listening? It was baffling really. Doesn’t a conversation go both ways? Nope, not in this car. It only went one way, and it seemed like that was fine. Men are absolutely weird.
BE responds ecstatically, (*Bitcoin Enthusiast)
“Holly shit. Max. four years ago? I mean I’m not your financial adviser and I don’t know who your adviser is - but here’s the thing right.” He probably acknowledges the Jack Dorcy comment at some point, but he dismisses it and does his best explaining the grit and fun of bitcoin.
“You will make ridiculous money. I’m telling you. I want you to make crazy money from this.” Hm, does he genuinely want him to be wealthier for his own good? Or does he just want him to make money, so that BE - who is the older gentleman’s manager - can make some money off of him as well?
“So there’s this woman I know through Veronica, her name is Jess. Graduated Penn, went to New York right after. Joined Goldman Sachs and was one of the 20 out of 500 of them who survived it all. She’s only like the age of 24. She’s so smart and young. She’s now on the advisory board for Pikachu coin. (I’ve obviously made this up for anonymity) She used to say, ‘Oh bitcoin is not real, it’s stupid.’ but she’s now working for the institution. She really believes in it.”
No comment or a nod or anything from the older gentleman. Not even a slight, “Yeah.”
For some girl’s description, he really has some good stuff to say about his Jess girl I thought. I’m also wondering, like how do you know this girl who’s 24. You seem like you’re in your 50s. Sure, we can all be friends and nothing weird or shady happens in this day and age I guess :) How do you know this woman? Who is she again? Like what?
“The internet used to be when Jack Dorcy, Jeff Bezos and I don’t know those Google guys - I don’t know their names but that used to be the era when they owned everything.”
Oh? Is this BE talking about Web2.0?! I know this! This is very tech coded and I learned this shit when I used to work in tech. Also why is it that we don’t know who the CEOs of Google are. Finally at Web2.0, I have something I can understand. Phew.
“Now, we are in this era where no one owns anything. Bitcoin is not owned by anyone. Elon Musk doesn’t even own it. He tweets about his dogecoin, you know that dog coin shit or whatever onto X, and people are making so much money. It’s crazy. It’s just so crazy.”
Ah so now we’ve briefly touched on Web3.0 (!!) and multiple mentions of Elon Musk at this point. I can’t help but think - a white man who is of a certain age, talking about finance nonstop… time could only tell when Trump or for better or worse politics talk will enter our conversation.
Oh did I feel good when the conversation swiftly geared to politics the minute BE mentioned,
“You know Biden really tanked us financially.”
Yes! We have entered. BE believes that Trump will put America back on track but still has very little faith that the American debt can be solved. He’s concerned that the dollar doesn’t mean anything anymore, hence bitcoin.
“I can see at my fingertips 24/7, wherever I am in the world, how much money I have earned and lost with bitcoin.” he explains.
“Who opens up a bank account now even? Do you even see the banks open anymore? Most of the time, it’s closed. No one uses cash anymore.” Almost interjected for the first time in 45 minutes (!) that oh honey in Japan, you will.
“You put your money in the bank and nothing changes. If anything, it’s not even 100% safe there anymore. You just leave your money there with no return. Bitcoin? It’s a different ball game.” Hm, BE does have a point.
Still though, after nearly 50 minutes of listening to BE’s pitch on bitcoin, I couldn’t find it interesting. Not even an ounce. Maybe, at some point the investing gods will shine upon me, but not now and not anytime soon.
I felt disassociated from the conversation, not because I couldn't find it interesting, while that’s probably a part of it, but I felt like these people are missing the point of life itself.
Why would you have a conversation that you can have literally - literally anywhere in the world, and that’s the first thing you talk about when you get off of a plane? I couldn't understand it. Maybe it’s an age thing, maybe it’s an emotional intelligence thing - but as it's their first time in Tokyo - I found it contriving. Doesn’t a new city excite you? Doesn’t a new scenery or language fascinate you? Inspire you? Evoke curiosity in you that you can’t help but ask questions or just observe?
It felt like nothing intimidated them - like that’s how they move through life. Authoritative - like they have the right to not learn or observe. It made me squint and smirk. I know so many of these kinds of people in my life. I know their type. They think they have the right not to know.
When you drive from Narita airport into the city, you are on the shutoko, a freeway that once you reach Disneyland territory, you start seeing the beautiful skylines of Tokyo. To the East, it’s the skytree. To the North, there’s the Tokyo tower looming in between the stacked skyscrapers. Somewhere in the North and East maybe, there's the rainbow bridge and Tokyo Bay. I’m always dumbfounded by the scene really. It’s just so glittery and beautiful. To think that from the ground walking through the city, you see tiny little houses from centuries ago sitting in between all these giant buildings. These houses are not forgotten: with vigor and brimming with life, they just exist.
How silly that is. It’s absolutely silly. But then again, that’s Tokyo. Filled with chaotic objects, messiness, frailties, modernness - all of it is tantalizing.
It was a car ride of 55 minutes total, 40 minutes spent on one man enthusiastically explaining bitcoin to another man, 5 minutes on politics, 5 minutes of pleasantries and 5 minutes of silence. What a weird car ride.