Today was a normal day. I saw that some of my domain names were about to expire, so I went on Namecheap, clicked “Top-up funds”, and within a few minutes had transferred enough dogecoin to pay for my domain renewals. It always makes me smile when I see the burst of colourful phrases in Comic Sans fly across the screen telling me that my payment went through.
What, not everyone pays for domain names with dogecoin? OK, maybe I am weird after all.
Cryptocurrency has been on my radar for a long time, but I have struggled to make sense of it. I don’t mean that I don’t understand what the blockchain, decentralisation, etc. are—I mean, what is the point of cryptocurrency? Ostensibly its purpose is to buy things—at least that’s usually what currency is for. But the flagship cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, seems to have turned into a sort of digital gold—people buy it and then just sit on it, their only intention wrapped in a hope that it will one day grow in value so they can cash it out. Search for YouTube videos on crypto, and most of what you find are tips for “investing” in it, which in reality is speculation, since no one knows what the future holds for all these coins. And all the coins! It seems like everyone and their (Shiba Inu) dog is creating a new cryptocurrency, and to what purpose? To facilitate the exchange of goods and services? I don’t think so—they’re just hoping to get people to jump on their bandwagon to make their coin’s value go up.
Now please don’t misunderstand me—I am actually a fan of cryptocurrency. When I got married last year I bought 0.2 bitcents as a wedding present to myself and my wife, and I plan to hang onto it for the time being and see what it does. At the moment it’s lost a bit of value, but maybe it will grow by the time we reach our 50th anniversary.
Around the same time, I also bought $90 USD worth of dogecoins (1,400 at the time). Dogecoin caught my attention because it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and at the time I thought it looked promising to become an actual currency for everyday purchases. (Update: People have treated it just like all the others, hoping it will go to the moon!)
Fast-forward to 2022. I have not sat on my dogecoins, rather, I have been regularly spending them on one thing—domain name renewals. Whether it was up or down, whenever my domain names came up for renewal, I spent a bit of my dogecoin treasure on them. In total I have renewed 13 domain names with my $90 of dogecoin, which would have cost $187 if I had paid for them in fiat currency. Of course, that was over the span of 2021 during which dogecoin really took off before coming back down again, but I’d say it worked out quite well for me. And I still have 60 dogecoins left before I stock up on some more!
So what’s the point here? I don’t know. I think cryptocurrency is interesting, but because of its volatility I wouldn’t advise anyone to spend more on it than they can afford to lose. My hope for crypto is that it will really become a common medium of exchange, and not just something people try to make money off of by hoarding it. But we shall see.
𐑑𐑵𐑛𐑱 𐑢𐑪𐑟 𐑩 𐑯𐑹𐑥𐑩𐑤 𐑛𐑱. 𐑲 𐑕𐑷 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑕𐑳𐑥 𐑝 𐑥𐑲 𐑛𐑴𐑥𐑱𐑯 𐑯𐑱𐑥𐑟 𐑢𐑻 𐑩𐑚𐑬𐑑 𐑑 𐑦𐑒𐑕𐑐𐑲𐑼, 𐑕𐑴 𐑲 𐑢𐑧𐑯𐑑 𐑪𐑯 ·𐑯𐑱𐑥𐑗𐑰𐑐, 𐑒𐑤𐑦𐑒𐑑 “𐑑𐑪𐑐-𐑳𐑐 𐑓𐑳𐑯𐑛𐑟”, 𐑯 𐑢𐑦𐑔𐑦𐑯 𐑩 𐑓𐑿 𐑥𐑦𐑯𐑦𐑑𐑕 𐑣𐑨𐑛 ·𐑑𐑮𐑨𐑯𐑟𐑓𐑼𐑛 𐑦𐑯𐑳𐑓 𐑛𐑴𐑡𐑒𐑶𐑯 𐑑 𐑐𐑱 𐑓 𐑥𐑲 𐑛𐑴𐑥𐑱𐑯 𐑮𐑦𐑯𐑿𐑩𐑤𐑟. 𐑦𐑑 𐑷𐑤𐑢𐑱𐑟 𐑥𐑱𐑒𐑕 𐑥𐑰 𐑕𐑥𐑲𐑤 𐑢𐑧𐑯 𐑲 𐑕𐑰 𐑞 𐑚𐑻𐑕𐑑 𐑝 𐑒𐑳𐑤𐑼𐑓𐑩𐑤 𐑓𐑮𐑱𐑟𐑩𐑟 𐑦𐑯 ·𐑒𐑪𐑥𐑦𐑒 𐑕𐑨𐑯𐑟 𐑓𐑤𐑲 𐑩𐑒𐑮𐑪𐑕 𐑞 𐑕𐑒𐑮𐑰𐑯 𐑑𐑧𐑤𐑦𐑙 𐑥𐑰 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑥𐑲 𐑐𐑱𐑥𐑩𐑯𐑑 𐑢𐑧𐑯𐑑 𐑔𐑮𐑵.
𐑢𐑪𐑑, 𐑯𐑪𐑑 𐑧𐑝𐑼𐑦𐑢𐑳𐑯 𐑐𐑱𐑟 𐑓 𐑛𐑴𐑥𐑱𐑯 𐑯𐑱𐑥𐑟 𐑢𐑦𐑔 ·𐑛𐑴𐑡𐑒𐑶𐑯? 𐑴𐑒𐑱, 𐑥𐑱𐑚𐑦 𐑲 𐑨𐑥 𐑢𐑽𐑛 𐑨𐑓𐑑𐑼 𐑷𐑤.
𐑒𐑮𐑦𐑐𐑑𐑴𐑒𐑻𐑩𐑯𐑕𐑦 𐑣𐑨𐑟 𐑚𐑦𐑯 𐑪𐑯 𐑥𐑲 𐑮𐑱𐑛𐑸 𐑓 𐑩 𐑤𐑪𐑙 𐑑𐑲𐑥, 𐑚𐑳𐑑 𐑲 𐑣𐑨𐑝 𐑕𐑑𐑮𐑳𐑜𐑩𐑤𐑛 𐑑 𐑥𐑱𐑒 𐑕𐑧𐑯𐑕 𐑝 𐑦𐑑. 𐑲 𐑛𐑴𐑯𐑑 𐑥𐑰𐑯 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑲 𐑛𐑴𐑯𐑑 𐑳𐑯𐑛𐑼𐑕𐑑𐑨𐑯𐑛 𐑢𐑪𐑑 𐑞 𐑚𐑤𐑪𐑒𐑗𐑱𐑯, 𐑛𐑰𐑕𐑧𐑯𐑑𐑮𐑩𐑤𐑦𐑟𐑱𐑖𐑩𐑯, 𐑯𐑯𐑯 𐑸—𐑲 𐑥𐑰𐑯, 𐑢𐑪𐑑 𐑦𐑟 𐑞 𐑐𐑶𐑯𐑑 𐑝 𐑒𐑮𐑦𐑐𐑑𐑴𐑒𐑻𐑩𐑯𐑕𐑦? 𐑪𐑕𐑑𐑧𐑯𐑕𐑦𐑚𐑤𐑦 𐑦𐑑𐑕 𐑐𐑻𐑐𐑩𐑕 𐑦𐑟 𐑑 𐑚𐑲 𐑔𐑦𐑙𐑟—𐑨𐑑 𐑤𐑰𐑕𐑑 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑦𐑟 𐑿𐑠𐑫𐑩𐑤𐑦 𐑢𐑪𐑑 𐑒𐑳𐑮𐑩𐑯𐑕𐑦 𐑦𐑟 𐑓. 𐑚𐑳𐑑 𐑞 𐑓𐑤𐑨𐑜𐑖𐑦𐑐 𐑒𐑮𐑦𐑐𐑑𐑴𐑒𐑻𐑩𐑯𐑕𐑦, ·𐑚𐑦𐑑𐑒𐑶𐑯, 𐑕𐑰𐑥𐑟 𐑑 𐑣𐑨𐑝 𐑑𐑻𐑯𐑛 𐑦𐑯𐑑𐑵 𐑩 𐑕𐑹𐑑 𐑝 𐑛𐑦𐑡𐑦𐑑𐑩𐑤 𐑜𐑴𐑤𐑛—𐑐𐑰𐑐𐑩𐑤 𐑚𐑲 𐑦𐑑 𐑯 𐑞𐑧𐑯 𐑡𐑳𐑕𐑑 𐑕𐑦𐑑 𐑪𐑯 𐑦𐑑, 𐑞𐑺 𐑴𐑯𐑤𐑦 𐑦𐑯𐑑𐑧𐑯𐑖𐑩𐑯 𐑮𐑨𐑐𐑑 𐑦𐑯 𐑩 𐑣𐑴𐑐 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑦𐑑 𐑢𐑦𐑤 𐑢𐑳𐑯 𐑛𐑱 𐑜𐑮𐑴 𐑦𐑯 𐑝𐑨𐑤𐑿 𐑕𐑴 𐑞𐑱 𐑒𐑨𐑯 𐑒𐑨𐑖 𐑦𐑑 𐑬𐑑. 𐑕𐑻𐑗 𐑓 ·𐑿𐑑𐑿𐑚 𐑝𐑦𐑛𐑦𐑴𐑟 𐑪𐑯 𐑒𐑮𐑦𐑐𐑑𐑴, 𐑯 𐑥𐑴𐑕𐑑 𐑝 𐑢𐑪𐑑 𐑿 𐑓𐑲𐑯𐑛 𐑸 𐑑𐑦𐑐𐑕 𐑓 “𐑦𐑯𐑝𐑧𐑕𐑑𐑦𐑙” 𐑦𐑯 𐑦𐑑, 𐑢𐑦𐑗 𐑦𐑯 𐑮𐑦𐑨𐑤𐑦𐑑𐑦 𐑦𐑟 𐑕𐑐𐑧𐑒𐑿𐑤𐑱𐑖𐑩𐑯, 𐑕𐑦𐑯𐑕 𐑯𐑴 𐑢𐑳𐑯 𐑯𐑴𐑟 𐑢𐑪𐑑 𐑞 𐑓𐑿𐑗𐑼 𐑣𐑴𐑤𐑛𐑟 𐑓 𐑷𐑤 𐑞𐑰𐑟 𐑒𐑶𐑯𐑟. 𐑯 𐑷𐑤 𐑞 𐑒𐑶𐑯𐑟! 𐑦𐑑 𐑕𐑰𐑥𐑟 𐑤𐑲𐑒 𐑧𐑝𐑼𐑦𐑢𐑳𐑯 𐑯 𐑞𐑺 (·𐑖𐑦𐑚𐑩 𐑰𐑯𐑵) 𐑛𐑪𐑜 𐑦𐑟 𐑒𐑮𐑦𐑱𐑑𐑦𐑙 𐑩 𐑯𐑿 𐑒𐑮𐑦𐑐𐑑𐑴𐑒𐑻𐑩𐑯𐑕𐑦, 𐑯 𐑑 𐑢𐑪𐑑 𐑐𐑻𐑐𐑩𐑕? 𐑑 𐑓𐑩𐑕𐑦𐑤𐑦𐑑𐑱𐑑 𐑞 𐑦𐑒𐑕𐑗𐑱𐑯𐑡 𐑝 𐑜𐑫𐑛𐑟 𐑯 𐑕𐑻𐑝𐑦𐑕𐑩𐑟? 𐑲 𐑛𐑴𐑯𐑑 𐑔𐑦𐑙𐑒 𐑕𐑴—𐑞𐑺 𐑡𐑳𐑕𐑑 𐑣𐑴𐑐𐑦𐑙 𐑑 𐑜𐑧𐑑 𐑐𐑰𐑐𐑩𐑤 𐑑 𐑡𐑳𐑥𐑐 𐑪𐑯 𐑞𐑺 𐑚𐑨𐑯𐑛𐑢𐑨𐑜𐑩𐑯 𐑑 𐑥𐑱𐑒 𐑞𐑺 𐑒𐑶𐑯𐑟 𐑝𐑨𐑤𐑿 𐑜𐑴 𐑳𐑐.
𐑯𐑬 𐑐𐑤𐑰𐑟 𐑛𐑴𐑯𐑑 𐑥𐑦𐑕𐑳𐑯𐑛𐑼𐑕𐑑𐑨𐑯𐑛 𐑥𐑰—𐑲 𐑨𐑥 𐑨𐑒𐑗𐑢𐑩𐑤𐑦 𐑩 𐑓𐑨𐑯 𐑝 𐑒𐑮𐑦𐑐𐑑𐑴𐑒𐑻𐑩𐑯𐑕𐑦. 𐑢𐑧𐑯 𐑲 𐑜𐑪𐑑 𐑥𐑨𐑮𐑦𐑛 𐑤𐑨𐑕𐑑 𐑘𐑽 𐑲 𐑚𐑷𐑑 0.2 𐑚𐑦𐑑𐑕𐑧𐑯𐑑𐑕 𐑨𐑟 𐑩 𐑢𐑧𐑛𐑦𐑙 𐑐𐑮𐑧𐑟𐑩𐑯𐑑 𐑑 𐑥𐑲𐑕𐑧𐑤𐑓 𐑯 𐑥𐑲 𐑢𐑲𐑓, 𐑯 𐑲 𐑐𐑤𐑨𐑯 𐑑 𐑣𐑨𐑙 𐑪𐑯𐑑𐑵 𐑦𐑑 𐑓 𐑞 𐑑𐑲𐑥 𐑚𐑰𐑦𐑙 𐑯 𐑕𐑰 𐑢𐑪𐑑 𐑦𐑑 𐑛𐑳𐑟. 𐑨𐑑 𐑞 𐑥𐑴𐑥𐑩𐑯𐑑 𐑦𐑑𐑕 𐑤𐑪𐑕𐑑 𐑩 𐑚𐑦𐑑 𐑝 𐑝𐑨𐑤𐑿, 𐑚𐑳𐑑 𐑥𐑱𐑚𐑦 𐑦𐑑 𐑢𐑦𐑤 𐑜𐑮𐑴 𐑚𐑲 𐑞 𐑑𐑲𐑥 𐑢𐑰 𐑮𐑰𐑗 𐑬𐑼 50𐑔 𐑨𐑯𐑦𐑝𐑻𐑕𐑼𐑦.
𐑼𐑬𐑯𐑛 𐑞 𐑕𐑱𐑥 𐑑𐑲𐑥, 𐑲 𐑷𐑤𐑕𐑴 𐑚𐑷𐑑 $90 USD 𐑢𐑻𐑔 𐑝 ·𐑛𐑴𐑡𐑒𐑶𐑯𐑟 (1,400 𐑨𐑑 𐑞 𐑑𐑲𐑥). ·𐑛𐑴𐑡𐑒𐑶𐑯 𐑒𐑷𐑑 𐑥𐑲 𐑩𐑑𐑧𐑯𐑖𐑩𐑯 𐑚𐑦𐑒𐑪𐑟 𐑦𐑑 𐑛𐑳𐑟𐑩𐑯𐑑 𐑑𐑱𐑒 𐑦𐑑𐑕𐑧𐑤𐑓 𐑑𐑵 𐑕𐑦𐑮𐑾𐑕𐑤𐑦, 𐑯 𐑨𐑑 𐑞 𐑑𐑲𐑥 𐑲 𐑔𐑷𐑑 𐑦𐑑 𐑤𐑫𐑒𐑑 𐑐𐑮𐑪𐑥𐑦𐑕𐑦𐑙 𐑑 𐑚𐑦𐑒𐑳𐑥 𐑩𐑯 𐑨𐑒𐑗𐑫𐑩𐑤 𐑒𐑻𐑩𐑯𐑕𐑦 𐑓 𐑧𐑝𐑼𐑦𐑛𐑱 𐑐𐑻𐑗𐑩𐑕𐑩𐑟. (𐑳𐑐𐑛𐑱𐑑: 𐑐𐑰𐑐𐑩𐑤 𐑣𐑨𐑝 𐑑𐑮𐑰𐑑𐑩𐑛 𐑦𐑑 𐑡𐑳𐑕𐑑 𐑤𐑲𐑒 𐑷𐑤 𐑞 𐑳𐑛𐑼𐑟, 𐑣𐑴𐑐𐑦𐑙 𐑦𐑑 𐑢𐑦𐑤 𐑜𐑴 𐑑 𐑞 𐑥𐑵𐑯!)
𐑓𐑨𐑕𐑑-𐑓𐑹𐑢𐑼𐑛 𐑑 2022. 𐑲 𐑣𐑨𐑝 𐑯𐑪𐑑 𐑕𐑨𐑑 𐑪𐑯 𐑥𐑲 ·𐑛𐑴𐑡𐑒𐑶𐑯𐑟, 𐑮𐑨𐑞𐑼, 𐑲 𐑣𐑨𐑝 𐑚𐑦𐑯 𐑮𐑧𐑜𐑿𐑤𐑼𐑤𐑦 𐑕𐑐𐑧𐑯𐑛𐑦𐑙 𐑞𐑧𐑥 𐑪𐑯 𐑢𐑳𐑯 𐑔𐑦𐑙: 𐑛𐑴𐑥𐑱𐑯 𐑯𐑱𐑥 𐑮𐑦𐑯𐑿𐑩𐑤𐑟. 𐑢𐑧𐑞𐑼 𐑦𐑑 𐑢𐑪𐑟 𐑳𐑐 𐑹 𐑛𐑬𐑯, 𐑢𐑧𐑯𐑧𐑝𐑼 𐑥𐑲 𐑛𐑴𐑥𐑱𐑯 𐑯𐑱𐑥𐑟 𐑒𐑱𐑥 𐑳𐑐 𐑓 𐑮𐑦𐑯𐑿𐑩𐑤, 𐑲 𐑕𐑐𐑯𐑑 𐑩 𐑚𐑦𐑑 𐑝 𐑥𐑲 ·𐑛𐑴𐑡𐑒𐑶𐑯 𐑑𐑮𐑧𐑠𐑼 𐑪𐑯 𐑞𐑧𐑥. 𐑦𐑯 𐑑𐑴𐑑𐑩𐑤 𐑲 𐑣𐑨𐑝 𐑮𐑦𐑯𐑿𐑛 13 𐑛𐑴𐑥𐑱𐑯 𐑯𐑱𐑥𐑟 𐑢𐑦𐑔 𐑥𐑲 $90 𐑝 ·𐑛𐑴𐑡𐑒𐑶𐑯, 𐑢𐑦𐑗 𐑢𐑫𐑛 𐑣𐑨𐑝 𐑒𐑪𐑕𐑑 $187 𐑦𐑓 𐑲 𐑣𐑨𐑛 𐑐𐑱𐑛 𐑓 𐑞𐑧𐑥 𐑦𐑯 𐑓𐑰𐑭𐑑 𐑒𐑻𐑩𐑯𐑕𐑦. 𐑝 𐑒𐑹𐑕, 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑢𐑪𐑟 𐑴𐑝𐑼 𐑞 𐑕𐑐𐑨𐑯 𐑝 2021 𐑛𐑻𐑦𐑙 𐑢𐑦𐑗 ·𐑛𐑴𐑡𐑒𐑶𐑯 𐑮𐑦𐑤𐑦 𐑑𐑫𐑒 𐑪𐑓 𐑚𐑦𐑓𐑹 𐑒𐑳𐑥𐑦𐑙 𐑚𐑨𐑒 𐑛𐑬𐑯 𐑩𐑜𐑦𐑯, 𐑚𐑳𐑑 𐑲𐑛 𐑕𐑱 𐑦𐑑 𐑢𐑻𐑒𐑑 𐑬𐑑 𐑒𐑢𐑲𐑑 𐑢𐑧𐑤 𐑓 𐑥𐑰. 𐑯 𐑲 𐑕𐑑𐑦𐑤 𐑣𐑨𐑝 60 ·𐑛𐑴𐑡𐑒𐑶𐑯𐑟 𐑤𐑧𐑓𐑑 𐑚𐑦𐑓𐑹 𐑲 𐑕𐑑𐑪𐑒 𐑳𐑐 𐑪𐑯 𐑕𐑳𐑥 𐑥𐑹!
𐑕𐑴 𐑢𐑪𐑑𐑕 𐑞 𐑐𐑶𐑯𐑑 𐑣𐑽? 𐑲 𐑛𐑴𐑯𐑑 𐑯𐑴. 𐑲 𐑔𐑦𐑙𐑒 𐑒𐑮𐑦𐑐𐑑𐑴𐑒𐑻𐑩𐑯𐑕𐑦 𐑦𐑟 𐑦𐑯𐑑𐑼𐑩𐑕𐑑𐑦𐑙, 𐑚𐑳𐑑 𐑚𐑦𐑒𐑪𐑟 𐑝 𐑦𐑑𐑕 𐑝𐑪𐑤𐑩𐑑𐑦𐑤𐑦𐑑𐑦 𐑲 𐑢𐑫𐑛𐑩𐑯𐑑 𐑩𐑛𐑝𐑲𐑟 𐑧𐑯𐑦𐑢𐑳𐑯 𐑑 𐑕𐑐𐑧𐑯𐑛 𐑥𐑹 𐑪𐑯 𐑦𐑑 𐑞𐑨𐑯 𐑞𐑱 𐑒𐑨𐑯 𐑩𐑓𐑹𐑛 𐑑 𐑤𐑵𐑟. 𐑥𐑲 𐑣𐑴𐑐 𐑓 𐑒𐑮𐑦𐑐𐑑𐑴 𐑦𐑟 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑦𐑑 𐑢𐑦𐑤 𐑮𐑦𐑤𐑦 𐑚𐑦𐑒𐑳𐑥 𐑩 𐑒𐑪𐑥𐑩𐑯 𐑥𐑦𐑛𐑦𐑩𐑥 𐑝 𐑦𐑒𐑕𐑗𐑱𐑯𐑡, 𐑯 𐑯𐑪𐑑 𐑡𐑳𐑕𐑑 𐑕𐑳𐑥𐑔𐑦𐑙 𐑐𐑰𐑐𐑩𐑤 𐑑𐑮𐑲 𐑑 𐑥𐑱𐑒 𐑥𐑳𐑯𐑦 𐑪𐑓 𐑝 𐑚𐑲 𐑣𐑹𐑛𐑦𐑙 𐑦𐑑. 𐑚𐑳𐑑 𐑢𐑰 𐑖𐑨𐑤 𐑕𐑰.
I think crypto won’t be widely adopted as a transactional currency until it either stabalizes in value or it become more heavily regulated (which I don’t think should happen but also think it enevitable.) There are a number of reasons that so many countries around the world peg the value of thier currency to the US dollar (or atleast attempt to), and one of those is that its value is relatively stable.
The approach you’ve have to crypto, balanced between investing and for transactions, I think is a good one. The issue is that no one wants to be the person who buys a pizza with bitcoin and then find out years later that that pizza was worth billions (https://www.marketwatch.com/story/bitcoin-pizza-day-laszlo-hanyecz-spent-3-8-billion-on-pizzas-in-the-summer-of-2010-using-the-novel-crypto-11621714395).