Interview: How Bitcoin Changed My Life With Yung Lerk
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For this episode of Bitcoin Magazine’s “Meet The Taco Plebs,” I was joined by fellow pleb Yung Lerk (@YungLerk_) for his first-ever podcast appearance.
This was one of my favorite episodes that I’ve recorded in this series and I’m sure you’ll love it just as much as I did. We kicked off this interview by discussing Lerk’s rabbit hole story and how he found Bitcoin. He described how he went through a four-touch process with Bitcoin after finding it for the first time in 2012, and seeing it pop back up over and over again as time went on. He remembered his friends buying things from Silk Road with bitcoin and talked a little about that.
Bitcoin changes you, you don’t change Bitcoin. And Lerk explained just how much he’s changed since coming into the Bitcoin space. Precoiner Lerk would spend lots of money on things that he didn’t necessarily need, and he explained how he earned a good amount of money but didn’t know what to do with it. Once he dove down the rabbit hole, he stopped the needless spending to accumulate as much bitcoin as possible, and he hasn’t looked back. He mentioned the importance of bitcoin’s finite supply of 21 million, and why that urges him to stack harder.
This led to a discussion about time preference and savings, and how Bitcoin completely changes your incentives in life.
“If it doesn’t change your life, you’re doing it wrong” he said, and I completely agree.
Many people who buy bitcoin don’t get into it and learn why it’s important. Bitcoin is powerful enough to change the life of anyone, so if it doesn’t change yours, you may be going about it wrong.
Below are some of Lerk’s most interesting thoughts shared during the interview. And be sure to check out the full episode for more.
How Did You Find Bitcoin And Fall Down The Rabbit Hole?
I got into Bitcoin in the fall of 2019, I heard about it growing up a couple of times, like in High School when people were using the Silk Road. Then, in college, my buddies were using it to gamble and buy drugs on the internet. I never thought much of it because I grew up thinking cash is king, but man was I wrong.
After I finished college, I got a real-world job and started making some money that I didn’t exactly know what to do with besides leaving it in the bank. I started researching investment articles online and came across a thread talking about Bitcoin and finite supply. How there will never be more than 21 million ever created, I think that’s what really resonated with me. I’ve heard about Bitcoin too much to not try to learn about it. so once I read that thread, I went and bought my first bitcoin. Also seeing how easy it was to buy it and hold it, I slowly became addicted to stacking sats.
I’ve always loved Twitter as a social medium, and once I found Bitcoin Twitter, it was all over from then on. I submersed myself into the lifestyle by talking about it, reading books about it, listening to podcasts like “TFTC” and “Stephan Livera,” following Bitcoin plebs and OG’s who’ve been in the space for years. You can always learn something new in the Bitcoin space, which is one part that will always bring me back. One of the coolest things that I liked on my rabbit hole journey is that the personalities that you meet are a feature.
How Has Bitcoin Changed Your Life?
There are so many ways that you can look at how Bitcoin changed your life because it has so many different variants impacting an individual. Me, personally, I was never the best at saving money or knowing how to grow my money for the future, so Bitcoin gave me a savings technology that I don’t have to worry about. I grew up always being the computer guy out of the friend group, so I wasn’t into stonks and never cared to learn about them.
Bitcoin made me want to learn about what is money and how it worked throughout history. Once I started engulfing every moment I could about what Bitcoin is and how it worked, I’ve been addicted ever since.
What Do You Consider To Be The Most Amazing Thing About Bitcoin?
The most amazing thing about Bitcoin to me is all of the different variables that it brings to the table such as money, technology, economics, mining, art, game theory, freedom, etc. It can be quite overwhelming at times when you’re just diving down the rabbit hole but the best thing you can do is soak it all in. There’s always something you can learn in the space from another Bitcoiner and that’s what intrigues me the most. The Number Go Up technology will continue to bring in more and more people, those who hold through the FUD will be rewarded.
How Would You Advise Someone To Learn About Bitcoin? What Are Your Favorite Podcasts, Articles And Books?
Bitcoin’s future is so bright with many brilliant minds working on the project but what I’m looking forward to the most is the Lightning Network. The opportunities that we’ve already seen with companies like Strike and MintGox that have come up within the past year, these are just the beginning in my opinion. A majority of people have never heard of the Lightning Network but they have heard of Bitcoin. In the future, I think Lightning is going to have a big impact on adoption.
What Is Your Best Bitcoin Pitch?
I think price predictions are always tough to give because honey badger don’t care, but it will be interesting to see where we end up after this crazy year we just had. My price prediction for the end of the year is $150,000 and by 2030 it will have touched $1 million at some point. HODL PLEBS!
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