Millennials Turning Against Bitcoin?
Graduation Speaker Gets Heckled for Bitcoin Reference
Christopher Pan never expected this.
Even though he wrote his graduation speech while under the influence of ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic drug.
Pan, 46, a 1999 graduate of Ohio State University, was asked to deliver a speech to the graduating members of the class of 2024. The successful entrepreneur founded MyIntent.org, a jewelry company that is much more. In Pan’s words, “The MyIntent Project's mission is to be a catalyst for meaningful conversations and positive energy.”
He also been a keynote speaker at several large events, so he’s done this before.
On Sunday, May 5, Pan addressed the graduates of OSU, and guests, over 70,000 in all. The speech was, Pan even admits, a bit unusual. It featured two awkward attempts at sing-alongs, a magic trick, and even a Navy Seal breathing exercise. But it was Pan’s remarks about Bitcoin that drew boos from tens of thousands. Ouch.
Pan had, ironically, only gotten into Bitcoin investing three months prior. And he says he only brought up Bitcoin to underscore the importance of investing to the grads and guests. In his own words, he was offering up Bitcoin as a possible investment option, not shilling that it was the investment of choice.
“I am the most misunderstood person in the world right now. And it’s OK because people will eventually understand. But right now it is what it is,” said Pan.
So Are Millennials Down on Bitcoin?
It would seem that many are, but why?
When Bitcoin and crypto first burst on the scene around ten years ago, they were hailed as money for a new generation. Fiat currency was the Baby Boomers’ money. Ditto for gold. This was new tech, it was cool. The new entrepreneur was built in the mold of Sam Bankman-Fried.
And crypto hype was at a peak in 2021. Prices were soaring. Traders were getting seriously rich. This stuff would go up forever.
Except when it didn’t.
In 2022, Millennials and Gen Z started turning away from cryptocurrencies in general and Bitcoin in particular, for two reasons mainly. The biggest reason was that prices were plummeting, retreating as much as 70% from their 2021 peaks. Speculators could no longer throw darts at a wall and pick a coin that would instantly make them rich. This, of course, doesn’t say there is anything inherently wrong with Bitcoin. Rather, it shows what happens when a bubble of “irrational exuberance” finally pops and prices normalize.
The second reason that younger adults started to turn away from crypto was the environmental argument. Wild accusations were tossed at Bitcoin, like it would consume all of the world’s electricity by 2030, that it used more energy than Russia. Sure, Bitcoin mining requires great amounts of electricity, but these claims were wildly exaggerated. In fact, miners are incentivized to use as much renewable energy as possible, in order to keep their costs down.
As a result, Bitcoin mining is one of the leading industries in the world in the use of renewable energy sources such as hydro and solar. Approximately seventy percent of Bitcoin is mined with renewable energy sources, making it likely the top industry in the world in that category.
Thus, those two narratives that flourished in 2022 were not indictments of Bitcoin, but actually the product of uninformed investors and media.
The “Crypto versus Bitcoin” Myths are Still Around
Ask most people if they’ve looked into Bitcoin and you’re likely to get a response like, “Oh, I used to own some Dogecoin.” That’s typical of anyone who has dabbled in crypto, but done no research at all into Bitcoin. As I’ve written about many times, Bitcoin differs from all the “altcoins” in two major ways. (Altcoins is my polite term.)
First, Bitcoin is not being hawked to the public by founders trying to make a buck by selling their coins. Most of these other crypto coins were “pre-mined” by their founders, and by selling some coins to the public, they are increasing the value of their own stash. Kind of like a public stock offering, but much less regulated.
Second, Bitcoin’s supply cap is permanently fixed at 21 million coins. Thus, it is a savings technology that is designed, over the long term, to go up in price. Not so with the over 10,000 altcoins out there. Most of them can be minted into infinity. Sound familiar?
So, my conclusion is that many Millennials and Gen Z’ers out there did not get rich quickly. They also haven’t done the research, and/or they are just not patient, longer-term investors.
And, as I’ve said previously, I do think that younger Americans do not want a sovereign form of money, but rather to have their money controlled by big government. That’s a topic for an article all its own.
I’m not entirely sure why a graduation speaker who mentions Bitcoin would get booed, but it does seem that every graduation ceremony has been interrupted by some demonstration or another this spring.
As for the psychedelic drugs, Pan says he also “uses” magic mushrooms. “I do it for creativity, as well as for healing. John Lennon, Steve Jobs, like, they all worked with this to fuel their creativity.”
And now he’s a Bitcoiner.
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Issue No. 135, May 22, 2024
Rick Mulvey is a CPA, crypto consultant, and frequent contributor to Bitcoin Magazine. He writes about all things Bitcoin, and yells at the Yankees and Giants. He also runs marathons and makes wine, neither professionally.