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The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin

@philosopherbtc.bsky.social

110 followers 130 following 160 posts

Bitcoin since ’09. Engineer turned philosopher. I decode money, markets & human behavior. Daily reflections: substack.com/@thephilosophersbitcoin

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The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 1d

Isaac Newton could calculate the motion of planets, but not the madness of people.
He lost £20M in 1720 to a bubble he saw coming.

300 years later, we still fall for the same traps.

The Genius Who Couldn’t Price Madness: why Bitcoin is built for human psychology: open.substack.com/pub/thephilo...

The Genius Who Couldn't Price Madness

Isaac Newton, the South Sea Bubble, and Why Bitcoin Is Built for Human Psychology

open.substack.com

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 1h

Favorite comment from yesterday’s piece:

“Newton’s silence says more than his loss. The smartest man alive learned he couldn’t outsmart emotion.”

This is why I write here.
Full piece: open.substack.com/pub/thephilo...

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 1d

The Genius Who Couldn't Price Madness

Isaac Newton, the South Sea Bubble, and Why Bitcoin Is Built for Human Psychology

open.substack.com

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 2d

17 years ago, Satoshi published the Bitcoin whitepaper.

In just 9 pages, he redefined the idea of money, trust, and time.

Bitcoin wasn’t created for speculation, it was created for memory.

A quiet rebellion disguised as code.

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The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 3d

Every generation thinks it can print prosperity.
Every collapse proves it can’t.

In 1720 it was John Law.
In 2025 it’s us.

The systems evolve.
The psychology doesn’t.

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 4d

People don’t reject Bitcoin because it’s expensive.
They reject it because it exposes how cheap their money became.

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The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 4d

In 1720, France tried to print prosperity.

John Law’s paper money experiment collapsed.
Voltaire warned:

“Paper money always returns to its intrinsic value, zero.”

300 years later, central banks still try the same thing.

Sunday’s piece: what Newton and Voltaire teach us about Bitcoin.

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 5d

Intelligence can’t outsmart emotion.

In 1720, Isaac Newton made and lost a fortune in the South Sea Bubble.

He could calculate the motion of planets, but not the madness of people.

Three centuries later, the same psychology drives every bubble.
Only the tools have changed.

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 5d

The giraffes were easy.
It’s when they added humans that the test got impossible.

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 5d

Balance isn’t found in the hours. It’s found in remembering why they matter.

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 5d

Debt always feels like progress until the payments stop.
We’ve built an economy that monetizes desperation, and calls it "growth".

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 5d

That’s the hardest part of mastery,unlearning the comfort of certainty.
Every real insight begins with admitting we might be wrong.

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 5d

Real freedom doesn’t come from escaping responsibility.
It comes from choosing which responsibilities to carry.

Every time we give up responsibility, we give up freedom.

The weight you choose to carry is the weight that sets you free.

From Sunday’s reflection.

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 6d

We talk a lot about freedom, but rarely about the weight it carries.

Responsibility isn't a burden to escape.
It's the proof you're free enough to choose it.

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 7d

Freedom isn’t light.
It’s heavy.

The more responsibility you carry,
the more sovereign you become.

The Weight You Choose, new reflection now live:
open.substack.com/pub/thephilo...

The Weight You Choose: Why Responsibility Is the Only Real Freedom

I used to think freedom meant having no obligations. Bitcoin taught me the opposite.

open.substack.com

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 11d

This idea came from last Sunday’s essay, The Scarcity Paradox.
The follow-up .Responsibility Is Freedom,drops this Sunday.

open.substack.com/pub/thephilo...

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 11d

The reader told me:
“I didn’t lose 28 people.
I found the 7 who actually knew me.”

That’s the paradox of scarcity.
It feels like loss, but it’s the beginning of freedom.

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 11d

Bitcoin made me understand this years ago.
Its 21 million limit isn’t just a number.
It’s a reminder that without boundaries, value disappears.

The same is true for relationships.

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 11d

We confuse abundance with connection.
But when everything counts as connection, nothing really does.

Limitation is what makes meaning possible.
It’s true for people, money, time,everything.

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 11d

That’s the real purpose of the 20% rule.
It doesn’t just remove distraction.
It exposes dependence.

Scarcity shows which relationships are built on truth, and which only survive on repetition.

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 11d

At first they felt lighter.
Fewer calls. Fewer obligations.
More time.

Then came the grief.

Not for the people they cut, but for the version of themselves those people remembered.

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 11d

I’ve been thinking about how scarcity applies to relationships.

A reader tried something simple: they listed everyone they interact with regularly,about 35 people, and kept only the 7 who genuinely added energy.

Then they sat with what happened next.

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The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 12d

It’s fascinating how we keep comparing assets without questioning the unit they’re priced in.
The chart tells one story,but what if the real shift is in the measuring stick itself?

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 14d

I received couple of responses to The Scarcity Paradox yesterday.

Common thread?
“I cut back, but abundance always creeps back.”

You didn’t fail. You just didn’t make the limit real yet. Write it down. Share it. Defend it.

Scarcity without accountability isn’t scarcity. It’s delay.

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 15d

I deleted 73 apps last month.

Bitcoin’s 21 million cap taught me a strange truth:
Scarcity doesn’t limit you.
It clarifies you.

The fewer signals you trust, the stronger your conviction becomes.

New essay: The Scarcity Paradox – Why Having Less Makes You More
open.substack.com/pub/thephilo...

The Scarcity Paradox: Why Having Less Makes You More

I deleted 73 apps last month. Here's what I learned about freedom, focus, and Bitcoin's 21 million lesson.

open.substack.com

The OG Philosopher of Bitcoin @philosopherbtc.bsky.social · 16d

When prices fall, markets become mirrors.
The question: What does it show you about yourself?
Conviction isn’t tested when things go up.
It’s revealed when things go down.