Maybe Legacy Has No Meaning.
What can crypto do for future generations?
At its most fundamental, building a legacy is a noble cause.
After all, we want our lives to count for something much more than our mundane existence of work, sleep and—if we’re lucky—travel. We want to carry on our very spirit when we eventually hit our demise. Not to forget, we want to never have to worry about finances: for us, for our future families even if we will not be there to see them.
But is the concept of legacy a meaningless pursuit, as with any other mortal venture we embark upon on this floating rock we call our planet? Would it matter in a century? And if it isn't useless, what role(s) can cryptocurrency play in the bigger picture?
Let’s investigate.
BTC as Generational Wealth?
In late 2009, what we now know as Bitcoin was launched.
With it came the promise of decentralised finance, clearer transparency of transactions and—perhaps most importantly—a chance to break the poverty cycle. Due to the largely speculative nature of cryptocurrency, it means this is an incredible opportunity to diversify one’s investment portfolio, beyond stocks and bonds and real estate.
Premiering in November 2021, the short film Bitcoin is Generational Wealth was an eye-opener to the potential that lay within this new technology. As a goal, the producers hoped to show that:
“Bitcoin can break the cycles of fallings and replace them with an everlasting, productive peace.”
Do you remember how Bitcoin prices blew up after a couple of years and it seemed as though one should have invested earlier? The truth is that it’s easier said than done. It takes a fair amount of grit to not throw in the towel and sell when the chips are down.
But this exactly is the attitude needed for long-term success with building generational wealth that lasts.
That is the secret most billionaires know.
For cryptocurrency, there’s something to be said for buying and hodl-ing.
Can you handle it for the next 10 years, come rain, come shine?
Of course, this goes beyond Bitcoin but it’s the case in point here since it’s lasted the longest so far. Building anything takes time, a factor that has become increasingly difficult to tie down in the jet age. Even the Google homepage loads in 0.3 seconds.
John D. Rockefeller was on to something when he mused:
“I had no ambition to make a fortune; I had the ambition to build.”
Cryptocurrency exchange platforms are beginning to see what this could do for their users and are getting in on the wave. For example, Busha Yield allows savers to earn up to 10% annual percentage yield interest on USDT (a dollar stablecoin). While the scale for growth is immense, especially longer-term, there are no absolute guarantees in life—even as fetched as if an asteroid hit the planet tomorrow and the survivors literally have to start all over.
The catch with building long-lasting wealth is the level of risk it carries. It’s no ordinary feat and that remains why it’s not necessarily for everyone. We must also take into account the people that cannot even afford to set any money aside as they live paycheck to paycheck.
But for the middle-class and above, as the sage meme goes:
Take risk and succeed.
A Different Perspective
I have a problem with the mainstream view of legacy.
There’s too much of an emphasis on its monetary angle. A legacy goes beyond generational wealth. It’s passing on value in form of knowledge and wisdom as well. It’s teaching qualities—such as kindness and empathy—to the next generation. It’s loving others while we’re here.
But this poses another quandary.
Perhaps it’s the cynic in me but I’m acutely aware of how, eventually, everyone we know and love will be dead and gone someday. Is it then logical to strive to race against time, to build something that’ll outlive us?
Does any of this even matter?!
Then again, maybe positively impacting just one generation can be enough. And maybe legacy has no singular meaning or definition.
For Professor Wole Soyinka, it’s a mark left on how the world will perceive African literature. For Nelson Mandela, it’s a mark on the abolition of apartheid, justice and perhaps most importantly, peace. I know a good book that says how a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches.
But to be completely transparent, the riches are pretty awesome too.