Bear Market Diaries: Volume 7 With Gigi Der

By @piratebeachbum - Analyzing The Bear Market Series

Name: 

Gigi Der

Country: 

Born in Austria, living in cyberspace.

How do people know you? 

As Gigi, a bitcoiner. I guess most people know me because I wrote 21 Lessons and Bitcoin is Time. I also wrote a letter and shitpost a lot.

How long have you been into Bitcoin?

Hard to say. I had my first contact what is now considered to be quite early on, some time between 2013 and 2014. Everyone thinks that they’re late, myself included. I should’ve stumbled on it way earlier, and I should’ve taken it seriously way earlier too. Alas, we’re still ridiculously early. It took me a long time to not dismiss it, to not laugh about it—let alone begin to understand the profundity of it. I also had a prolonged shitcoin phase, which didn’t help.

How many Bitcoin market cycles have you been through?

I don’t really know how to answer this since I’m not sure how to define a market cycle. My exposure to bitcoin grew gradually, so I didn’t care much about any market downturns—and I still don’t. The current “bear market” feels very different from previous ones, since there is very little uncertainty when it comes to Bitcoin’s properties or development, at least in my eyes. It was different when everyone was still debating how to best scale bitcoin, or when people thought that blockchains will solve cancer and world hunger, or that the world computer will make Bitcoin obsolete.

What are you optimistic about in this space despite the current state of the market?

Too many things to list. Lightning, (real) merchant adoption, NFC, the integration and absorption of bitcoin mining into the energy sector, and so on. The most important thing is probably that more people understand how much fiat money sucks and that they start to save in bitcoin, which is the lifeboat on the sinking ship.

What tips do you have to those who are new to this or who might be upside down?

Stay humble and stack. Maximize your income streams if you are industrious. Stack & chill if you’re not. But always make sure to have some income and live below your means. Do your best to become un-ruggable in all aspects of life.

Biggest regret during the last bull market?

Bitcoin has been in a bull market since 2009, no ragrets.

What have you learned so far in this bear market?

Bitcoin is the GOAT of demand-response.

What is the biggest fail you have seen during the last bull cycle?

Quote: "Without inquiry, how can anyone make a determination about anything? Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance."

What do you think helped trigger the current bear market?

Elon’s lettuce hands.

Why do you think more people are not pouring into Bitcoin despite record inflation around the globe?

 Who was exposed during this last market meltdown?

Well, all the DeFi yield-bois for starters. Turns out that Allen’s thesis was right (shocker!) and only the strong will survive indeed. NFT people too, even though they haven’t been really exposed yet. Information wants to be free, digital images can never have any value, since they can be copied at zero marginal cost. They can also be generated (see Midjourney, Dall-E 2, etc.).

What kind of damage do you think the latest price drop has done to buyer sentiment?

I don’t know, and I don’t really care. If you understand the importance of sound money and if you understand that the fundamentals of Bitcoin are unchanged, you will be stacking no matter the price. Nuke buyer sentiment to zero and burn all the shitcoin casinos to the ground for all I care, NFTs and all. I only care about bitcoiner sentiment. Bitcoiner sentiment is different from buyer sentiment because bitcoiners are not buyers, bitcoiners are savers. There is no “sell.”

What is it going to take to turn this around?

Nothing in particular, just time. 

What type of carnage do you expect to see in Bitcoin startups?

No carnage for those that actually produce value. It’s all about value flows: if you produce value you will have an income. How this income is denominated doesn’t matter. If you spend less than you make you will have savings. It is in your best interest to save in the one money that inflates the least, which is bitcoin. Consequently, every company will be a “bitcoin company” given enough time, just like every person will be a “bitcoin person” saving in sats. Of course, we won’t call them that, just like we didn’t call regular people “gold people” during the gold standard. 

My point is this: if you produce value and aren’t leveraged, the price doesn’t matter that much. You can stack more, that’s all. It also doesn’t matter if you are a “bitcoin company” or not.

What are your tips for HODLing Bitcoin through downturns?

Stop watching the price. Learn as much as you can. Improve your setup if you have to. If you have substantial amounts of savings in bitcoin, it should be cumbersome for you to spend them. Spending sats for goods and services is fine of course—again, it’s all about value flows.

How do you feel about alt-coins and NFT’s?

lol

What kind of impact do you think the radical drop in alt-coins and NFT’s will have on their future?

Most shitcoins don’t ever really die. NFTs are shitcoins with an issuance of one, so they will have a liquidity crisis. I don’t care either way.

What do you think about shitcoins like Luna, Celsus, etc imploding?

It’s fun to watch the fireworks. It’s terribly sad to see that so many people believed the lies of the shills and the yield peddlers, people that lost their life savings because of it. Expensive lesson. Stay humble & stack.

Why do you think crypto VC’s feel they are more important than Bitcoin?

Ego.

What should people new to Bitcoin focus on during this price pullback?

Learning. Stacking. Educating others, if they can. That being said, if you are humbly stacking you are doing more than enough already. Produce value, accumulate savings, denominate in sats.

What is the best way to accumulate Bitcoin during a down market?

Stay humble & stack. No leverage.

How bullish are you on Bitcoin despite this recent pullback?

Retardedly bullish.

Any tips you want to give to people new to Bitcoin?

Pretty much every criticism and proposed “improvement” that comes to your mind was already discussed on bitcointalk a decade ago.

Any last words of wisdom?

Start from first principles, and work your way up.

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