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When people feel that they are late to the party concerning Bitcoin they probably refer to the more than 90% of all 21 Million BTC that have already been discovered in literally random places on a virtually infinite plane of numbers.
Let's have a look at the party and the almost 10% of all Bitcoin yet to be discovered.
The Satoshis all these Bitcoin are made up from are like the conversations that all those interesting people showed up for at the party venue. The hosts and close friends that have been around there from the start (or even before) already had many things in common. They just shared the newest gossip with many words of little consequence and greeted all the newcomers with a lot of light small talk. It felt like there was all the time in the world. At this early stage of the party it was hard to tell whether it would become a worthwhile one or everybody would just get bored and leave. But the chit chat seemed interesting enough to have more people join and call their friends to check it out as well. Many interesting points were made and most people liked the company so that folks decided to hang around.
As the legend goes the party host was either a time traveler or a genius of math and physics. Maybe that has something to do with what happened next to all of the guests at once, although this usually happens gradually and only subjectively to each person at a party: The passage of time doubled in pace. From one moment to the other only half as many words would be spoken and consequently fewer ideas expressed at every revolution of the clock hand. In order to not squander their precious time people chose their words more wisely and started making more important points. A few topics started to crystallize and one could cluster according to interest or wander around to discover a variety of rabbit holes. People still kept trickling in. Some of the party guests thought the party had potential but lacked something important beyond just spending quality time together. So, they broke into the shed in the backyard for example and started juggling with the sharp tools they found there. Or they tried to teach stupid tricks to the neighbor's dog. Others started making plans to grab some of the booze and take the party to another venue one big block further down the road… repeatedly.
The remaining folks that found common ground and shared values, however, stayed inside to eat, drink, dance and enjoy the interesting conversation about all the cool things they would do together.
Maybe those that had been around from early on saw it coming but certainly not all. Right on schedule another round of halving was dealt out to everybody present at that moment. Even fewer ideas were communicated for lack of time to utter the words.
The insights and the value derived got deeper while the jokes and remarks got more pointed. As the spirit of the gathering lifted more and more the neighbors across the street started to complain about the music and the laughter. Inevitably, more serious topics sneaked into the conversations and what had been pipe dreams of separating state from money slowly turned into well crafted arguments. Guests with ever more diversified backgrounds rang the doorbell and brought their macro-economic views, their investment theses and some extra snacks to the table.
The murmurs about the next halving round grew louder and many were curious what it would feel like. Then it happened and nothing happened… immediately. The old arguments remain valid but have to be formulated even more concisely because the necessary thoughts are twice as hard to get across. Profound new ideas are getting scarcer but draw all the more attention.
While holding on to all those precious ideas people start ruminating over them. Metaphysical pearls of wisdom are passed around as the house gets further packed. Packed with those who are wandering the streets knowing that they are lost. They are drawn in by the signal above the noise, the gravity of the subject matters. You know… stuff like sovereignty with respect to food and energy, the transcending qualities of language, morals and spirituality.
A great re-basement of society at large.
Now imagine showing up at this point of the party. The moment you cross the doorstep you feel the time starting to rush by at break neck pace. Your head is spinning with your own ideas and opinions that you'd like to share but you struggle to trim them down so they might fit into the fleeting moment. While you enjoy the vibe of all that previously shared wisdom from the sages, magicians, fools and average folks like you and me more visitors keep piling in. More and more suits stick out among the crowd with many of them wearing sunglasses and introducing themselves as Agent Smith. But regardless of how many of them show up and make their points (because they are a smart bunch after all) they can't sway the consensus and the convictions that have taken root in the course of the event because they are running out of time… fast. Everybody who speaks out now and still makes a couple of good points against the suited debate club members in the 10% of remaining conversation will remember this as the most rewarding party of their lifetime.
The night will soon be over and the generations to come will wake up in a world full of great new ideas to be implemented.
