14 years ago today...

April 26, 2011
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Bitcoin: The Future of Money?

I handed out pizza and 1 BTC to everyone who showed up.

I had been telling everyone I knew about Bitcoin, helping them install the client, download the blockchain, and send their first transaction.

Then I read a post from a guy who had just graduated MIT. He was planning a road trip across the U.S. only spending Bitcoin. The catch? He needed people to meet him at gas stations and trade gas for BTC, since clerks wouldn't take it.

I told him: "If you pass through Huntsville, I can meet you and maybe even get you a speaking gig."

I went to the head of Computer Science at my university and pitched it: this new decentralized currency, the MIT grad on a road trip, the big ideas. He gave me the green light and a lecture hall.

On the day of the talk, I got a few friends to hand out flyers I printed. I tried to hit every building with a tailored message: taxes and monetary policy in the business school, code and crypto in the engineering halls. One guy crumpled the flyer in my face. Others just nodded and walked on.

A few hours before the event, we met Plato, that was the MIT guy's alias. He was skateboarding in the parking lot, wearing a bandana. Totally on brand.

About 20 people showed up, mostly students, a couple faculty. Like I said, I brought free pizza (best way to get college kids to show up). And I gave 1 BTC to everyone who came.

We talked about building an entirely new financial system. Open, borderless, unstoppable. We said there was massive growth ahead. New markets. New ways of thinking about value.

I recorded the whole thing and put it on YouTube. At the end, during Q&A, a professor stood up and said:

"I just want you to know, you're not as smart as you think you are."