I've received quite a lot of feedback on my previous article on Bitcoin and rather than reply to them I thought it would be best to write a follow-up article. Most of the comments I've received mistakenly construed the fact that I was drinking the Bitcoin Kool-aid and that we should all buy, buy and buy some more before it's too late.


Bitcoin, like fiat currency, at its core is a concept. If enough people buy into the concept, then it has value. What I was commenting in my previous article is not whether you should buy or not but whether the Bitcoin was going to go up. All the indicators from volume of transactions (both monetarily and value) are still rapidly going heading north which suggests a growing demand for essentially a dwindling supply.

The reduction is supply is largely due to people holding their coins in the belief the price will continue to rise. Why sell today when you can sell tomorrow for $1,000 more.

Until the "currency" stabalises the dream of Bitcoin being used to buy a cup of coffee will remain just that, a dream. The wild hourly swings mean Bitcoin is largely driven by speculation.....the question is when will the speculation tap out…..as it must.

I’ve been reading a lot about the various cryptocurrencies and trying to dig through the misinformation to get to the bedrock of what’s going on. The first thing I’d like to say is cryptocurrencies are a complete game changer for the world financial system…..ignoring them may well be detrimental to your business.

For those of you wondering….at its simplest level the blockchain operates in a similar fashion to the DNS that most domain investors are familiar with. There are additional levels of cryptography added (sort of like DNSSEC) to ensure transactions are legitimate but what it all boils down to is a ledger of transactions held by a distributed computer network.

Don't forget to read Part 1 in my Journey into Social Media...

I’d fallen into a marketing trap. I did a market survey of one (ie. me) and decided that everyone must be like me and not be particularly interested in social media.

It’s dangerous to make assumptions that aren’t tested and after I’d detangled myself from my preconceptions I stood back and came to the conclusion I was wrong. It’s like a domain traffic investor believing what they’ve always done is the correct path while they watch their revenues plummet…..they’re just wrong. As Einstein said, if you keep on doing the same thing you’ve always done and expect a different result then you’re crazy.

My conclusion is that Social Media is becoming less and less about plates of food, cats, dogs (I’ve now becoming addicted to these….sigh….) and the like and more about communication and the sharing of emotional experiences. I post articles from my blog because they mean something to me and I want to share them. I also post pictures of Roselyn because I love my wife.

Social Media has always been one of those things that I’ve been both intrigued by and ambivalent towards. I’ve always assumed that social media is a complete time waster and a mind numbing parade of cats, memes and people speaking before they think…..then again I could be wrong…..

Up until recently I’ve had the following attitude about social media. I don’t really care what you had for dinner last night. Yes, I’m sure that it was magnificent but unless I’m with you then you’re just telling me how much fun I’m not having. I’m sure Donald Trump is/is not a complete moron but why tell me that? The cats are cute (sigh…..I miss Pepper) and the dog singing a song was clever but I’d rather watch a movie.

I’m a firm believer that everyone is born with a spark of creativity inside of them. It’s the energy that spins the dynamo and as children causes them to dream big wonderful dreams. As we age we often start getting “sensible”, stop dreaming and life backs us into a corner of mediocrity when we were meant to soar like eagles!

How many times have you shared an idea with a work colleague to find you’ve become the butt of everyone’s jokes? Or maybe it’s been your parents that tell you to just knuckle down and get a job as that’s going to be your future…..when deep down inside you want to do something else. I’ve met so many people that have had their dreams smashed before their eyes and they end up crawling back to the weekly grind they despise.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with a job, especially if the other option is to not have one at all. The question each of us needs to ask is whether we have a secret desire to do something else? Yes, it may be a business but like Richard Gere’s character in the movie “Shall We Dance” it could be to dance. It could also be to do something quite different.