Why I didn’t bid on the US Constitution

This week, we witnessed one of the greatest Internet rabbit holes since the 28.8k modem came to the scene in the early 90s.

For a few bucks, you could buy a slice of the US constitution.

Yup, we the people could be owned by the people.

It was a remarkable feat watching a collective of Internet strangers come together to pool $40 million worth of actual greenbacks into an LLC and show up at the doorsteps of the storied Sotheby’s auction house.

And while their plans were usurped by a hedge fund billionaire, the frenzy took place in Discord servers, tweetstorms, blog posts, mainstream media and in the daily gyrations of all the coins.

As I started to put the wheels in motion to try to buy $20 worth of the constitution, I ran it through one of my trusted algorithms to facilitate the decision-making process:

The algo made it easy. It said: “Pass.”

My hot take on Web 3

I’m sorry to disappoint, but I don’t have one.

From my limited research (basically, I read this one deep-dive from @vgr), it seems like a really neat idea. I love the concept of an Internet that’s not beholden to tech giants monetizing our attention.

Plus, having had a front row on the opportunities and pitfalls of the shadow banking system in my prior life on Wall Street, I find the concept of DeFi pretty intriguing. (I’m going to take my friend Nat Eliason’s DeFi orientation over the holidays – not an affiliate link.)

And finally, I think DAOs could create a very powerful and incentive-based structure to align RadReads with our 1,000 True Fans.

But here’s the truth about all this Web3 stuff.

I don’t have the time for another rabbit hole.

The RadReads business is teetering on the edges of finding product-market-fit.

I’m currently expanding RadReads with two full-time hires.

I’m committed to spending 2-3 hours a day with my wife and kiddos.

My daily surfing (90 mins), meditation (60 mins), and sleep (8 hours) are firm non-negotiables and anchor much of the joy in my life.

My $10K Work is ruthlessly prioritizing these activities. And saying no to everything else.

Why it’s so hard to say no to crypto

For me, crypto presents a dangerous rabbit hole that siphons me away from what matters most in my life. (And please, there is zero judgement towards your life.) This digital gold has a few persnickety attributes that I know can put me in a bad headspace:

  • A 24/7 firehose of information: There is always something to be checking. At least the stock market gave you a break from 4pm to 9am each night.
  • FOMO: It’s hard to go a day without hearing a (true) tale of a layperson who created multi-generational wealth in crypto. All while bypassing fancy colleges, entrepreneurship and grinding on the corporate treadmill. I’ll admit it, this can give me FOMO, so I’d rather opt-out of the conversation in general.
  • Status games: Related, there’s a lot of flexing out there. (I do it too, with my early BTC purchases.) 24/7 info plus FOMO makes for a fertile flexing ground. Again, a conscious decision to opt-out.
  • What’s in it for me: What’s the end game? Learning? Extreme wealth? Innovation? Until I can answer these $10K questions, dabbling (outside of dollar cost averaging) doesn’t make sense.

Ironically, none of these are actually based on an investment thesis. Which makes sense, because I already admitted to you that I don’t have one.

The difficulty of staying away from the Constitution, is that all of the above produces incessant and ongoing dopamine. Watching the Constitution DAO bid tick up was like a Tamogatchi on steroids. There is excitement. There is energy. There’s a ton of activity.

And when you look at my $10K (i.e. highest leverage), man there’s none of those attributes.

Take finalize our culture guide. There’s no dopamine. It’s time-consuming. The outcome of that activity can’t be measured. The time frame is long.

Of course it would be way more exciting to try to buy $20 worth of the constitution.

But if we nail these 7 tasks – we’ve stacked the deck in our favor to make 2022 a banger of year for RadReads, the company.

So I guess I won’t be owning a piece of the constitution any time soon.

If you enjoyed this post, you may like:

For instant Access, Enter your Details Below:

🔒 Privacy Protected by our “Zero Spam” Policy

For instant Access, Enter your Details Below:

🔒 Privacy Protected by our “Zero Spam” Policy