GM

Hrmmm... must say something....

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Working on a home server. 🫠

Made $25 in Bitcoin in 6 Months Trading With Mexicans at Circle K... You Can To



I know what your thinking ... $25 doesnt sound like alot.
But thats because your looking at the number and not what happened.
There is a difference.
About 6 months ago I started doing peer to peer bitcoin trades at a Circle K in California with mostly Mexican guys that came through after work ... construction guys, landscapers, mechanics, guys with nice trucks, one dude with a Chevy so low I honestly dont understand how he drives over speed bumps.
This was not planned.
I was at Circle K one night getting a drink and somehow bitcoin came up with this guy Beto.
Beto does drywall and always looks like he just escaped from a bucket of joint compound.
He had cash.
I had bitcoin.
He wanted to try $15.
So I sent him $15 in bitcoin and after everything was done I was ahead around 82 cents.
82 cents.
Now most people would say thats nothing.
But think about SCALE.
That was the first moment I realized there might actually be something here.
I started with $40.
Not $40,000.
Not venture capital.
Forty dollars.
WEEK 1
Starting money: $40
Bitcoin traded: around $27
Profit: $1.83
Circle K Coke: -$2.79
Actual profit: depends how you look at it
And thats when things started moving.
Beto came back.
Then I met Chuy.
Chuy knows everybody.
I dont know how.
You can point at almost any Mexican guy in that parking lot and Chuy either worked with him, went to school with his brother, knows his cousin, or owes him something.
This was huge for customer acquisition.
He introduced me to Rafa, Luis and another guy named Miguel who I only saw twice but technically he still counts.
Rafa became my liquidity guy.
I dont think he knew he was my liquidity guy.
He just always had strange amounts of money.
One night he had $12 cash and wanted $10 bitcoin but another guy needed change for a fifty and somebody owed Rafa $5 from Tuesday.
There were 4 of us standing beside a trash can for probably 20 minutes moving money around.
At one point two Mexican Cokes got involved.
I dont even remember how.
But everybody left happy.
That was probably my first true multi-party transaction.
This is what people dont understand about P2P.
Sometimes liquidity is right in front of you.
Sometimes its holding a Jarritos and arguing about who has a five.
By month 2 I was doing better.
Bitcoin balance: $61.40
Cash: $19
Rafa owed me: $5
I owed Chuy: maybe $3
Actual total: somewhere around $82 probably
Then I met Luis.
Luis has this beautiful old Chevy, lowered, polished, absolutely spotless.
My car looked like somebody lived in it.
Luis kept asking me the same question.
"Why dont I just use dollars?"
This became sort of our ongoing argument.
He did not understand bitcoin.
I did not understand why he wasnt impressed.
Eventually he bought $8.
That was a major adoption moment.
He never bought again.
Still counts.
Then there was Don Ramon.
Older guy. Cowboy boots, giant belt buckle, old pickup, drinks coffee like its medicine.
He didnt care much about bitcoin but he liked watching us screw around with it.
He gave me some surprisingly good financial advice.
"Don't spend money you need."
Pretty simple.
Very old school.
I should have listened.
By month 3 things were actually moving.
$74.12
Then $68.90 because bitcoin dropped.
Then $91.
Then $87 because I bought food.
Then $104.60.
And then I hit my all time high.
$117.245
I remember that number exactly.
I took a screenshot.
Because once you cross $100 your not really experimenting anymore.
Now you have capital.
For about 20 minutes I seriously considered doing two Circle Ks.
There is another one about 4 miles away and they get good evening traffic.
But I decided not to expand too fast.
This was probably smart.
Then the banking system attacked me.
My phone was at 11%.
This matters because without the phone I cant move bitcoin.
So technically this was infrastructure.
Circle K had a USB-C cable for $16.99.
High price but sometimes you have to invest in the business.
I also got one of those big mango drinks with chamoy, two roller grill things because I hadnt eaten, and one of those little tree air fresheners because my car was getting kind of bad.
Total was $28.63.
My checking account had $27.91.
I didnt know that.
Card went through anyway.
Then the bank charged me $35 because I was 72 cents short.
Think about that.
I didnt have 72 cents.
So they charged me $35.
People ask why bitcoin matters and there it is.
The legacy system literally charges you money for not having enough money.
I had to sell bitcoin to cover it.
Peak bitcoin position: $117.245
Emergency bitcoin sale: -$48
Bank fee: -$35
Circle K purchase: $28.63
Lesson learned: banks are outdated
Some people have told me the real lesson was dont buy $28 worth of crap when you have $27.
I disagree.
That is victim blaming the entrepreneur.
Bitcoin did exactly what bitcoin was supposed to do.
It gave me access to my own money when the bank was punishing me.
That USB cable also stopped working like 9 days later.
Not really relevant.
After that I had to rebuild.
Beto bought another $20.
Rafa did $12.
Chuy brought his cousin who did $7.
Miguel came back and bought $5 which honestly surprised me because I thought he moved.
Bitcoin went up a little.
I put another $20 of my own money into the operation.
By month 5 I was back over $90.
Some people say you cant count money you put in yourself as growth.
I think thats way too simplistic.
Capital is capital.
This is also where people start mixing expenses together that arent even the same category.
Gas was transportation.
Food was food.
The overdraft fee was a banking expense.
The charging cable was infrastructure.
Bitcoin was the actual business.
You have to separate these things or the numbers dont make sense.
By month 6 something else happened though.
I actually knew these guys now.
When I pulled in Beto would wave.
Luis would ask me if bitcoin crashed yet.
Rafa always had some ridiculous deal.
Chuy would yell across the parking lot.
Don Ramon found out about the overdraft somehow and asked me if I learned anything.
I told him yes.
He said "good."
I dont think we meant the same thing.
And thats the part I didnt expect.
I started trying to make money.
I ended up learning P2P, negotiation, trust, bitcoin transactions, sales, local markets and probably 14 Spanish words although I think I use 3 of them wrong.
I also made friends.
People talk about adoption like its something governments or corporations do.
Sometimes adoption is just four guys standing beside a Circle K trash can arguing about twelve dollars.
SIX MONTH RESULTS
Starting capital: $40
Peak position: $117.245
Largest individual trade: $43
Approximate transaction volume: $300 something
Regular participants: around 6
Major banking crisis: 1
Overdraft fees: $35
USB cables purchased: 1
USB cables still working: 0
Gas: not included
Food: not included
Net bitcoin profit:
$25.38
Now I know some people are going to read this and say six months for $25 isnt worth it.
But those people are just looking at the money.
I proved that you can start with almost nothing.
I proved people will trade P2P if you actually talk to them.
I learned my market.
I built relationships.
I made $25.
And nobody gave me permission.
Thats the important part.
There is another Circle K about 4 miles east that gets absolutely slammed around 6 PM.
Lots of work trucks.
Im thinking Thursdays.

WE DID IT.

I have been working on Nostr for approximately 25 hours today and after doing extensive research, posting, reading posts, reposting posts, posting about the posts, and thinking very deeply about decentralization, I can confidently say that the decentralized future is basically complete.

A lot of people still do not understand what is happening here.

Nostr is not an app. It is a protocol.

Bitcoin is not money. It is freedom money.

Relays are not servers. They are censorship-resistant information freedom infrastructure nodes.

Zaps are not tips. They are permissionless peer-to-peer value signal acknowledgements.

And memes are not memes anymore. They are decentralized cultural packets.

This is bigger than social media.

This is bigger than the internet.

This may actually be bigger than several things that are currently considered pretty big.

Today alone I have:

✅ defended Nostr from people who were not attacking it
✅ explained Bitcoin to three people who already own Bitcoin
✅ changed clients four times
✅ added six relays
✅ removed four relays
✅ added the same four relays back
✅ read half of a NIP
✅ said “protocol” approximately 63 times
✅ posted a picture with an ostrich in it
✅ zapped somebody 21 sats
✅ received 7 sats
✅ achieved monetary sovereignty
✅ defeated censorship
✅ rejected the algorithm
✅ refreshed my notifications 46 times

There are people who say Nostr is still early.

Wrong.

We are not early.

We are PRE-EARLY.

Possibly proto-early.

We are operating in a decentralized temporal layer that legacy social media users cannot yet comprehend.

Facebook has users.

Twitter has engagement.

TikTok has an algorithm.

Nostr has RELAYS.

Checkmate.

And yes, there are still a few small technical challenges.

Sometimes my posts disappear.

Sometimes my profile picture changes back.

Sometimes replies arrive three hours later.

Sometimes I see the same note twelve times.

Sometimes I spend 45 minutes explaining to someone how easy Nostr is.

But this is what freedom looks like.

Freedom is not always convenient.

Sometimes freedom requires opening seven clients and wondering which one has your follows.

That is the price of sovereignty.

Anyway, I need to go.

I have another 14 hours of decentralization scheduled before dinner.

Stay humble.
Stack sats.
Run relays.
Zap strangers.
Read NIPs.
Question everything.
Trust no algorithm.
Post through it.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

#nostr #bitcoin #btc #sats #stackingsats #zap #zaps #zaplife #grownostr #plebchain #nostrich #nostriches #nostrmemes #nostrgang #nostrcommunity #nostrlife #nostrprotocol #nostrnetwork #nostrdev #nostrdeveloper #nostrplebs #nostrfreedom #nostrfuture #nostrmaxi #bitcoinmaxi #bitcoiners #bitcoincommunity #bitcoinmemes #bitcoinstandard #soundmoney #hardmoney #freedommoney #magicinternetmoney #digitalgold #decentralization #decentralized #decentralizedsocial #decentralizedfuture #freedomtech #freedomtechnology #censorshipresistant #censorshipresistance #permissionless #trustless #sovereignty #selfsovereignty #digitalsovereignty #financialsovereignty #privacy #privacytech #opensource #foss #linux #cypherpunk #cypherpunks #peer2peer #p2p #lightning #lightningnetwork #lightningbitcoin #lightningpayments #nip05 #nips #relays #relaylife #runarelay #runanode #nodeoperator #nodes #proofOfWork #hodl #hodlgang #orangePill #orangePilled #orangePilling #fixTheMoneyFixTheWorld #dontTrustVerify #verifyDontTrust #fiatIsDead #legacyMedia #legacyInternet #web3ButNotThatWeb3 #internetFreedom #freeSpeech #freedomOfSpeech #sovereignIndividual #value4value #v4v #zapOrItDidntHappen #21Million #21000000 #satoshi #satoshinakamoto #weAreAllSatoshi #satsAreTheStandard #stayHumble #stackHarder #fewUnderstand #youAreStillEarly #weAreSoEarly #actuallyWeArePreEarly #protoEarly #hyperEarly #postEarly #relayPilled #nipPilled #zapPilled #protocolPilled #ostrichPilled #decentralizeEverything #decentralizeTheInternet #decentralizeTheMoon #decentralizeMyToaster #runYourOwnEverything #algorithmFree #algorithmEscape #algorithmRefugee #socialMediaSolved #internetSolved #missionAccomplished #fixingTheInternet #oneNoteAtATime #signalNotNoise #signalGreaterThanNoise #maximumSignal #minimumEgo #probablyNothing #definitelySomething #thisIsTheFuture #theFutureIsNow #theFutureWasYesterday #permissionlessPosting #sovereignPosting #proofOfPost #proofOfMeme #proofOfOstrich #proofOfVibes #proofOfFreedom #distributedVibes #consensusByPosting #nakamotoSocialConsensus #relayConsensus #satPoweredThought #peerToPeerOpinions #immutableOpinions #censorshipResistantMemes #trustlessMemes #decentralizedMemes #sovereignMemes #memeSovereignty #freedomJPEG #permissionlessJPEG #satSignal #valueSignal #informationMoney #monetarySpeech #speechMoney #internetMoneySpeech #zapTheWorld #zapEverything #zapResponsibly #zapIrresponsibly #zapFirstAskQuestionsLater #nostrFixesThis #bitcoinFixesThis #probablyNostrFixesThis #ifNotBitcoinThenNostr #ifNotNostrThenBitcoin #relayUntilVictory #keepPosting #postThroughIt #stackThroughIt #zapThroughIt #decentralizeThroughIt #touchGrassButDecentralized #grassIsCentralized #25HoursADay #sleepIsFiat #coffeeIsProofOfWork #myBodyRunsOnSats #myBrainIsARelay #mySoulIsPermissionless #myOpinionsArePeerToPeer #centralizedClocksAreAProblem #thereAre25HoursToday #few

Based on some of the hopeful inspirational stuff I’ve seen floating around Nostr lately…

Apparently nature has achieved world peace.

The animals would like a word.

@rasha_ross 😇

#Nostr #NostrMemes #Memes #Satire #Animals #Nature #NatureIsMetal #Wildlife #Wholesome #Inspirational #RealityCheck #Humor #Funny #WTF #Catstr

@meowmeow

You have just been photobombed.

Nature remains beautiful, peaceful, harmonious, and absolutely innocent of all wrongdoing.

Please disregard the mouse tail.

#Nostr #Cats #Catstr #Nature #Wildlife #Wholesome #Animals #Photography #Photobomb #Meme #Memes #Funny #WTF #NostrMemes

#bitcoin #nostr #plebchain #meme #shitpost #memestr #sats #lightning #zap #nostrich