This is an opinion editorial by Anthony Feliciano, a Bitcoin event organizer and father of two.
On June 19, 2022, we’ll be celebrating Father’s Day and many of us will wonder, what do you get your father who has everything?
Well, if he’s a boomer, I bet he doesn’t have bitcoin. If your dad is like mine and the rest of my family, they probably have little to no interest in Bitcoin. To this day, when I call my parents they ask me how “Bit-CON” is doing. To their credit, like a lot of boomers — as well as most members of Congress, to the Warren Buffets alike — they would then crack a smile at that. They do correct themselves to say “Bitcoin,” but it gives me a chuckle when I hear it. Their well-mannered intent is there, so I appreciate it nevertheless.
As a newly Bitcoin-block-minted father myself, (I have two kids under two), I have taken the liberty and nicknamed their generation as “Covennials” (feel free to use it), and any parent who has had a child in the last two years will surely get a chuckle out of it. With kids as young as mine, they won’t be able to send me sats for Father’s Day this year, and that’s OK. It’s my duty and any other father’s out there — new, old or just becoming a dad — to stack sats for our kids.
I was going to make this an open letter to my kids, but for this year’s Father’s Day, it is better to address all Bitcoin fathers out there. It’s not only our duty but our obligation, as fathers, to continue to stack sats for our children no matter their age. I look at my kids and the world today, and wonder what the future will look like for them in five, 10, 20, 50 years from now. I can’t predict the future or begin to know the shape of it, but what I know today is that Bitcoin gives me a sense of hope and a degree of freedom from current economic and geopolitical happenings, because I am able to pass something of value on to them. If I am able to teach them what I’ve learned down the rabbit hole, then they too have a future.
For all of the Bitcoin fathers out there, take time to reflect on your journey down the Bitcoin rabbit hole and how you will be able to share that knowledge with your kids. They may not get it today, but at some point they will. Take the time to not only talk about the ethos surrounding Bitcoin, but also the applications, how to spend, transact, send, receive etc. Everything that we are able to teach them today can only be of future value to them.
It is our obligation as fathers to set our kids up for success. No matter what their interests are, make sure Bitcoin is part of the conversation. This is our duty, not only to give our kids an alternative to the future, but to share the knowledge that is required for them to be successful in it as well. It is with our knowledge of Bitcoin that we are able to share with them a path forward. No matter how this Bitcoin social experiment turns out in the future, wouldn’t it be amazing to hear your kids say, “Yeah my dad/grandpa was a part of the beginning of it”?
Happy Father’s Day to all you Bitcoin dads out there.
This is a guest post by Anthony Feliciani. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.