[Enters time machine back to December 2017]

[Fast forward two months]

Yup, the start of my Bitcoin journey has the same starting point as many others. In fact, probably some of you reading this right now. And if that is the case and you are still here, congrats!

We have made it through our first bear cycle together. Who knows what’s next. But one thing I do know is that it’s going to be exciting.

But in the case of my story, something happened between late 2017 and now that led me to not only want to hodl Bitcoin, but to also want to give back and make the journey easier (and more fun) for the generation coming behind all of us. As I dove deeper down the rabbit hole, spending countless hours on Bitcoin Twitter and consuming as many podcasts as possible, I saw the extreme growth going on. New exchanges here, hardware wallets there, mining equipment, books, podcasts and videos…the list kept growing and growing. This growth did two things for me:

• It gave me more and more confidence that Bitcoin wasn’t going anywhere. There were too many smart people doing awesome work and investing untold millions of dirty fiat to support Bitcoin’s growth.
  

• It highlighted a glaring hole in the industry: Bitcoin education products. Specifically, education that is fun and engaging for both kids and adults.

Yes, we need the great minds diving deep into the complex aspects of Bitcoin. But the majority of people, especially kids, are not going to want to dive that deep down the rabbit hole. At least not at first. They will hear the words multisig, lightning network and hash rate and fall asleep faster than you know it.

They want things simple and straightforward. And you know what? That’s perfectly fine!

I may not be great at a lot of things, but one thing I know I am skilled at is taking a complex topic and trying to make it as simple as possible. With that confidence inside me, I knew my way of diving deeper into the world of Bitcoin and helping the future hodlers would be to put that skill to the test. It’s with that frame of mind that SHAmory was born!

As I learned more about how mining works (full disclosure, I’ve never mined myself) I realized that in its simplest form it comes down to two things: a target and a nonce.

Once the target is set, miners compete to find the correct nonce. Finding the correct nonce creates a hash that “matches” the set target. If that’s done, a block is mined!

Is there a lot more that goes into all of that? Of course! But guess what, it’s ok to not want to get lost in the details.

And if you boil it down to be this simple, isn’t the “matching” of a target and nonce very similar to playing the card game of memory? A simple and fun game that we probably all played as kids.

Take that one step further. Isn’t it fair to say that the brain energy a player uses while playing memory is similar to the electrical energy used by the hardware hashing away competing to mine blocks and secure the Bitcoin network? Yes, yes, it is.

It took about a year of playing around with this concept, creating prototypes and testing game rules to be confident in my idea. But in early 2020, I had the confidence needed in order to march forward with producing in launching the game.

And let me tell you, it’s been one of the best decisions I could have made. The feedback from parents and kids alike since starting to fulfil orders in July has been moving beyond words. To hear parents say that they now hear their kids chanting, “Bitcoin! Bitcoin! Bitcoin” as they play. Or how the game is also teaching them life lessons around how we are all working together to secure and support the blockchain, block by block. Yes, one player might earn more rewards, but we are all winners if the chain isn’t attacked!

To me there are three steps to onboarding new hodlers: First comes Bitcoin awareness, then education and finally adoption.

I am thrilled that SHAmory has started to fill a key void in that process. 

I’ll end with this.

If you are sitting on the sidelines wanting to get more involved in the Bitcoin space but don’t know how, the options are truly endless.

Start engaging. 

Reach out to people. 

Tell your story. 

We all have some skillset that can help move the Bitcoin industry forward. And if you have an idea, go for it. Nothing is too crazy. Who knows, maybe you will be the next one writing an article just like this.

And above all else: keep stacking those sats!