Cryptocurrencies have bewitched the digital nomad. They rely on the network effect to increase value. Intertwining money with the internet has its challenges, but when the network works its magic the internet can provide value in an uncharted and profoundly disruptive way.

Online ecosystems now benefit from encouraging the effects of incentivised networking. Where the investor, the customer and the project symbiotically benefit from entering social media discourse. Combining token economics with marketing has built a powerful model for growth, a network effect which is backed by blockchain.

Money is a relationship between two individuals where the trust is distributed to value. Trust acts as the medium for exchange. In our governments we trust, therefore in fiat money we trust.

This week I read from a friends tee shirt: “money is one of society’s most remarkable yet poorly understood inventions” and I couldn’t agree more. As one of humanity’s most influential inventions. It is time for it to go truly global. Cryptocurrencies enable economic goals to be more specific, interests more refined, transactions more personal. It gives the individual power to utilize the capital they have always possessed. In the past one had to sacrifice this freedom in order to maintain security over their money, something an institution such as a bank provides. With the proliferation of cryptocurrencies and tokenised projects, the individual now has the ability to immerse themselves into an ecosystem they have an affinity with. These projects compete to for hard-earned savings and attention to try and make a real-world difference.

I’ve done an extensive tour of the cryptocurrency online communities, as I’m sure many of you have also done, so please let me know what your favourite is, why and how much time you spend in each of these communities. Here, I aim to share my experience of each; the good, bad, weird and wonderful.

It is in the best interest of all involved to promote the community’s growth, share knowledge and foster a positive ecosystem. A mutual interest in the success of a token allows for a positive discourse to be diffused among a plethora of echo chambers. These ecosystems foster relationships of shared, and crucially, decentralized trust between individuals, as opposed to between individuals and an institution or organisation. Tokenization gives projects the ability to socialize the market supply and demand.

When understanding the speculation for cryptocurrency markets, one must consider the infancy of the technology and rate of adoption. Value is being derived via speculation, and a pledge for adoption. Hence, price fluctuations are based on news, speculation and market focus, or ‘the spotlight’. The spotlight is often determined as a combination of rumor and verified news on Cryptocurrency Calendar and coins take turns on having the trading bulls on their trends. However, one thing is certain, good projects have good announcements.

Group Chats in their many varieties are the foundations of greater networks, so it should be the primary goal of coin communities to get into as many inner circle conversations as possible and build trust through advocates, otherwise known as ‘shills’.

One likes to Shill for coins

Shilling is an interesting concept, it is present in every group chat, and while it sometimes has negative connotations, I believe it is a healthy practice for the market and those involved. Discovering a shill’s interest should be the primary interaction when one first hears their preaching… think… what do they have to say and why? We all shill from time to time; it’s human nature to share what you think is important information to those who you care about. Sometimes this is in the hope that they will return the favour but most of the time it is in return, that is the nature of a network. The key is identifying the good from the bad with confirmation from your own research.

How to construct your Crypto Chat

The power of the group chat is not something to underestimate. Our lives are dictated by jumping in and out of group chats, from organizing dinners to your daily friendship group banter, work, study groups, you name it there is a group chat dedicated to that exact purpose.

If you’re into crypto you’d be aware how important it is to have an informed and disciplined social media echo chamber, one which dips into a variety of networks. Networks and the form they take range from a simple Facebook group chat into Facebook groups, Reddit posts and sub-reddits rabbit holes, into Discord servers or slack work-spaces, into paid channels and learning communities. The nature of hype makes word of mouth the most powerful marketing strategy for any cryptocurrency, and engaging group chats and the trust of their members through a shared faith in the project is essential to a successful crypto. This micro-level of idea diffusion begins the network effect. Once people are talking, they are buying.

All of these groups and networks have leaders; these leaders wield not only discursive power but also fiscal power and should not be underestimated by financial intuitions or currencies. The most successful ICO’s and currencies utilize these leaders voices to expand the network effect and therefore buying power. It is up to the members to identify if these leaders are providing positive knowledge and advice for a collective best interest. While most group members may be relatively insignificant when considered as individuals, within the grand market picture it is their ability to affect sentiment through content creation and social media diffusion which gives them power as a collective.

What networks are there to help your crypto chat?

Learning communities

Learning communities are leading the way in promoting holistic crypto adoption; they focus on cooperative fundamental analysis and collective learning as essential steps to making informed investment decisions.

These communities are started by individuals with distinguished voices on a variety of platforms, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter acting as primary mediums for providing content a population of early adopters seeking the best information. This is the first step to building a greater network. What is truly special about learning communities is that they empower mutual value from information sharing, the incentivised network effects. Once this information is robust and trusted, then a community of thinkers can gather and discuss. The most effective platforms I’ve used to participate in this step are Facebook, Slack and Telegram.

Nuggets News Australia provides a considered positive understanding of all things crypto related. His YouTube content provides individuals a gateway to information and is a catalyst for discovering incredible crypto projects with working products which will change the world for the better. He provides both diversity and quality information.

Nuggets News Australia aims to provide free education on crypto to all willing to listen, with a quest to educate Australians and the world about the importance and happenings of cryptocurrencies. Providing free content is the most effective way to achieve this because the most significant gains are made when a network begins to evolve into an ecosystem of ideas. Joining this network and Nuggets more specialized ‘Crypto Academy’ was one of the best decisions I made in 2017. It is a community that thrives on reliable information and sophisticated exchange of analysis, and where the community is committed to sharing what they have learned and adding to the collective knowledge pool. If each individual keeps their finger on the pulse the community won’t miss a beat.

I owe much of my understanding of cryptocurrency, networking and technology to the words Daniel Jeffries provides on Medium. He articulates the to and fro of crypto in a very engaging manner, often writing articles with such fluency you don’t realise how much you are learning in the process. Similarly to Nuggets News, the value he provides to the people who read and listen for free has built a community of like-minded people around him, the pie is infinite after all. He is across a few platforms; Facebook, DeStack and recently launched a Patreon.

There are so many crypto educators out there, particularly on YouTube & Twitter, and it is a matter of finding who suits you the most, so if you know of one which ticks this box, shill the comments away I’d love to grow my network.