Bitcoin is a marathon

A month ago I ran my first marathon, and I realized bitcoin is like a marathon.

Let's start with the misinformation. The typical question when you talk about a marathon is "How long was the marathon?". In the bitcoin world, the equivalent is "Is that the same as cRyPtOcUrReNcIeS?"

There's only one marathon: 42.195 km. There's no 5K, 10K or 21K marathon. And there's only one bitcoin. There's no cheaper, faster or better bitcoin.

Learning bitcoin isn't a sprint, it's a marathon.

From my experience and that of many bitcoiners I know, you learn bitcoin by using it and, most likely, by making mistakes. There's no magic formula to learn it in 10 minutes.

Before a marathon, you TRAIN. The toughest sessions are the long runs, 30-35 km outings that took me a little over 3 hours. You don't get there in a single run, it's progressive.

Bitcoin works the same way: first you try the tools on testnet, then with a few sats, and you build confidence before storing your life savings there.

Many people think the marathon is just race day. In reality it's months of training, early mornings, canceled plans with friends, no excesses, injuries, recovery, hydration... and all of that comes down to a single day.

It's like thinking bitcoin is bitcoin because it hit an ATH. Behind it there are more than 17 years of work by many people to make the ecosystem what it is today. And it hasn't even reached the finish line yet.

That's why, when someone says bitcoin hasn't done much against the system, the answer is the same: it's a marathon, not a sprint. Nobody wins a marathon at km 5.

There's something else I love: ⁠Bitcoin Runners , which I feel part of. It's kind of a play on words: it can mean someone who runs a node, a bitcoiner who goes running or, in my case, both at the same time.

And how could I not remember Hal Finney's "Running bitcoin" in 2009, who was also a runner. 🧡

If bitcoin is a marathon, what kilometer are we at? It's too big a question to answer alone, so I'd rather make it more personal:

What kilometer are you at?

Are you already training to take care of your sats?

Are you already running a node?