LocalBitcoins is gone, but the spirit lives on
A stack of Bitcoins stands in this staged photo in Danbury, Britain, on December 10, 2015. Chris Ratcliffe—Bloomberg/Getty Images
The late Apple founder Steve Jobs, who oversaw the rollout of world-changing innovations such as the iPhone, preferred to spend his time with an earlier generation of inventors such as Intel’s Andy Grove and Robert Noyce, co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor. He explained why to historian Leslie Berlin.
“I wanted to smell the other amazing era in the valley, the semiconductor companies leading into the future. You can’t really understand what’s happening now unless you understand what happened before,” Jobs told her Silicon Valley story Trouble makers.
I thought of this story in light of last week’s demise of LocalBitcoins, a website founded in 2012 that hosted peer-to-peer crypto trading. In its early days, the site was best known for helping Bitcoin enthusiasts arrange in-person meetings so they could exchange crypto for cash in parks or coffee shops.
I never bought crypto this way myself, but I remember encountering such real cash-for-Bitcoin exchanges when I first started reporting on crypto, hearing users proclaim that “the only real way to buy Bitcoin was to buy it on the street.” Likewise, I’ve had a number of old-school crypto entrepreneurs tell me how they used LocalBitcoins years ago.
I say all this not to bemoan the end of LocalBitcoins, whose original service had become obsolete as a number of other companies emerged offering faster and more convenient ways to buy Bitcoin. Instead, I address the service in light of Jobs’ observation that it’s hard to understand current technology—whether it’s the world of chips or crypto—without knowing what came before.
Today, it is becoming increasingly rare to meet people, even among crypto professionals, who were around in the tough times when it was more like an undercover movement than a major financial industry. I enjoy meeting people like that not only because they have a deep understanding of the evolution of crypto, but because they have a scrappy, chip-on-the-shoulder defiance borne of perseverance in an era when most thought Bitcoin was only for criminals or idiots. .
And at a time like now, when U.S. regulators launch what could be the most severe crackdown on crypto to date, the first era of crypto provides a useful reminder that crypto has faced dark moments in the past and always survived. In other words, LocalBitcoins may be gone, but the spirit lives on.
Jeff John Roberts
[email protected]
@jeffjohnroberts
DECENTRALIZED NEWS
The The Security and Exchange Commission reportedly plans to sue Paxos in connection with the issuance of Binance-branded stablecoin known as BUSD. (WSJ)
Paxos will stop minting the BUSD stablecoin in response to pressure from the New York State financial regulator. (Coindesk)
Fundraising covers Shima capital show the crypto VC firm, backed by Bill Ackman and other bigwigs, reporting phantom 90x profits from tokens like Bitclout. (FT)
India intends to use its position as this year’s chair of the G20 to push for a global regulatory regime for crypto. (Bloomberg)
PayPal is halting its plans to issue a stablecoin due to increased regulatory scrutiny of its partner, Wall Street crypto firm Paxos. (Fortune)
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