Over the past few weeks I have been thinking about writing analogies between the crypto and the professional sports worlds. Though separate, the two often have underlying messages that intertwine. In the first edition of this installment, I want to examine the similarities between Cash Satoshi’s Vision (BSV) and the Post Kobe Era Los Angeles Lakers.
Both the Lakers and BSV come from prestigious backgrounds. One shares similar code to the most well-known . While the other is the 8th richest sports franchise in the world and known for its 16 championships. Unfortunately, success has not been kind to them over the past few years. Their reliance on past achievements has not guaranteed any positive outcomes as the organization continues to search for a bright spot.
As for BSV, it all started in mid-2017 when there was a significant divide between developers, with regards to high transaction fees, block size, and censorship. The orchestrators of this hard fork were Roger Ver & Craig Wright who believed that their vision was truly what Satoshi Nakamoto wanted. It must be noted that Chris Wright is a fellow who to do this day believes he is the creator of (more on this later). On August 1, 2017, the hard fork commenced and thus Cash (BCH) was born.
Alright now that we have had a (somewhat) quick background, lets shift back over to the sports world. All while this fork business was happening, a Laker legend by the name of Erving “Magic” Johnson was hired as President of Basketball Operations. He was brought in to revitalize a team who not only had its worst record in franchise history but saw its megastar, Kobe Bryant, retire.
Tall task right? After forking the most popular chain and losing a legend, both Lakers and BCH faced a lot of questions heading into 2018. For the Lakers, not much changed, a fancy new point guard did not solve the larger issues plaguing the franchise. It was not until arguably the best player in the modern game, LeBron James agreed to bring his talents to Hollywood. With a player of his caliber, he should be able to attract more superstars and things are sure to change.
As for BCH, things were smooth sailing until Craig Wright stepped in yet again. Forks are common in the BCH world, but good ole Craig wanted to increase the block size to 128MB. Unlike last time, Ver disagreed and the Cash worlds were at war, well “hash war”. With the help of billionaire Calvin Ayre and his pool Coingeek, the two successfully forked into Cash Satoshi’s Vision (BSV).
Hash wars? Losing seasons? Unlikely saviors? All of this may seem a little farfetched but it gets better. Both groups believe they have turned their respective organizations in the right direction. Unfortunately signing the LeBron James did not bode well for their other free agent targets. Players like Paul George went elsewhere, while Kawhi Leonard had no interest in playing second fiddle. The constant rejection led to desperation which leads us to the Anthony Davis trade (or lack thereof). The Lakers, were willing to ship their young talent (along with their mothers) to the Bayou for AD. After weeks of speculation nothing happened, causing the organization more harm internally than good. The arrival of James as their latest in a succession of superstar imports was supposed to halt Hollywood’s longest period of suffering.
Remember how Chris Wright believes he is Satoshi Nakomoto? Unfortunately for him, there has been no concrete evidence presented that favors him being the pseudonymous figure. This has led to multiple people challenging him over the years. Well in 2019, he seems to have had enough and begun to send out legal papers to , most notably Hodlnaut & Peter McCormack. The reaction from this has led to a wave of support contrary to his intentions.
It couldn’t possibly get worse for these two groups right? Wrong. As of April 9th, Magic Johnson stepped down from his position as the Team’s President. Now a team which had a plan and direction now has an aging superstar, a youth core that will need to be paid, and are no longer the top free-agent destination. As for BSV, those legal documents got themselves into a bit of trouble when the largest exchange by volume, , that they would be delisting Craig Wright’s beloved coin.
So here I am, on an April morning, writing about a franchise that is a shell of what it used to be and a man who never seemed to take a hint. Now what can we learn from the actions of these groups you might ask? For one, the reliance on past performance does not guarantee future success. Those involved in crypto see it now, governments that fail to accept the benefits of this technology will make way for those that do. In the case for Craig Wright, we learned that one’s can impact one’s work. With questions surrounding both groups and no clear direction, maybe the Lindy Effect will take its course.
Published at Sun, 21 Apr 2019 21:05:51 +0000
