The Worth and Wealth of an Idea

The doors to the street opened. The rush of traffic buzzed. Endless streams of honking, muffled by the shuffling sounds of city life. Tony reached into his pocket for his lighter. Lighting his cigarette, he let out a gut-wrenching sigh, staring up at the sky asking the proverbial, “Why me?”

The meeting had not gone as he had hoped. His multi-million dollar online finance platform was his last-ditch effort to make it in the world. With his dreams dashed, he knew it would only be a matter of time before he found himself back at his parents, sleeping on the couch in the basement while he searched for employment. He felt crushed. He really thought this would be the idea that launched his new life of luxury that he always dreamed of.

“Taxi!” The New York native car pulled up with a slight screech.

“Where to, buddy?”

“The airport... I guess.”

“What’s got ya down, pal?”

“What? Oh. It’s just the meeting I just had. Could’ve been big, y’know? Turns out it’ll never happen.”

“I wouldn’t let that get you down. The world’s full of opportunity!”

Tony scoffed. Ready to launch his quip, “Right, and this coming from a cab driver”, he was interrupted...

“That’ll be $25.”

They were at the airport. Time had disappeared into the vortex of Tony’s spinning thoughts.

Digging around in his pockets, the cab driver would say something that would change the course of Tony’s life, and the future of the world as he knew it.

“Just Tap your phone on the debit machine. It’s funny, these days I wonder if there really is money going from place to place or if it’s all just some made-up number on the computer!”

“Made-up number on the computer?” Tony mulled to himself.

His mind would continue racing through the duration of his flight. He kept coming back to that one word: Made-up. What does give money it’s value? What gives anything value? Who says someone can’t create the idea of something having value? And if they could, who’s to say otherwise?

Arriving home, Tony began planning, asking himself, “Where is the future headed? If there was a currency of tomorrow, what would it be?” The answer to his question cane quickly: digital! A digital currency! But where would one mine the material or substance which would make up this digital currency? He pondered this problem for a while until it hit him: I’ll mine it from the origins of the internet itself: old, original computers. There’s gotta be some sort of entity that people can draw from these old machines to the equivalent of my new monetary unit.

Tony knew his way around computers. Spending time in his teens tearing them apart and rebuilding them, he knew where to look for said entity.

His plan was devised. Now, to launch the idea to the world. He knew that to gain the trust of the world, he would need to start with the computer savvy. In his mind, once they were convinced, the rest of the world would dogmatically follow.

For this to work, Tony knew he would have to act fast. He began spreading the word: “Bitcoin, the currency of tomorrow! Invest now!”

Sure enough, support began pouring in. Questions were asked initially, but like Tony, these computer savvy elite were also looking for the life of luxury they could only dream of. And Tony was offering a highway to their dreams.

Support grew steadily, picking up pace. So much so that a Bitcoin stock emerged on the stock market. The idea had taken root. Tony ensured his bases were covered, and slowly faded into cover of anonymity, ensuring a clean getaway from the fabrication he had created.

The world was fooled, but not for the first time. Tony had realized a weakness in human society and leveraged it to attain the life he always wanted.

To this day, his identity and whereabouts remain a mystery. For his supporters, like Tony, they will never need another cent. That is, until the new currency makes its debut, deeming all other wealth of the world as real as the ideas we invent.