Either We're Very Early or We're Very Wrong
Internet Computer Protocol being at $2 makes it very obvious that either we are very early or we are very wrong. I'd say 80 percent of the time, we are very early. But I can't help thinking about the 20 percent of the time that we're very wrong, that this is not going to work out. So I'll talk about both the 80 and the 20 scenarios here, and I'll actually start with the very wrong scenario, because I know I talk so much about how we're very early and this is the future. I believe that for the most part, but I'm not naive — I realize I could just be sitting here getting wrecked. I've lost a lot of money investing in Internet Computer Protocol already, and so have so many of you. Although technically, if you haven't sold, you haven't lost anything. Everything I say here is my own experience and speculation, not any kind of financial advice.
The Very Wrong Scenario
There are two basic ways we could be very wrong. One: if the world is a horrible place where selfish, self-centered people consistently rip everybody else off and do anything they need to control and dominate others — if integrity and any kind of human decency don't matter in this world — then we may be very wrong about Internet Computer Protocol. Because what's special about ICP is that it gives us a better infrastructure for the future that we can all build on instead of using centralized tech. That's very important, and it's why ICP is set up to offer huge value to the world. But what if the world is run by people who don't want value? What if all they want are systems to control people, make people do what they're told, and make people think what they're told to think? And what if ICP gets in the way of that? Then we're going to be very wrong.
Now, I think ICP is the future and we're very early. But we have to acknowledge that maybe cybercrime is not just random hackers in North Korea or something. Maybe cybercrime is mostly being done by insiders stealing from their own companies — inside jobs. If that's the case, then something like ICP is not desirable in that scenario. And if the goal of all this technology online is to control how everyone thinks, then any infrastructure that makes it easier for people to build their own things and think independently — and not be controlled by the existing big tech systems — would be suppressed. If the goal of crypto is simply to rip off most people, get people to invest in garbage, and trick people out of their money, then ICP may never rise. Because in that world, the whole point of crypto is not to give value to people and make a better financial world; it's to continue the same value extraction that has been happening throughout all of human history with money. And even in the utopian scenario, where we're all just tapped into our telepathy and we do whatever we need to do to serve the planet every day, ICP is not needed in that scenario either — but it doesn't matter, because money and wealth are not going to matter in that scenario either. So I'm very aware that we could be wrong about ICP.
The Secret Competitor Possibility
There's also the possibility that somebody is working on, or about to launch, something just like ICP. None of the existing blockchains look like they have the capacity, but it is possible — although unlikely — that migrations will happen. Maybe Microsoft or Google or somebody has been secretly working on their own version of ICP, and they're just going to release it. We've had things like ChatGPT that came out, really changed the world, and is still at the forefront, if not the leader, in AI — I certainly use it every day. If somebody else has been trying to make something better than ICP, they certainly would be keeping it absolutely secret. And if they release it and put big marketing behind it, ICP still could have some utility going forward, but it won't get the adoption.
So those, to me, are the main two big scenarios for being very wrong: the world is an awful place where everybody is lying and cheating and stealing from you constantly — at least at the top, maybe not on an individual family basis — or this whole reality is designed to farm suffering, in which case we're going to keep suffering.
Why I Think We're Just Very Early
But I think most of the time, we're just very early. And I'm not wrong about technology most of the time. Most of the time, I'm positioned way ahead of things. I was on Facebook in 2005. Nintendo in the 80s. I went all in on creating online courses in 2014. I'm usually way ahead of things technologically — that's one of my gifts. Now, there are lots of things I'm not gifted at, like fashion. And dating has been taking some work lately, as I talked about in a recent dating video, where I gave you the entire saga of meeting this beautiful, amazing woman at yoga, escalating things, getting everything almost there — and then it all just collapses and falls apart, and I don't even end up with a kiss out of it. So I was very wrong in that scenario, and I'm very aware of the possibility of being very wrong.
But when I look at the actual technology — when I use the technology behind ICP every day to host my website, when I see what's happening on the dashboard, how advanced all of this is, how it's actually working — this, to me, looks like the future. It's not guaranteed that it's the future, but I think we're just early.
ICP Feels Like Bitcoin in 2014
I remember sometimes almost giving up on stuff. With Bitcoin, I was very early, and there was a while in 2014 when everybody told me it was just my addictive personality that had me into Bitcoin. That's what people said: you need to stop this Bitcoin, you're addicted to it. That looks pretty silly right now, doesn't it? ICP seems like Bitcoin to me. I was in Bitcoin five years in, and I was still very early on it. It was a huge deal, and almost nobody knew about it, and almost nobody who heard of it had any interest, and the entire system was flooding against it — anyone in any position of power was trashing Bitcoin, probably while they were secretly accumulating.
So to me, ICP feels like Bitcoin in 2014. People like me were very excited about it, but I didn't get that excitement back from hardly anybody in real life. Give us another 12 years — and I sure as hell hope it doesn't take 12 years — but given another 12 years, I believe the internet may be rebuilt on ICP, starting with hosting. To me, that's the more probable scenario. Because I don't think the world is a horrible place of pure value extraction. I think most of life is love and joy and connection. It's people showing up for their families. It's people giving everything they can to serve others. Yes, there are a few self-centered people who rip off, steal from, and cheat almost everybody on earth. But for those of us who try to serve others, one of the best ways to serve is to stop other people from ripping everybody else off and lying to and cheating them. My videos are out here to help stop all these people in crypto who are lying, cheating, and ripping you off.
So Relax
In my opinion, an ICP price of $2 doesn't make any sense based on the technology — we're just super early. This is just a quick post to help you relax, because I know when the price is $2 and you're seeking validation through external metrics, it looks bad. But the question is: are you very early, or are you very wrong? That's what it comes down to. If we're very early, the price now makes perfect sense. If we're very wrong, the price now makes perfect sense too. Which one is more likely? When my website is hosted on ICP and I'm using the technology every day, my instinct says we're very early — because I'm using the tech, I know how good it is, and I've seen this play out with a bunch of different technologies before. So relax.
If you want to talk to me, I'm only reading comments in my Skool community from now on — and you can access the ICP blockchain on the way there. Join the Jerry Banfield Family: you can pop in there and comment, and that's the only place I make posts. If you want more details on my life, if you want to support, if you want to be in there and say hi or direct message me, or if you want to connect with other people on the same wavelength, join us in there.
For more of my thoughts on the Internet Computer, check out my ICP Crypto playlist.