This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
A listener wants to create Kickstarter for crypto. That would be cryptocurrency. Is this a side hustle, a billion dollar idea, or a pipe dream? Well, you know what? In this day and age, it could be any of them, or maybe even more than one of them.
We are fulfilling that Chinese proverb about living in interesting times. I don't know about you, but every week or so, when I see the latest thing about meme stocks or NFTs or the hundreds of cryptocurrencies, in fact, that have debuted in the past year for billions of dollars in market capitalization, I just have no idea what to think sometimes. Like sometimes I'm like, wow, we are living in the future. Other times I'm like, I don't understand this at all. And other times I'm like, I have no idea what's coming next.
All right, so last month I was gonna make a joke on Twitter. I was gonna say, I'm making an NFT that explains what NFTs are. But then I saw that somebody actually did that and it sold for more than $100,000. NFT, by the way, is a non-fungible token. It's essentially digital art that is for sale.
So clearly I'm in the wrong business. But to our question today, our listener has a question, and I forgot to say, welcome to Side Hustle School. My name is Chris Guillebeau, so glad you're here. Our listener wants to know, what about a charity component for some of this? Can he set up a cryptocurrency charity pledge system?
Something to that effect. So we'll hear more in his question right after this quick message from our sponsor. [Music]
Hey Chris, this is Tyler. And I've been a fan since the $100 startup. I'm sure you've seen the news about Bitcoin rising to sky high levels in the past year.
Between that and Ethereum and Elon Musk tweeting about Dogecoin, I feel like cryptocurrency is finally having its day. I'd like to start something like GoFundMe, but with a twist. All pledges must be made in Bitcoin, or maybe some other digital currencies at some point. I'll make money by charging a 10% transaction fee on all the campaigns. I know this isn't a mainstream idea.
It's more for the community that loves crypto, but I feel like this is a solid concept, but I'm worried it's more than I can handle on my own. When I think about everything that's involved, I start thinking maybe I'd be better off reselling textbooks and just enjoying the Bitcoin news as a hobby. Am I wrong? Looking forward to what you have to say about this. [Music]
Tyler, thanks for listening, man.
Thanks for the question as well. So GoFundMe for crypto. I think I said Kickstarter earlier, but the greater point is some type of crowdfunding campaign, but with all pledges being made in Bitcoin with this charitable component, et cetera. So a couple of things here. First of all, as for the idea itself, as I said in the introduction, I mean, anything is possible.
I would not predict much of anything in this world. I certainly wouldn't rule anything out. I remember when I was first learning about Bitcoin a few years ago, and some people, some really smart people said, "It's gonna be worth $200,000 one day. Like one Bitcoin will be $200,000." And others said, "It will be worth zero." And they were all smart. Like they were all smart people, but they had completely different opinions.
And it seems like Bitcoin is going closer to the $200,000 than the $0. But again, who knows where it's all going to end? So I really don't know myself. Someone spent $69 million or something like that on a single digital artwork a month or so ago. Again, anything is possible.
But what I do know, let's focus on that. Number one, you need to understand who the market is. Like who is going to support this endeavor? The cryptocurrency is having its day. Yes, absolutely.
There is very much. A broad community of people who love crypto and blockchain and everything associated. So you need to make sure that you understand the market's language. What are their needs? What are their strengths and weaknesses, let's say.
There's probably a lot more we could say about that. But the point is like, who is going to support this endeavor? Who is the market within the market? The sub-market, let's say. Lastly, I think the most important point here is what Tyler said about, "I'm not sure I can handle it on my own." My response to that is it kind of depends on your skills and capacity because there is a lot to do with this.
I mean, it is going to be a resource-heavy project, maybe not necessarily with money, but definitely in terms of skill and time invested and so on, like to do it properly. And I think it was, was it a 19-year-old who invented Ethereum on his own, which is now the second largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. But me personally, like I couldn't do that when I was 19 or now or any time. So I tend to think it's a big mission. It sounds a bit more like a startup than a side hustle.
That's my overall take here. But as always, like if Tyler is going gung-ho or listeners, if you've got a crazy idea out there, never let me or anyone else dissuade you. So it's kind of like that. Is it your life-changing mission? Is it the thing you want to do more than anything?
Go do it. If it's not, well, then take a hard look at it and say, might there be something that's better for me now? That's my take. Again, Tyler, thank you. Listeners, thank you.
If you have a question of your own, come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. We'll be featuring them throughout the year, along with any digital art that I decide to sell for $69 million. I'll keep you posted on that. Be sure you subscribe so you get all the updates on that. Plus, of course, a new episode every day.
All right, I wish you well. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
from the Onward Project.
