{"id":9418,"date":"2022-03-18T22:48:13","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T22:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/crypto\/how-i-met-satoshi-the-mission-to-teach-100m-people-about-bitcoin-by-2030\/"},"modified":"2022-03-18T22:48:15","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18T22:48:15","slug":"how-i-met-satoshi-the-mission-to-teach-100m-people-about-bitcoin-by-2030","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/crypto\/how-i-met-satoshi-the-mission-to-teach-100m-people-about-bitcoin-by-2030\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018How I met Satoshi\u2019: The mission to teach 100M people about Bitcoin by 2030"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Du\u0161an Matuska is \u2014 among many other things \u2014 a Bitcoin educator and consultant. The Slovak\u2019s dream is to educate 100 million people about Bitcoin by 2030 through talks, podcasts, webinars, workshops and even a Bitcoin education center in a far-flung destination (plans are currently under wraps).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alongside his Bitcoin teaching aspirations, he assists on a small-scale Bitcoin mining facility in Slovakia, he co-founded the crypto caf\u00e9 known as Paralelni Polis in the country\u2019s capital, Bratislava and he\u2019s translated well-known Bitcoin books into his native tongue, Slovak. <\/p>\n

But, how did he get here? And, what does meeting Satoshi have to do with it? <\/p>\n

It starts with Bitcoin, which he first heard about Bitcoin in 2015. But, like many people, \u201cI didn’t take a lot of notice. I thought it was a scam, it was a pyramid scheme and all these kinds of things,\u201d he told Cointelegraph.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, equipped with a background in mathematics and buoyed by the enthusiasm of a tenacious friend fascinated by open source technologies, Matuska not so much fell but swan dived down the rabbit hole during the 2017 bull run. <\/p>\n

He suddenly realized, \u201cOh my God, this Bitcoin thing is something really amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matuska in his trademark Bitcoin sweater. Source: Matuska<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He took time off his teaching and consulting jobs to study Bitcoin. Within months, he deployed his public speaking skills to give the first free talks of many about Bitcoin. At his first \u201copen workshop, where 40 or 50 people came\u201d in early 2018, something had begun to click.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeaching something that I have a passion for feels natural to me. I gave webinars, consultations, free talks, all these kinds of things related to Bitcoin. Then, we founded Paraleln\u00e1 Polis in Bratislava.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The crypto cafe \u2014 as it\u2019s also known \u2014 is the baby brother to the Paralelni Polis caf\u00e9 in Prague, Czechia. It\u2019s a cafe rooted in alternative learning, or \u201cparallel education,\u201d which harks back to when Czeckoslavia endured communist rule. <\/p>\n

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Paralen\u00e1 Polis or the “crypto caf\u00e9” coffee shop and meeting space. Du\u0161an Matuska is on right crouching with glasses. Source: Matuska.\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is an apt epithet for a safe space to learn, tinker with and eventually use cryptocurrency, \u201cno fiat is allowed,\u201d Matuska added.<\/p>\n

The parallels of teaching about restricted worlds during the communist regime and learning about an alternative financial world where fiat currency is surplus to requirements are clear-cut at the cafe. Matuska explained:<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, the idea was not to fight against the system but to build up a parallel system. The same as Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a peaceful protest against the system. It\u2018s not going to break things, but slowly it will make them obsolete.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While helping out as a barista at the cafe, Matuska spoke to unassuming crypto enthusiasts, from 73-year-old former bankers to senior citizens curious about transacting with crypto.<\/p>\n

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Elderly women learning about Bitcoin at a bazaar run by the crypto caf\u00e9 in Slovakia. Source: Matuska<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI often use the example of the 73-year-old man when educating people about Bitcoin. If he can learn how to use a Bitcoin wallet and how to pay with Bitcoin, anyone can.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Better yet, the reason why the septuagenarian transacted via Bitcoin is that it was \u201ceasier for him than it was to use online banking.\u201d Matuska confirmed to Cointelegraph that the elderly man was not, in fact, Satoshi Nakamoto. <\/p>\n

While sadly, the Bratislava crypto cafe closed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Prague cafe lives on. Plus, the foundations were laid and Matuska had two epiphanies: Bitcoin is for everyone and Bitcoin solves problems. <\/p>\n

For Matuska, whether it\u2019s sending money to a cousin in the United States, bequeathing money to grandchildren or simply \u201chelping people save money to fight inflation,\u201d it\u2019s not just some cool tech or \u00a0\u201cnumber-go-up technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

One day, when his girlfriend queried \u201cmy teaching colleagues are asking about how to educate kids about Bitcoin. Is there a book for them?\u201d Matuska shifted his focus from teaching adults to teaching children as well.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the help of other Bitcoin educators in the space,\u00a0as well as a successful crowdfunding campaign, Matuska has sent over 2,000 Bitcoin books to schools across Slovakia, translated by himself and his team into Slovak.<\/p>\n

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Slovakian schoolchildren reading \u201cBitcoin Money.\u201d Source: Matuska\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Expanding his Bitcoin education aspirations into schools was a deft move. He\u2018ll need all the help he can get to reach the goal of educating 100 million people about Bitcoin by 2030. To keep track of the numbers, Matuska used to keep \u201can excel spreadsheet, then I used to count YouTube video views but there was too much overlap.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s now working on a series of metrics to reach his goal, undoubtedly tracking the number of downloads on the Bitcoin podcasts he records. <\/p>\n

In the podcast series, the Slovak answers common questions and thought experiments he was exposed to during his Bitcoin teaching. Among the most popular questions and, in fact, the first podcast he recorded, is a riff on Satoshi Nakamoto\u2019s anonymity. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s called, \u201cHow I met Satoshi,\u201d and refers to a theoretical meeting with the creator of Bitcoin. Matuska explained:<\/p>\n

\u201cJust like Pythagoras and his theorem, we don\u2019t actually need to know if he was a good guy or a bad guy; if he was orange, blue, yellow or black, whatever. The key thing is that the Pythagoras theorem works again and again.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Related:\u00a0One man’s plan to orange pill a nation: Bitcoin Senegal<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It is possible to mathematically prove that the Pythagoras Theorum works thousands of years after his death. \u201cIt will be the same for Satoshi\u2018s calculations.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Matuska \u201cmeets\u201d with Satoshi, it\u2018s more about the real \u201cmeeting\u201d that occurs when you begin to engage with the works of a genius, whether it\u2018s Einstein, Michelangelo or Aristotle.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, for the founder of Bitcoin, Matuska shares that we \u201cshould be happy that we don\u2018t know who this person is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best thing that Satoshi did was to create Bitcoin. The second best thing Satoshi did was to evaporate.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n