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[Source: Giphy](https://media.giphy.com/media/ycCorcEg3i946QRkAQ/giphy.gif)</center>
If you've followed me or participated in [my haiku contests](https://steempeak.com/haiku/@vdux/vdux-haiku-contest-hall-of-champions-update-december-26-2018), you realize I'm very optimistic about cryptocurrency, decentralized economies, and distributed networks. Steemit is exactly the type of platform I envision when I think of the way cryptocurrency will change the world. For that reason, I'm happy to continue supporting it in my own small way.

I hear a lot of people say "blockchain not cryptocurrency" but it seems to me like cryptocurrency is _the_ biggest, most valuable implementation of blockchain technology. I wrote about this on my personal site, "[One Thing You’re Getting Wrong About Cryptocurrency](https://markhelfman.com/2018/12/17/one-thing-youre-getting-wrong-about-cryptocurrency/)." It's a theme I plan to explore in many posts and (if I'm so fortunate) interviews, speeches, and conversations I may have if my book or blog gains any traction.

Speaking of my book, I am proud to announce my publisher has created my book's website. Go to [Consensusland](https://bit.ly/2Qi36xt) to learn more about it. While you can order directly from the publisher now using this link, we will also  have it listed on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, iBookstore, and other outlets within the next month. Supposedly it'll be distributed through all online bookdealers in eBook, paperback, or hard cover (whichever formats the retailer can support).

I wrote this book as a response to the media coverage of late 2017 / early 2018. At the time, it seemed like everybody was all hyped for all the wrong reasons. I saw everybody talking about crypto as either "amazing opportunity to get rich!" or "horrible stupid scam" with literally nothing in between. The conversations had no perspective, nuance, balance, or substance. The literature around cryptocurrency didn't help -- mostly technical manuals about distributed ledger technology, investment books about how to get rich in crypto, or treatises from anti-government anarchist conspiracy-theory types. 

I knew we needed something different and I wrote a book about an entrepreneur who tours a country that runs on cryptocurrency. The book features actual real-life cryptocurrency projects and serves as an allegory for the cryptocurrency space. It's more about the human aspects of cryptocurrency, how people think and feel and act when cryptocurrency is all they've ever known. The book explores different attitudes and perspectives on not just cryptocurrency but also our own systems of business, finance, and governance. 

My hope: that people will see cryptocurrency as something real, valuable, different, valid, and compelling, even they're not really interested in the concept. If I succeed, we will all benefit. More people will appreciate cryptocurrency, understand its pitfalls and potential, and use platforms like Steemit. Steemit will benefit and so will you.   
 
While I focus on the book, my blog, and any publicity opportunities that may come my way, I also need to keep my day job, follow through on some other commitments, and set aside time for family and friends. Selfish, yes, in one sense. Not in a different sense, though, because I'm spending a lot of time and effort raising strong, important questions about the status quo, the value of cryptocurrency, and the ways it will change the way we think about money, commerce, privacy, law enforcement, business...everything. People need to talk about these things. If my book nudges people to do that, I will, in my own small way, have contributed something important to you and everybody else.

There's an old proverb that I try to live by:

<center>If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
If I am only for myself, what am I?
If not now, when?</center>

I'm just trying to balance you, me, and now.

I'll continue the haiku contests as I can, starting with a new one soon. Keep steemin' people!

<a href="https://www.consensuslandbook.com/buy/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.consensuslandbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/header1-3.jpg" /></a>

<a href="https://smartsteem.com?r=vdux" target="_blank"><img src="https://smartsteem.com/static/smartsteem_banner.gif" /></a>

See who I'm delegating to: https://steembottracker.com/delegation.html