Crypto friend, comrade and brother

Almost every country has cryptocurrency communities where like-minded people can find each other. There are websites that help people search for such communities, forums, chats or meetups in a particular country. The crypto community is being formed in the same way, at least among young people.

When Mark Koenigsberg was going to London, he asked in a chat if any of his cryptocurrency friends would be nearby at that time. One of the guys offered to pick him up at the airport. 

On the way from the airport to Cambridge, they talked about how virtual money would lead to the same revolution in the financial system that email led to in the postal service.

“I was attracted to bitcoin primarily by technology, but I fell in love with bitcoin when I met other people who love bitcoin. I have never encountered such a helpful, friendly and honest community,” said Koenigsberg, a 38-year-old South African. 

The outside world considers the crypto community to be a kind of free flock, and some of its members, indeed, fit the definition of anarchists who try to crush the world's central banks during the day and sit in strip clubs at night. But many are simply nerds whose hearts skip a beat at the prospect of turning coding, public wallets, and complex mathematics into revolutionary technology. They hope to radically change the world for the better and take money out of the control of the ruling elite. Some don't even want to get rich in the process. They prefer to be hodlers (crypto slang for those who keep their investments to themselves).

This is also a group of people consisting primarily of men. Even the word “comrade” itself has no feminine equivalent. Many help each other with advice, can pick you up from the airport and even provide financial assistance, but the doors there are closed to women. For them, it is an inaccessible and sometimes downright hostile environment. For example, a bitcoin conference in Miami, at which several women were promised to give the floor, was postponed for a networking event at a strip club. And the women who complained about this were humiliated and ridiculed on social networks.

According to researcher Coin Dance, the bitcoin community is 90% male and almost half of them are young people from 25 to 34 years old. Many of them came to the world of cryptocurrency from male-dominated fields such as coding and finance, or from news sites like Reddit, where the majority of users are male...

In a system designed to eliminate dependence on government, banks and third parties for financial transactions, the men who support this system stand in solidarity with each other in life and online.

When Luke Dahir's Tampa home was destroyed by a hurricane in September, the bitcoin community through Medium, Reddit and Twitter decided to raise 5 bitcoins, or about $20,000 at the time, to reimburse him for the losses. This assistance was increased by another 3.5 bitcoins to restore the network and Dahir could continue coding.

When Bitcoin follower Andreas Antonopoulos spoke online about his financial problems, hundreds of like-minded people who knew him only through the network came to his aid. Antonopoulos, who has written several books on bitcoin and is a popular speaker on the subject, is now a bitcoin millionaire.

There is a growing global community that began just over a decade ago from a mailing list of technicians who discussed cryptography and the features of digital currency. In October 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto's nine-page PDF containing the bitcoin development plan was sent to a group of people who called themselves "cypherpunks."

As bitcoin's popularity grew, so did its number of passionate followers. People going against the grain and driven by their business potential flocked to online forums such as 4chan and Reddit, where they had heated discussions, updated each other on the latest news, and exchanged memes that have since become cryptocurrency slang.

For women, however, the crypto market is a minefield. Jennifer Lee, a former professional poker player who now sells cryptocurrency and makes infographics explaining the technology behind it, said her Twitter posts are often accompanied by disparaging remarks about her gender.

She runs a Facebook page with 2,300 followers where she supports and encourages women interested in cryptocurrency. Participants constantly complain and wonder why there are so many idiots among the men in the cryptocurrency community. Still, Lee said she sees more good than bad and is proud to be part of what she called the digital revolution...

“I've learned to brush off misogyny and trolling, I teach women not to take it personally, it's not normal and it shouldn't affect them. Comments about gender are made by people who are super insecure,” says Lee.

There are sometimes arguments among crypto comrades. For example, disagreements over how to scale Bitcoin have led to violent public clashes. Last year, some community members wanted to improve Bitcoin with technologies that threatened to disrupt the main chain. Other members of the community opposed them. There were insults from both sides, long rambling posts were written, and even threats of physical harm were made.

Despite the disagreements within the community, Mark Koenigsberg said that he considers his participation in the digital movement to support a system that will change the world, and that he is happy to be part of a community that is not only smart, but also kind, at least to him. “I’m an idealist when it comes to technology, but the character of the Bitcoin community is one of its strengths and the best bonus for Bitcoin owners,” says Koenigsberg.

According to https://www.bloomberg.com