Introvert Talks - Chinese New Year and Cryptos

Welcome to Introvert Talks!

"Introvert Talks" is meant to be a new initiative or theme, where I myself as an introvert, just talk about reflections and thoughts about my life, or maybe share more personal stuff. :)

This is my weekly post under this "Introvert Talks" theme and let's see where it takes me and us.

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Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year, or some would call it Lunar New Year. It's a festival that is widely celebrated by Chinese all around the world, and it's a time where we spend time with our family and loved ones, gather with relatives and catch up over reunion lunches and dinners, and of course, enjoy lots of good food and yummy snacks as well.

Being an introvert, in a weird way, I do enjoy and dread these occasions at the same time because while it's good to spend time at gatherings and catch up with people, my energy level gets zapped pretty quickly and it can be mentally tiring. If you are an introvert, you know what I mean.

So my day started as early as 8am in the morning and ended around 9pm in the evening. And after getting some rest and taking a hot shower, I am here writing my reflections for the day.

This was actually an impromptu reflection because I didn't expect anything eventful to emerge from the visits, but I was pleasantly surprised that cryptos and bitcoin were mentioned and discussed in depth among a few of my cousins and relatives. That was totally unexpected!

I missed out on the first part of the conversation... But I think it started one older relative (A) in her 50s asking another person (B) what he was doing, and B happened to work for a crypto exchange, A started to enquire what cryptos are, how bitcoins work and stuff like that, because the man in the street's impression of bitcoins and cryptos in general are quite negative.

I listened on but didn't share that I own crypto or share any views since cryptos can be a controversial topic and I was also curious how the discussion would go. After A and B chatted for a while, A's son (C) came over to join his mum.

C was only in his early 20s I believe, and I was pleasantly surprised that not only he had an interest with cryptos, he actually understood many aspects of it. He could share information about how the public ledger of the blockchain worked. He could explain the scarcity of bitcoin as compared to gold or even apples. He even knew about what happened to FTX and was able to differentiate the incident from cryptos being a scam. He also knew about the latest news about how US was considering a potential crypto/bitcoin reserve. For a young guy in his 20s, who is usually very soft-spoken during Chinese New Year gathering, I must say I was very impressed with his knowledge and how he explained his thoughts coherently to everyone including his mum. It made me reflect, when I was his age, I didn't even know what was a bond or a stock/equity, all I knew about financial stuff was just fixed/time deposits.

This little discussion made me realise cryptos have indeed come a long way, such that it actually made its way into conversations during festive gatherings, and it's really heartening to see the young generation like C having an interest, not just speculating the meme coins, but actually having a genuine interest to learn about this "unconventional" asset class. And it's also positive that A, despite her initial skepticism about cryptos, listened with an open mind and made an attempt to understand others' view, instead of brushing off what young people think.

So that's my little reflection during this year's Chinese New Year. Time to count my red packet monies! Hehe!