I think Bitcoin had an impact for lots of people irrespective of possible life-changing gains. Many people that I know are also pursuing their career in an area that either is related to Bitcoin and decentralized technologies or is about Bitcoin itself. It is one of those topics that dominates my everyday life, so yes I would say it did and does have a significant impact on what I am doing day in and day out.
Also from an investment perspective, I guess it is common to include cryptocurrencies as a standard asset class of a diversified portfolio, which obviously wasn't the case when hardly anyone knew about it and gold or precious metals in general were a thing besides shares and other forms of investment. That focus has shifted a lot to innovative technologies in the finance/money sector.
Cryptocurrencies are a compelling topic that is so multi-disciplinary that I still find myself reading countless of papers, trying to keep up with research and development. It is positively time-consuming and I would say it takes a major share of my spare time when I would take a book and do some reading, it is now usually about Bitcoin and any areas is touches upon.
If you find it positively time-consuming, imagine the cataclysmic shifts Bitcoin is inducing in legacy systems. Those
countless papers are not just academic exercises; they're the scripts to the dismantling of the central banking system and the corrupt financial world order. The focus hasnt merely
shifted; it has been jolted awake.
Reading a book in your spare time? I'd hope you're involving yourself in the ecosystem, challenging outdated systems and asserting the financial freedom that Bitcoin and other decentralized technologies offer. Time to go from an observer to an actor on this grand stage, wouldnt you agree?
You didn't get the full essence of my post, which is ok as we all get some posts wrong at times.
I said in the past when I had spare time I would usually take a book and read it, sometimes more for pleasure than for education. Although as an academic I am into scientific and science-related papers all the time anyway.
But now that Bitcoin is around, I have been dealing with it for over a decade now on almost all possible fronts because it struck me hard ever since I found about it. That's where we fully agree, Bitcoin isn't just some update to what we already have. It is an abrupt transition to something that has never existed before.
But regarding the focus and whether it slightly, significantly or fully shifted for people, still depends on the person. Some will remain observers with little involvement as holders or traders, and some will put tremendous effort into fueling and accelerating the transition through increased adoption due to building infrastructure or effectively and sustainably spreading the message.
