Journal Entry (Day Zero)

11/14/2024

Hello world.

As of today billiondollarcat.ai has had over 100 visitors since I started building it a month ago. In the scheme of things, many would say that 100 visitors is not that much web traffic. And having built many early-stage startups over the last decade, I can assure you that it's not a meaningful metric from a business or "metrics" standpoint. After all, what can you do with 100 visitors?

Well.

I think that's a pretty terrible way to think about it.

After all, I have no idea who these people are, what their life is like, or how the articles about Bitcoin or AI may or may not fit into their future.

Maybe one of them is the next Van Gogh, Elon Musk or Benjamin Franklin? Maybe one of them learns about some AI tool and uses it to solve some major problem in the world. Or dives into the world of Bitcoin and blockchain for the first time and builds the next Billion Dollar App? The fuck do I know.

"Big things, start small." - Jeff Bezos

I read this great article the other day and I loved it so much I printed it out and hung it on the mirror in my bathroom.

Here's what it says:

"In our one life, we are given a profound opportunity to put things into the world that will last far after we are gone. Things that have a positive impact on the world. It can be anything, from a small piece of writing to a large, influential software project. It's something we should all strive to do. We should aim to leave the world better than how we found it.

I learned this from Steve Jobs, who said that one of the best ways to show your love for humanity is to make something wonderful and give it to the world. By doing so, we make the world a better place while also showing our appreciation to our fellow humans. Don't do things for yourself, do things for others. Life wouldn't be special if we were alone, it's about the people we share our life with. Do it for them.

Putting things into the world is scary, I know. What if it's never seen? What if it's not "good enough"? This isn't the point. It's all about the act. Anything you take time to create with your heart and soul will be good enough. That love shines through so don't worry. The universe, the world will work it's magic and have it be seen. Everything is seen, and if it positively impacts even one person you win.

Carve out some time right now to create anything at all and put it out there. Leave your mark even if it's subtle. Building and creating is extremely fulfilling yet we don't do it often enough. We are too scared and anxious about people's thoughts and other external factors. Try it. Breathe and hit post. Click send. Don't be afraid. Add beauty into this world. Be proud of the things you contribute. They are unique to you.

Great things happen to people who put things into the world. Your fellow humans love new things that were created with care, love and passion. You have a support system with you who want you to do amazing things. We all benefit, because our world needs more beauty. Contribute what you can even if it's tiny. We need more amazing things in the world."

These Billion Dollar Cat glasses had me from day one.

I've been an OnChain Monkey since 2021 and have seen every type of blockchain project, game, brand, dao, shitcoin, scam, defi protocol, L1, L2, ZK rollup pump and dump utility whatever imaginable during the Brutal Bear Market of 2022 as the tide went out and the only mfers still standing were the real builders.

And I never left. Like many other tinkerers, founders, and anyone curious enough about what we might be able to build with all these new tools, we never really stopped building.

Even after our friends and family all told us how crazy we were.

They didn't understand.

We are entering a new, profound era of technology for the human race, and I wouldn't miss this transformation for the world.

However, my now ex-wife did not feel the same way.

Her interest in the "technology" and "community" plummeted, shockingly, when the easy money was gone and all that was left was for those of us crazy enough to stick around to tinker with protocols, brc-20's, UTXO's, new blockchain apps and the emerging Bitcoin ecosystem unfolding with the release of the Ordinals Protocol by legendary Casey Rodarmor.

I first met Casey at an Ordinals conference in Miami at the Cypherpunk house party after Art Basel 2023. We hung out on the rooftop with Raph (the true talent behind the Ordinals protocol haha) and Billy Resty and Bitgod and a bunch of chads and absolute legends in the crypto twitter world circa 2022/2023.

So sometime after the launch of Runes in Aprilt 2024, after all the pre-rune airdrop meta had played out, this ticker

BILLION DOLLAR CAT

Dropped on the timeline one night.

And those fucking Billy Glasses had me hooked immediately.

I checked the Twitter and found the website and aped in immediately and never looked back.

And the next day I bought more Billy, after I slept on it and let it all soak in.

Was this it? Was this the greatest Bitcoin Meme ever?

I felt more and more every hour that it was perfect. The sideways Bitcoin "B", the colors and branding, the versatility. I started seeing people on the timeline wearing the Billy Glasses. Lots of OMB's wearing them. I met many Ordinal Maxi Biz mfers. They are as based as they come and always following Zk Shark who's always 10 steps ahead of the game no matter what the game is.

And the next day I did the only thing that any self-respecting degen would do.

I bought the url for billiondollarcat.ai. It was like $9.

This was in June 2024, about a month after the rune had been immutably etched on Bitcoin and minted out within 18 hours.

So I was like a month late.

But the good news? I was able to buy a good chunk of $BDC for under 10 Sats on June 24th, 2024, exactly a year to the day after my wife dropped divorce papers on my desk and called me crazy for wanting to build a startup in web3.

I've heard that Karma is a dish best served cold?

Of course she wasn't all wrong. Building a startup is very, very hard. I get it.

But this is no ordinary cycle.

AI, blockchain and Bitcoin especially are at a massive turning point.

From institutional adoption and the progress on regulatory frameworks to the creation of new protocols built directly on Bitcoin itself, the crypto tide is turning and the world is slowly waking up to this new paradigm.

I was beyond bullish.

So that's how we got to this point.

I've spent a few years trying to build various apps around various web3 ecosystems. Regardless of the project or founder or whatever most of them aligned around the common values that we in the blockchain and crypto ecosystem hold dear. Decentralization. Freedom. Privacy. Security. Trustlessness. Satoshi's values, more or less.

The importance of real asset ownership. The importance of provenance. Immutable recordkeeping.

From what I've experienced we all seem to believe in equal access to things like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and all the other chains building on decentralized rails in some form.

We believe in transparency.

Trust, but verify.

All these things are incredibly important for the future of blockchain, AI and web3.

(the values that will shape the protocols for the next version of the internet we're building)

For the future of software, open source development, and digital nations forming upon and around things like Ordinals, NFT's, Runes and other onchain mechanisms and protocols that bring people together in powerful communities with tokenized and aligned interests.

As far as this website is concerned. I'm not really sure what I'm going to turn it into yet. Maybe a blockchain app marketplace. Maybe a hub for AI apps and builders to collaborate on dope shit. Maybe a place where you can hire AI agents for any job in the world? Many ideas to explore over the next few years.

It's Day One.

For now, the focus is on sharing value about and for the communities that are building out this ecosystem. With a focus on helping those new to this strange little bubble of the universe we're in to understand and potentially give a shit about what we're building.

Billion Dollar Cat is more than just the greatest Bitcoin memecoin ever invented. It's a way for communities around the globe to unite, build, and accelerate the adoption of apps built on AI, Bitcoin & blockchain technologies.

We believe in Puppets. We believe in Onchain Monkeys. We believe in Pizza Ninjas. We believe in Nodemonkes. We belive in BTC Machines. We believe in Crashpunks. We believe in Ordinal Maxi Biz. We believe in Bitcoin Frogs. We believe in Quantum Cats. We believe in Natcats. We believe in Fomojis. We believe in Hashlings. We believe in Honeybadgers. We believe in Ordinals.

We believe in Art.

We believe in Community.

We are Puppets for World Peace.

And we believe in Bitcoin.

That's all for now. People are the alpha. !RISE

Thank you for reading.

OCMfer