Slay Your Heroes
by Sosy
In the Bitcoin world, there is a saying: “Slay your heroes.” It is to remind us that one man is not the network. That leaders are a risk. The only king is the //protocol. It was a rule I understood, something for other people maybe. I never thought it would be my story to tell. But then, in a restaurant in Prague, the story found me.
I was in the best steakhouse in the city. So much red meat and expensive wine. We paid with fiat money, of course. I saw a known CEO of a Bitcoin company go into a private room. And the main man himself, Michael Saylor, was in the room too.
It was not my place and I didn’t even try to go in but the world is funny sometimes, and the toilet was just next to their special room. So later I went to the toilet, I’m washing my hands and I hear this voice. I knew it was Saylor. When I came out of the door, he was right there.
So, there he was. The man who put Bitcoin in the big companies. The giant. And in this moment, I saw how strange it all was. We were only two men, standing in a hallway.
He was looking at my t-shirt. “I like your t-shirt,” he said and pointed at the symbol on it.
“Not so many people know who he is,” I said.
“It’s Satoshi,” he said, very serious. “We need more of that.”
Inside, I was laughing. It was so funny. He, the big famous man asking for more of the ghost, the man who is the symbol of no leaders. A king talking about the revolution. A voice in my head told me to do something. So I gave him a small, friendly tap on his shoulder.
I looked him in the eyes. “So,” I asked him, “You’re into Bitcoin too?”
Nothing.
The air felt tight. His business smile was gone. He was looking for the joke, trying to understand what I wanted. But I wanted nothing. It was not a joke. It was a real question, from one person in the network to another person, with no big man and no small man.
I looked at him for one more second. Then I just turned and walked away. I did not need him to answer. The hero was gone. With only a simple question that made him just a normal man.
But the real story started after this. We left the restaurant and went into the Prague night. We found a Bitcoiner party. It was not a private room. It was a beautiful chaos of people outside in the warm air at a bar. Here, I found my real people. Not the CEOs. The normal people. The anonymous people. The people from the internet who are building the future.
I hugged a friend I met before in Lugano and then I was introduced to a group of plebs. Anons from the DSB group. There were no important people here. No levels. Only a shared love for Bitcoin and a very fast culture of memes. For example, someone trips on the stairs, and three minutes later there is a legendary meme about it on X. This is our folklore, our story, made by all of us. These are the real kings. It felt like coming home.The feeling was overwhelming.
For the rest of the conference, I was with them. Partying with them, staying in the same hotel, living in the same happy chaos. We were on a boat with the Ocean team, RatPoison remade my avatar, Stackchain Magazine asked me to write for them and suddenly I was not just watching anymore. I became part of it.
When I flew home, back to my normal, quiet life, the silence was so loud. It was a feeling… like when you stop taking a drug. Cold Turkey. I was not missing the parties or the alcohol. I was missing the signal. I was missing the feeling of being home.
VIP tickets are nice. To shake the hand of a famous person is a good story. But that night in Prague, I learned the real thing. The heroes on the stage – they just hold the money for a while. The real heart of Bitcoin, the part that can’t be stopped, is not in a private room in a steakhouse. It is in the crowd outside. Laughing, building, and making memes of a new world.
My anonymous friends, you are the heroes.
Cold Turkey
Slay Your Heroes
My vision of BTC Prague consisted of having fireside chats, participating in deep dives, and having VIP access. However, what awaited me at the conference went far beyond these things and it has kept me occupied even five days after.
The reason I say this is because I see all the posts from my fellow plebs of X, their memes, and their interactions with one another as well as their care for each other – which is not uncommon among the anonymous people I have met.
During Wednesday evening, we went out to a steak restaurant in Prague, which is regarded as one of the best steak restaurants in the city. Food and wine were absolutely outstanding and were a real treat for the taste buds. Then, out of nowhere, I noticed that a CEO of a Bitcoin company I happen to know, Michael Saylor, was making his way to the private room on the other side of the restaurant.
I stood up because I had a question to ask, but by the time I reached the area, he had entered the room. Of course, I did not go in.
I missed him by like a second, but the bathroom was also located there so it was a good opportunity to relieve myself of some of the expensive red wine that we had. During the time that I was washing my hands, I heard Michael Saylor just outside the door speaking to someone. Then I stepped outside and looked over at him face-to face.
Immediately, the first thought that came to mind and out of my mouth was “Bitcoiners really do love good red meat.”
Saylor replied, “I like your t-shirt.”
I said to him, “Not many people can recognize what this symbol represents.” He said, “It’s Satoshi. We need more of them.”
I couldn’t help myself from tapping him on the shoulder and saying, “So you’re into Bitcoin too?”
Silence.
He looked at me dead in the eyes. I turned around and walked away without saying anything further.
At first, the guest who was with me didn’t believe me, but he checked and found out Saylor was at the place.
As one of the Bitcoin sayings goes, “slay your heroes” is a true statement. As often happens, I did not intend to do so; it just happened, just like so many other things in life.
Return of the Plebs
Having paid for the bill (in fiat, as they didn’t accept Sats), we headed to the Come Together party immediately after.
As soon as we arrived somewhere (no idea where) in Prague, there was already a big crowd gathered outside. We were blessed with a beautiful day and a warm enough temperature to enjoy standing outdoors. We went in, ordered a nice local beer, and as we walked outside, I saw a lovely pleb woman friend of mine whom I had met at Plan B in Lugano.
We hugged one another, and then I introduced her to my guest. Thereafter, she introduced me to a group of plebs, who were all anonymous members of DSB.
My memories of that night will remain with me for the rest of my life. The feeling of coming home was overwhelming.
I was surprised to find out that we all stayed at the same hotel. We spent a lot of time together over the next couple of days, partying and getting to know one another.
One memorable night was on a boat with the Ocean crew in a fantastic setting. (Thanks @ratpoisonaut for making me a new avatar!)
Throughout our entire stay in Prague, this continued to be the case right up until the very last minute. In addition, I was asked to contribute some content to StackChain Magazine as a contributor. In spite of my inexperience, I promised myself that I would give it a try and put some thoughts onto paper.
I like this group because they instantly create memes out of anything, like a person who falls down the stairs and almost breaks his legs is a meme on X just three minutes after the incident occurs. It is like nothing I have ever seen before. It would be fair to say that they are meme kings to the max.
DSB Is Forever
As soon as I returned to my place of residence and dove back into the normie world, I felt something that I could only describe as Cold Turkey. I was missing the fellow plebs of mine terribly.
This longing might have been what caused it–at least, I hope it is something other than the lack of the many drinks we had.
Having VIP access is nice, hanging out with some of the most famous people in our space is too, but I was introduced to the true plebs and heroes and had much more fun hanging out with them.
My fellow DSB anons, I hope to see you again soon – wen next conference?
Note from Stackchain Magazine: No Bitcoin (or inferior monies) were exchanged for this article. This article was written by SatSosy, Noderunner, Miner and Libertarian. You can find SatSosy on X @CrnaGoraOne. If you’d like to send SatSosy some 丰 for the article you can do so via LN crnagoraone@getalby.com
