Something, something.
HOOHA!!!
— She Who's Been Told
After my latest visit to The B's house, I had a picture of a sticky note that was locked in his safe. The note had twelve words. One of 'em was weird. Satoshi.
The next day, I waited for Quinn to show up at The Shady Lady. I figured, they'd already seen me projectile vomit off a rooftop, so there was no risk of looking stupid in front if them. These days, it's hard to tell what you're already supposed to know, y'know?
"So, Quinn... I was walking home last night and I saw some guy wearing a T-shirt that said Satoshi," I lied. "What the Hell is that?"
"It's Bitcoin. Satoshi invented it."
"Oh, sheesh. Why the Hell do guys fall for that shit?"
"Money is a social construct, Dandy. It has value because we all agree it has value. When a country fucks up its economy, like if they default on the national debt, their currency collapses because nobody trusts it anymore. Trust is a social construct too, y'know. We have to trust the government and banks. But what if they aren't trustworthy?"
"They're not."
"That's what I'm saying. Do you trust the bank? I don't, and I work there. Bitcoin solves that. Bitcoin isn't controlled by a country or a bank. It's trustless because nobody controls it. It isn't mainstream yet, but it's a thing. And it's really valuable."
All I heard was something, something, and the second greatest word in the English language. The first being HOOHA!!! Or so I'm told.
Mine's divine. I've been told. Not by you. I digress.
Bitcoin's VALUABLE?
I said, "How valuable?"
"One Bitcoin is around five thousand dollars."
"So, it's money?"
"It's virtual currency. It's online. People buy it, and they keep it until they want to sell it."
"They sell it? Like, how?"
"On an app. It's easy."
They might as well have said, "Via quantum mechanics."
Up to that point, I'd been a low tech gal. I owned basic home appliances, like a clock, a microwave, a TV. I didn't even have a computer. I had an old flip-phone.
The online world wasn't for me. I liked things I could see and touch.
I was also a thief, though most of the things I'd spent my life stealing were about convenience and curiosity rather than value.
I stole food because I needed to eat.
I stole Trina's boink-bucks because they were sitting right there, on the counter.
I stole Linda's plates because I needed to know what she'd do if one went missing.
And, yeah, ok, I know. There was that one time... I stole eighty-grand from Steve, because to hell with that guy.
But The B's sticky note only had twelve words, yet it was important enough to keep locked in a safe that took two keys to open. Two. Bro wasn't messin' around.
Why?
At least, I now knew what the B was for.
Bitcoin.