I strolled around shops for a bit this weekend. Haven't actually bought anything cuz I don't really need anything, but I sometimes like spending some time among crowds and study their behavior... How odd does that sound, as if I am some sort of psychology guru or anything...
I noticed something interesting at the gadgets store. From all the brands that were exposed on a quite long presentation shelf the most crowded places were the iPhone and Samsung ones. People don't really give a damn about other brands...
Most of them... Although most of the internals are basically identical between some Android smartphones and in some cases the Chinese phones are rocking way better specs for cheaper prices than their more renowned counterparts.
I was a Samsung fanboy for many years, I tried using an iPhone for over a year and I am now using a Chinese flagship, the OnePlus 13. Everytime I get asked about what brand name my phone is the one asking has no clue about it when I give the answer.
The masses are literally educated to see nothing past the Samsungs and Apples... The masses are educated to see certain paths and nothing else in so many ways... And I have nothing against Samsung or iPhone, but there is life outside these two ecosystems.
Not much marketing around brands like OnePlus, Oppo and Xiaomi though... Hence the moguls are still in charge when it comes to sales. The current financial system is something we've been educated with(sort of) as well, and thus many don't see anything outside it.
I watched a video on YouTube last night of a fitness influencer getting to Russia to meet with a bodybuilding freak and this guy was telling that no credit or debit card that he had was working there. He literally had to sell crypto for cash in order to get around.
I dunno if it was BTC or crypto, but either way we see a trend. Parallel economies are opening and that's a good thing. Especially for EU which is going to get crazy on controlling the personal finances of regular individuals as of 2027.
Oh, and I bought BTC today...
I don't even remember when was the last time I did that but I bought 100 EUROS worth of BTC to see how well does that go in Austria using gate.io exchange and it worked flawless. I was literally instantly credited with my BTC after the purchase and already took it out of exchange.
Does this mark the top? Probably, I don't know... I don't care either, because I did not buy it as an investment, but rather as a hedge. The masses are not yet educated on Bitcoin and when they will it will probably be quite late. The current financial system will probably be on the verge of collapse once we will see any sort of proper marketing conducted on BTC...
We can call it the OnePlus of money. Way better than what we currently got and still an underdog. That's about it from my side for now. I wish you all have a great day and catch with you all next time.
Thanks for your attention,
Adrian