“It’s healthy to approach any new subject matter with a degree of skepticism,” says founder and CEO of Bitstocks Michael Hudson

“It’s healthy to approach any new subject matter with a degree of skepticism,” says founder and CEO of Bitstocks Michael Hudson
Source: The Millennial Source



Even when Michael Hudson was a kid, his entrepreneurial spirit was apparent. When Hudson was around eleven years old, he had already crafted his first business; he created bootleg video games which he would sell at his school.

Hudson went on to take his entrepreneurial inclination and willpower to become the founder and chief executive officer of Bitstocks. Bitstocks is London’s first Bitcoin market advisory and investment firm. The company’s mission is to demystify, through education, the process and the benefits of cryptocurrency investment.

We were happy to chat with Hudson, to gain more insight into his journey and his motivation to give Bitcoin an accessible voice in the mainstream.

The road to success is paved with difficulties

Before Hudson became the CEO of Bitstocks, he did face obstacles. When Hudson was around 16 years old, his father went to prison. As a result, he was pressured to grow up early and step up as a financial provider for his family. “All the pressure of being an adult, while not being an adult, was firmly laid at my feet, and it’s never really left," Hudson commented.

Besides his father’s imprisonment and the subsequent responsibilities put on Hudson as a teen, debt was another adult-level stressor Hudson had to confront as a young man. After an early business venture collapsed, he had to file for bankruptcy when he was barely 20 years old.

Hudson’s bankruptcy experience led him to realize the lack of transparency within our financial system and how difficult it is to recover from a poor credit history. This served as a useful personal experience that enabled Hudson to recognize a problem.

“Naturally, when I realized just how corrupt it all is, and that bankruptcy is designed within the system like a game of musical chairs, it made me very open to seeing how Bitcoin could fix a lot of those corruptions," Hudson said.

The human need for financial sovereignty

There’s a passion behind Bitstocks (which educates users on Bitcoin) that is philosophically rooted. “We need to see Bitcoin brought into every business, as an immutable source of truth, to organize and timestamp all the world’s data interactions in one place,” Hudson explained.

Many people see Bitcoin as an unchangeable truth because it is a fixed supply of money, meaning inflation is not a threat for users. It is also essentially free from the outside forces of governmental and global banking control. Fittingly, the intent of Hudson’s humanitarian-based company appears to align with his personal goals of minimizing obstruction in his life. He wants to find the following: “Total harmony between mind, body and soul – the three complexes of The Human Experience,” Hudson said.

What we can learn from Hudson

From Hudson’s journey, we can learn that we should be open to embracing an unconventional path. He credits his life-study of nonstandard subjects such as vortex mathematics and human origins for his ability to develop a far-reaching business vision.

We can also learn from Hudson to see obstacles as learning opportunities instead of allowing the difficulties we encounter as individuals to overwhelm us.

“Half of [the ability to overcome difficulties] is perspective – viewing difficult situations as challenges and not problems. Challenges can be overcome,” Hudson remarked.

We were excited to chat more with Hudson about his path so far, his inspiration and what he expects for the future of cryptocurrency.

You and your company focus on the evolution of humanity through innovative technology and ideas. In an ideal world, what major changes do you expect for us in the next 50 years?

50 years. Oh my God, there’s so much that will change in the next 10, let alone 50! So one big change will be the advent of high-speed internet all around the world, that’s a very important condition for the rest of the advancements.

If we also think about the development of Moore’s Law and the rate of computation we’re going to see, this opens up a plethora of different areas for technological advancement – everything from energy, travel, space travel, to artificial intelligence and the unification of our various devices.

The compounded processing power of our devices over the next 10 years is going to be a bigger leap than going from a horse and cart to a Tesla. So if you just try to imagine what the world would look like in 10 years, you have to go back and watch one of your favorite Sci-Fi movies!

You admit that you were skeptical about Bitcoin at first. What changed your mind and what do you expect for the future of cryptocurrency in a global economy?

I think it’s healthy to approach any new subject matter with a degree of skepticism, as long as you are centered enough and mature enough to pursue knowledge without any biases. If you can maintain that thought process, then your skepticism actually becomes a great strength. So I never viewed Bitcoin in a negative skeptical way – it was definitely a healthy skepticism!

Initially, the nerdy technocrats who were the early spokespeople for Bitcoin weren’t the easiest to get on board with. There was talk of anarchy and destroying banks and defeating governments in order to change the world. I didn’t see it that way. I got the technical side of it, but it took me delving deeper to realize the impact it could have on the societal and economic understanding we have of the world. To realise just how powerful it truly is.

If someone wants to transform their ideas into action, what is one trait that they absolutely must have?

They need to be able to stand having egg on their face! To be willing to deal with failure and those feelings around failure, then get up and get back at it. What we call “failing forward.” You need to understand that there is no such thing as failure, as long as every single instance of failure is an opportunity for growth. You haven’t failed if you learned something from that situation.

Cryptocurrency can be a very complicated concept. How are you making it more accessible to people? Do you see these alternative currencies becoming mainstream anytime soon?

Big nope to the term ‘cryptocurrency’ – I have a real issue with that word! There’s no use for the word cryptocurrency in this space, especially when describing Bitcoin in particular. ‘Crypto’ comes from ‘cryptic’, which means mysterious or obscure. Bitcoin is the opposite of that. Bitcoin is truth and transparency.

The use of the term ‘cryptocurrency’ forces people to think of these as solely and predominantly a financial instrument, which it is not. Yeah, it’s a “coin” but it just operates as a token – a digital pen that allows you to write on a digital ledger. What you want to write on that ledger is up to you as a business owner.

Yeah, you could use it to balance your credits and debits, but you could also use it to log data that you’re sending and receiving, or timestamp a contract or track a supply chain. You can check out the Bitstocks blog if you want to read more around the real-world uses of Bitcoin.

Who do you look up to and is there someone that has been a major influence on your life?

It sounds arrogant, but I’m the person I look up to. That doesn’t mean I’m discrediting other people that have helped me along the way, as I know that there are way more impressive, better-looking, fitter, richer, smarter people out there! It’s more about working to seek inspiration from people who have a true, deep connection with themselves. That’s what I’ll look up to or admire in a person, but I’ve always taken the view that I’m equally as powerful as anyone I admire. I’ll always back myself.

What is one thing about you most people don’t know?

I’m into animé! Old school like Dragon Ball Z. But you might be able to guess that from looking back at my Instagram!

If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?

Here and now, in the present, in the Bitstocks office. Although, ask me that again in a month or two and I might give you a different answer! But right now, I’m very much where I want to be.

If the 20-year-old you were here asking you for help about life. What advice would you give them now?

You are way more intelligent than you give yourself credit for. Stop doubting yourself and just get yourself out there. For such a long time I locked myself away and I studied almost every moment of every day, almost aggressively! I remember that even during my most obsessive state, I’d be driving and listening to something educational!

Every moment of the day I was educating myself, but because I’m naturally an introvert, it took me a while to get practice at becoming confident with that public-facing side of being a CEO – talking to people with Ph.D.s and realizing that I could hold my own and surpass them in some cases! Yeah, just getting out there and interacting with the world. If I’d say anything to my 20-year-old self, it would be that.

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