Understanding Stacker Psychology and Culture
"If Silver is worth so much, why give it away?" - It’s a good question to ask for a non-Stacker because it does seem strange. Normally when something is given away it’s because it’s pretty worthless or perceived as such. I was asked a question like this recently and in trying to give an explanation I realised just how difficult it is to explain the Psychology and Culture of a typical Stacker to an outsider so thought I’d write a post about it.
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The first thing to get an understanding of is why people stack Precious Metals in the first place. Usually it stems from a disdain and rejection of Fiat Currency. This starts from disenchantment with National Governments who devalue their Fiat Currencies via Money Printing and/or too much Deficit Spending. Just like Cryptocurrencies (which have attracted a lot of Libertarians and Anarchists in recent years) Precious Metals offers an alternative way of storing wealth and transacting that does NOT rely on Governments or Banks. So, just like Cryptocurrencies, Precious Metals is a form of “Trustless” Money. Once people realise that Fiat Currency is really just a worthless piece of plastic or paper with some Government promises on it that can be easily devalued (Yes, we once called them “Promissory Notes”), they start looking for alternatives. Cryptos and Precious Metals are BOTH alternatives to Fiat Currency.
Unlike Cryptos though, Precious Metals have been used as Money for centuries, if not Millennia. It is only the last handful of decades where Precious Metals have been totally removed from our Money and it’s almost like people didn’t notice. Almost. Cryptos are new and volatile and as much as the Bitcoin Core team might try and convince you that Bitcoin is a great “Store of Value” – it is a lie. No half decent store of value drops its value by 70% in 2 months like Bitcoin did in early 2018. Crypto tech is still new and immature. Maybe one day it will fulfil that promise, but until it does we have got Precious Metals as a much better “Store of Value” that has stood the test of time!
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So hard-core Stackers generally believe that Precious Metals are the only REAL form of Money that we have today. It is Sound Money that you can rely on to maintain its purchasing power. Its value is not dependant on some Government or Bank promises, it is dependent on the FREE MARKET value of the actual metal. It won’t lose its value in the next Regime Change or Global Financial Crisis. It won’t corrode or inflate and you can do whatever you want with it. It’s yours. It doesn’t matter what is printed on it, it matters what it is made of. You can turn it into jewellery or melt it into a blob and it still has the same metal value. It is immutable!
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"So why give it away?" you might ask. Well, Stackers view Precious Metals as Real Money and what is Money good for if it isn’t in circulation? Economists talk about the “Velocity of Money” as a measure of how healthy an economy is. Stackers often give away small amounts of metal because they want to spread the word and get people to experience that feeling of holding real money in their hand. It helps people make that mental breakthrough and realise just how worthless Fiat Currency is by comparison, but they also want to help get their beloved Precious Metals into circulation. At #SteemSilverGold here on STEEM you can see all sorts of raffles and exchanges going on between members and from the outside it might seem a bit pointless and confusing, but what you are witnessing here is the “Velocity of Real Money” and it’s happening in the real world. It’s not dependant on Governments or Banks….and it’s not really dependant on Technology either.
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I think this is one of the main reasons why the upcoming Monster Raffle has collected 50 oz of Silver donations to give away, but another part of it is that members of #SteemSilverGold seem to take pride and want to SHARE what they have from their own part of the world or share metal that is special to THEM. Just as some examples we have Canadians @edthecanadian and @goldenarms giving away old Canadian Dollars and Quarters and Canadian Maple Coins from their Royal Canadian Mint. We have @silverstackeruk giving away a Britannia Coin from the UK Royal Mint. From the US @firecajun9262 has put up an American Eagle and from Australia @bmj threw in a Kangaroo from Perth Mint. From Brazil @ronaldoavelino has put up some old Brazillian Coins made of Silver. This group and it’s phenomenon is global, but when it comes to personalised donations that’s just the start. We have our resident pirate @thedamus putting up a Pirate Skull Round and pieces of eight, plus there are the merchants. Our member @neoxian who offers banking services on the STEEM platform has made his own currency out of Silver and he’s donated some of his Neo Buttons. Master hand-pour craftsman @pit-bullion has put up a coin that he himself Gilded with Gold….the list goes on!
It can be hard to see all this and comprehend what is going on here when looking in from the outside, but I’m right in the middle of this community at #SteemSilverGold and it really is an amazing and beautiful thing happening here that has people genuinely excited. When you understand the Psychology and Culture at play here it just makes sense and it feels right. What more could you ask for? Isn’t building communities and networks supposed to be what this platform is all about?
Thanks mate. This helps explain some of @o07's behaviour.
Stackers aren't hoarders. I think maybe I'm a hoarder then?
At least until I have 'enough' which seems to be 'your weight' in silver?
Have I been paying attention?
It does make for an excellent gift though, and I distinctly remember the first time I held a silver coin.
It just felt so weighty, and true, and right.
I don't know @o07 well enough to know if the shoe fits for him.
I am a bit of a hoarder myself, but I do really like giving away the Silver STEEM Rounds. They do make excellent gifts and prizes.
"I distinctly remember the first time I held a silver coin. It just felt so weighty, and true, and right."
That is exactly what I'm talking about. So many people just don't know what that feels like and once you've done it you just never look at paper money the same again. It's a powerful message :)
While I understand why people are stackers and the history of gold/silver as money, I still have zero interest in holding it. Too weighty, too hard to store. I don't even like having coins in my purse. Plus it's just extra "stuff" I don't need in my life/house.
If someone offered me free silver or free crypto, I'd take crypto every time. And if the whole system comes crashing down, well, I guess you lot will have the last laugh.
A choice between a Speculative Asset and Store of Value right now I'm probably with you in picking the Speculative Asset because of the upside potential. But that's only because I have stored enough value that my asset could go to zero and I'd still be OK.
I do respect that you are very agile and you travel light without much baggage. Stacking is not for everyone and I know we might seem like a bunch of weirdos sometimes, but there is some logic behind the madness ;)
I really enjoyed reading this @buggedout - I hadn’t really thought much about the physocology of a stacker. I guess I almost thought of stackers as similar to preppers. I can see why there is such an active community here on steemit though.
I’ve considered buying gold or silver before, but never actually bought it. Maybe one day.
Buy an entry in this contest! It's only 1sbd.
Good idea! Done! 😊
Thanks @bec-on-the-block I am happy to hear you enjoyed the read. Good luck with your ticket and I hope you get some Gold or Silver in your hands soon ;)
Thanks 😊
💯 Soup for you 😎👍👍
Great post buggs!
Thanks mate. Much appreciated!
Sometimes it feels like I am preaching to the choir writing stuff like this, but it is easy to forget how strange we look from the outside sometimes :)
Check out Peter Schiff presentation on GM’s post — it’s a good one, with some great analogies about real money and the state of tech... although he obviously doesn’t fully endorse cryptos (how could he?)
I'll check it out. You just reminded me I was going to put a video in this post that kind of shows the similarities between metals and cryptos in an amusing way. Updated ;)
Damn. You broke it down. Excellent write up @buggedout! I feel like I learned something about myself.
Wow. If I am helping stackers get a better understanding of themselves then that's a huge compliment you've given me :)
Great post. Although I am a big believer in Bitcoin I agree with you on its volatility disqualifiying it as value storage. To us lucky ones. For us in the developed world where we have tons of choices, picking Bitcoin as store of value would be ill adviced. But what if you do not have access to metals or other currencies? For Venezuelans Bitcoin then becomes an absolutely great alternative as store of value. Arguably the best.
Well, absolutely anything would be a better store of value than the Venezuelan Bolivar has been of late.
I would expect that Silver could still be accessible in the developing world, or I'd even consider Stacking Copper because I think it is semi-precious too and much more affordable and accessible.
Amazing post. I still haven't bought any precious metals but it is true that part of thr reason I want some is to have that tangibke feel of money. The true weight of money and value.
Cross that threshold my friend. When you feel the weight of it in your hand you will never look at paper money the same way again :)
You're a silver faucet then?
No. Stacking is not about giving away free stuff. It's a way of life.
Yeah, it seems like the early crypto days when people had faucets to spread the word. Much less about giving away free coins, and much more about getting people familiar with the currencies.
Amazing post, full of truths about us. That video was fantastic. I loved it.
Interesting article! Learning so much while being in here. Thanks