As one who meditates, I believe that meeting with your ‘guru’ or idol is on par with – if not better than – meeting with policy wonks or regulatory experts who can look a blockchain token right in its hash and determine whether or not it is a security. As for my journey in the world of blockchain, I will admit that many attempt to ‘talk the talk’ of the technology; however, few work to truly understand its essence.
After speaking to him twice, I have found Deepak Chopra to be someone who – through what he describes as an ‘immersion experience’ – can explain blockchain as well as Don Tapscott or his son Alex. Chopra’s interest in blockchain started a few years ago, which he spoke about with me in our last conversation regarding the Ethereum community. Commenting on how there was at first concern about his talk, he remarked on how his actual appearance at the Ethereal Conference in New York in 2018 went over well from his perspective, noting his event had standing room only available.
Deepak Chopra, expert in mind-body healing.
Now, Chopra is showing himself to be an innovator in the blockchain space through his launch of the ‘Love In Action’ token. Coinciding with Suicide Prevention Week, the launch of the token is what the Chopra Foundation describes as a “worldwide campaign to heal the world.” In seeking details about the role blockchain – or more accurately hashgraph or distributed ledger technology will play – Chopra described the following: “We are currently working on our strategic roadmap for the ‘Love In Action’ token. Our goal is to leverage the ‘proof of state/work’ on the Hedera platform to incentivize healthy behaviors and promote wellbeing via the token. We will initially leverage hbar as the currency and convert to our own coin in the latter part of 2021.”
Meanwhile, my original hope and intention in talking to Chopra was to convince him to buy Bitcoin for the first time. After all, what better way to fully ingratiate or immerse yourself in the crypto experience than to buy the original cryptocurrency? I could picture the moment when Chopra would send the first bitcoin he received to his pal Oprah Winfrey, and then suddenly Winfrey is telling everyone, “You get a Sat! You get a Sat! And you get a Sat!” Mass adoption of crypto would begin in earnest.
So, hearing from Chopra what I would expect from Dr. Muneeb Ali of Blockstack PBC or Joe Lubin of ConsenSys about a ‘roadmap’ was of course a bit of a letdown. My big question – “Will Deepak Chopra buy Bitcoin?” – however, finally is answered. Chopra replied, “I have not bought any Bitcoin to date, but have been keen on cryptocurrency and how it can be used.” For the record, Chopra also noted he does not own any Hbars either (at least not yet).
In fairness, no one has to ‘buy Bitcoin’ (and yes, I am awaiting the wrath of Crypto Twitter for this statement – though for the record, I do own a small amount of Bitcoin). But what’s a small amount of cryptocurrency relative to a large amount of mental sanity, particularly in 2020? What if someone likes to meditate or appreciates ‘alternative therapies?’ For some, there are ‘alt-coins’ and for others, there are ‘alt-meds’ – don’t rain on my parade of a crypto ‘Oprah moment,’ even if the closest I ever get to one is watching Meltem Demoirs throwing money at protocols during the Magical Crypto Conference.
Needless to say, the crypto ecosystem – whether in D.C., New York, or San Francisco – is one that has its different camps of coins and chains, whether Ava and Avalanche, or Ether and Ethereum, or Cardano and Cardano, even if it is not yet in Wikipedia. It seems there should be room for those who want to promote the use of the technology to advance through digital communities the benefits of mental health, whether for a Satoshi or a premium gas fee if you don’t have insurance for running low on Ether.
Ultimately, as Andreas M. Antonopoulos said, blockchain is perhaps the most important invention of our time. To the degree blockchain can be used by mental health professionals – or any professional – to help validate the truth of a person’s certification or to validate a person’s well-being seems like an excellent use of it.