The bitcoin journey isn’t just about money

Bitcoin is a crash course in responsibility

I earned my PhD in Psychology in 2010, and (like many of us…) I wish I had heard about bitcoin back then. I only decided to go all-in on bitcoin after I had my first child. Not coincidentally, that was also when I left my corporate job in Silicon Valley and became serious about taking ownership of my own life. Looking back, that’s when I stopped feeling like a puppet and started moving toward what Lawrence Kohlberg described as the post-conventional level of moral development. It became less about caring what other people thought and more about acting according to principles I genuinely believed were right.

What I’ve noticed, however, is that many young people in bitcoin don’t necessarily need to have children or experience another major life event to make this shift. Many seem to arrive there through bitcoin itself.

That makes me wonder whether the saying “everyone gets bitcoin at the price they deserve” has a deeper psychological meaning. Maybe we don’t really become bitcoin owners until we’re ready to make decisions based on consciously chosen principles rather than habit, convenience, or social approval. Let’s rephrase Saylor’s quote and say “everyone earns bitcoin only when they’re ready to assume the responsibility it demands”.

Bear with me for one paragraph while I briefly introduce the work of psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg. Kohlberg studied how our moral reasoning develops over time. His theory isn’t about whether someone is “good” or “bad.” It’s about why we make moral decisions. He proposed that people tend to reason at three broad levels:

Pre-conventional: “What’s in it for me?” Decisions are driven mainly by avoiding punishment or seeking rewards.

Conventional: “What do people expect of me?” Decisions are guided by social norms, laws, and the desire to fit in or maintain order.

Post-conventional: “What principles should guide my actions?” Decisions are based on values that a person has examined and consciously chosen, even when they conflict with social expectations.

What is interesting here is how bitcoin can become an environment that invites this kind of moral reflection. Owning bitcoin doesn’t make someone more morally developed. But bitcoin often confronts people with questions they may never have seriously considered before:

• What does it really mean to own something?
• Who should be responsible for safeguarding wealth?
• How much responsibility am I willing to assume?
• Which principles matter enough for me to act on them, even when they’re inconvenient?

Self-custody, for example, is more than a technical skill. It’s a decision about responsibility, a moral decision. Running a node is more than operating software, it’s a choice to verify rather than blindly trust. Holding through volatility often requires acting according to long-term principles instead of short-term emotions or social pressure. From a psychological perspective, these are all opportunities to exercise moral agency.

As a psychologist who works with adults, I’m constantly observing how people relate to reality and how much responsibility they’re willing to assume for their own lives. To me, bitcoin is a remarkable real-world test of “adulting”.

Are we living according to inherited rules, or according to principles we have thoughtfully examined and chosen for ourselves? To me, that’s where psychology and bitcoin meet. That’s why I believe the bitcoin journey isn’t just about money. It goes hand in hand with our psychological and moral development. Bitcoin can be considered a crash course in responsibility, a portal into adulthood.