Meet the Author: Jack Binswitch

The "Meet the Author" interview series was created to share inspiring stories from independent writers and Web3 project founders who write on Sigle.

From creating an NFT collection from scratch, to the pitfalls to avoid when starting a Web3 business, they give you their advice and opinions on the world of tomorrow.

Enjoy reading!

Our second guest is Jack Binswitch, a firm believer in Stacks and an enthusiastic and successful writer on Sigle.

He shares his views on Web3 with his community interviewing the new emerging startups to give visibility to this blockchain that has been quietly growing while flying under the radar of many .

Today, creating his very first project on Stacks, Nakamoto Options Protocol, it is his turn to be on the front of the stage.

Can you tell us who you are in a few words?

Sure thing. I am a husband to the most intelligent, kind, beautiful, woman in existence. Without her support and encouragement, I honestly cannot tell you what my life would look like today.

Together we have six children, who have given us many reasons to laugh and cry over the years. Somehow, despite the seemingly impossible odds at times, they are all turning out to be amazing young people.

Above that, I am a Christian, and can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that had God given up on me like I have often given up on Him I most certainly wouldn't be here today.

How did you hear about Stacks?

I started learning about crypto in 2017.

From the outset, I recognized the potential for Bitcoin and smart contracts to be powerful agents of change in the world. I learned how to trade, and spent countless hours in front of a screen watching charts and learning about projects.

Stacks initially appeared on my radar, via my network in late 2021, around October to be more precise. The market looked to me like it was ready for a correction, so I just put it in the back of my mind.

Then in March 2022, I read the Stacks 2.0 whitepaper and began to make my first buys.

Why did you decide to start a newsletter on Sigle?

Initially I learned about Sigle by browsing Gamma, then STXNFT, and finding the Explorer Guild collection. I thought they looked awesome, and as I dove in a bit I learned the utility of the Sigle Explorers and realized the significance of what I had stumbled upon.

I have been an avid reader since I was a young child. I started reading blogs in the early 2000's, and absolutely love the medium. While I had entertained the idea of writing for the majority of my adult life, Sigle made the process easy enough to just get started.

My initial plan, to the extent that one existed, was to write about the things I like. The things that are important to me. I knew that I wanted to be a supportive voice for young men, and that I wanted to talk about crypto. So I typed up my first post, quelled the anxiety that still arises every time I hit "publish", and started this amazing journey.

How did Sigle help you become an advocate for the Stacks community?

Sigle provided me with a voice and a platform to write about the things I wanted to write about.

Knowing that I owned my data demonstrates the underlying thesis of Web3, and as far as I was concerned, people had to know this.

As I grew as a writer and communicator in the ecosystem, the advocacy for the Stacks blockchain flowed as a natural result of this. 

What was the most successful story on your blog and why do you think that was?

In September 2022 I wrote an article titled "No CBDC for me". CBDC stands for "Central Bank Digital Currency", and over 105 countries around the world are currently in various stages of implementing their own version.

CBDCs take the worst traits of fiat currency and pair them with the capabilities of a blockchain. It is a terrifying concept for liberty minded people, and the article clearly resonated.

That giant spike on the chart represents the day that the CBDC article was picked up by a Twitter community member with a large following. To date the CBDC article has received over 1,400 views.

You recently shared an article about creating your own project on Stacks. Would this be the perfect time dox yourself?

When I say that Sigle opened up immense opportunities for me I am not exaggerating. My writing has led to many introductions within this community. Through a really cool set of circumstances I found myself applying for the Stacks pre accelerator. The project that I am working on right now, and the team that I am working with are the result of the work that program is doing.

Being a part of the pre accelerator was the first time in crypto that I had to move away from pseudonymous to doxxed. It wasn't as traumatic as I had built up in my head, after all, when I started using the internet only careless people would do such a thing.

My real name is Adam, and I was born in raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. I haven't lived there since Hurricane Katrina devastated my hometown. My very first career was in law enforcement, I wanted to follow in my father's footsteps. After being a street cop for several years, I got my break and joined the Detective Bureau as a crime scene analyst. After some time doing that a while I started getting more cases and moved into strictly criminal investigation. This career was cut short by a devastating back injury that leaves me with chronic pain to this day.

About 12 years ago I began my current career as a registered nurse. I have primarily spent the years working in intensive care units, and then moved on to hospital management. After my first startup failed (if I had known then what I know now, thanks to the pre accelerator, I would have pivoted iykyk) I went back to critical care nursing as a travel nurse.

These days I spend less time nursing and more time building in the Stacks ecosystem. I feel as though this chapter of my life is currently performing its swan song, and my next chapter is just beginning.

I have Sigle, and the Stacks community to thank for that.

Can you share more about your latest project "Nakamoto Options Protocol" with us today?

With pleasure.

The project my team and I are developing is called Nakamoto Options Protocol. It is a DeFi application that would allow the user to buy or sell Bitcoin options without relying on a centralized exchange like FTX.

By utilizing Stacks' consensus mechanism, and DLC contracts our protocol will allow for the trustless and secure trading of Bitcoin futures. We are very early on in the development process, but we are massively excited about the potential here.

Do you have any advice to give to anyone who reads you and would like to start writing on Web3?

Yes, just do it.

The future we are working towards is a user owned internet built upon Bitcoin. No one is going to miss the current iteration of the web a decade from now. I believe that we are on the verge of a massive technological revolution, and this is one of those rare times where you can really leave your mark on the world.

In more practical terms, I would personally prefer to be an early adopter to Sigle than just a late stage user of a web2 writing platform.

You have a lifetime of experiences to draw from. Share them! You have a voice, use it! Until that first person sends you a message saying how much something you wrote meant to them, you wouldn't believe that this is even possible.

I can tell you, this is an immensely rewarding experience in and of itself.

Is there something else you wanna add or say to your community?

I could not be more thankful for the people of the Stacks community that I get to interact with on a daily basis.

I would thank them by name, but it would take another 1,500 words minimum to do so. You all know who you are.

Thank you for your kindness in a seemingly unkind world, your support on those days where one just feels as though he is spinning his wheels, and your unyielding optimism as you do your part to create a more fair world than the one we inherited.