BUIDL is a warp of the word build and is a movement of sorts that encourages the building of the entire crypto eco-system as opposed to purely investing in and holding crypto for personal gain.

The world of crypto is full of slang and strange terms like ‘HODL’ which stands for Hold On for Dear Life when a person buys crypto and holds on to it without buying more or panic selling or ‘Lambo’ when a crypto holder becomes rich enough to buy a Lamborghini or say ‘Mooning’ when the price of a crypto is skyrocketing and heading for…well the moon. 

In much the same way there is ‘BUIDL’ which is a warping of the word ‘build’.

What is BUIDL in crypto speak?

The crypto universe attracts a whole host of character types, those that are in it to make a quick buck, those that join the crypto bandwagon because everyone else seems to be and the purists.

These purists for want of a better word are in it beyond solely personal gain and believe in a much bigger idea. 

They see crypto changing the world, challenging the status quo and hopefully bringing about greater equality in the world. 

This group and perhaps also the developers want the crypto ecosystem to grow, to infiltrate all aspects of society one day, they are builders or ‘buidlers’ in crypto terms. 

These buidlers encourage people from all walks of life, techies and non-techies alike to contribute to the growth of crypto as a whole. 

This could mean simply using crypto-based services based on smart contracts, writing about crypto as we are, using crypto wallets, playing blockchain-based games and so forth.

The importance of buidling and not just hodling

If we look at our societies the majority of us exist within the system, contribute taxes and perhaps support some social causes dear to us but for the most part, we are not really involved in what happens in our local neighbourhoods.

We are not building, we are existing, using and consuming what is available to us. 

However, for any system or society to thrive and grow there needs to be a group of people that have a broader vision. 

One such proponent and user of the buidl term is Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin who has used the term when referring to the ongoing development of Ethereum.

Let’s use the example of the internet to illustrate the importance of buidling

One of the biggest technological revolutions of modern times and in many ways the precursor to the crypto world now was the arrival of the internet and before that the beginnings of the personal computer revolution. 

They were revolutionary, disruptive and very geeky. 

Just as with crypto. In the early days of personal computing and the internet, it was the techies who were experimenting with the fledgling technology as it was back then. Think of the two Steves in their garage building the Apple 1 or Jeff Bezos turning to selling books on the internet.

If personal computers and internet technology had only stayed within these niche circles they probably would not have gotten to where they are now. 

Nowadays not only techies use personal computers and the internet! 

People from all ages and walks of life use the internet and personal computers without really needing to understand how they work. 

To get to where we are now, people outside of the tech community had to start using early personal computers hence creating demand for manufacturers to make and sell computers. 

Early internet companies created e-commerce websites (Web2) selling all manner of things and people started using them, think of tiny little Amazon.com when it started off selling books online

We could think of those early Amazon customers buying books as buidlers. 

In much the same way, crypto is a little like the early days of the internet and as more and more people use crypto services they are buidling. 

Conclusion

As it stands today anyone who buys crypto or uses a crypto-based service is in some ways a buidler as they are aiding adoption and helping the crypto ecosystem to grow. 

We are buidlers as we are writing about crypto to help people understand what it is. 

The level of buidling, of course, varies depending on the contribution but in the end, it all counts. 

It’s not inconceivable to imagine crypto in another ten or twenty years as an everyday utility as the internet is today, especially with the growth of DeFi. 

So, let’s all get buidling and play our parts in the crypto revolution taking place under our noses right now!