alumnus turns interest in bitcoin into job with an influential bitcoin media company
sean hagan has a passion for theology, economics and history, and funnels those interests into bitcoin, which he says embodies the best aspects of each.
janel shoun-smith |
sean hagan (la ’18, ba ’23) says he “loves the act of creation,” but he has chosen what many may see as an unusual canvas for his handiwork: bitcoin.
hagan, a current mba student who works in media at btc inc., a company committed to creating, informing, educating and supporting bitcoiners, discovered his passion for the original crypto currency during the covid-19 pandemic, which hit in the middle of his undergraduate years.
during that period when lipscomb students were all taught remotely, hagan began spending his new free time researching bitcoin, its origins and how it works. he became convinced that it can be a tool for financial inclusion by providing a more accessible and more consistent store of wealth for populations living in uncertain economies across the globe.
“it’s sovereign money that brings power back to the individual,” he said. “as a student of history, i have seen what happened when nations debase their currency. in contrast, bitcoin is a currency that is deflationary by nature.”
he decided to sell his entire stock portfolio and put it into bitcoin and became a staunch proponent of the use of the digital currency.
growing up, hagan was always interested in investing, but upon entering lipscomb, he realized that a bachelor’s degree in philosophy would serve him well for his envisioned future in business. he pursued a minor in entrepreneurship and focused on developing a mindset for critical and holistic thinking.
it turns out that nashville, his hometown, has quite a thriving bitcoin industry with various companies that accept bitcoin as currency, a bitcoin meetup group that is among the largest in the nation and the headquarters of btc inc., which is behind bitcoin magazine, the bitcoin conference and utxo management.
bitcoin is not the same product as what came after it, what is commonly called “cryptocurrency” and has made headlines due to financial scandals in the past few years, says hagan. it differs in that it was set up as an open, decentralized currency from the beginning by anonymous founders, not by a single entity that controls and limits the disbursal of its cryptocurrency or can change the rules. instead, bitcoin is truly decentralized and remains a perfectly transparent and immutable public ledger, hagan said.
“cryptocurrencies are like any investment,” says hagan. “not all are the same, and bitcoin is a class of its own.”
as an officer in lipscomb’s sigma alpha social club during his undergraduate years, he successfully encouraged the club to be the first on campus to set up the ability to accept dues and donations in bitcoin and to invest a percentage of the club’s income into bitcoin. at the time, a story by lipscomb’s student-run herd media about sigma alpha’s investment was picked up by bitcoin magazine, which declared the lipscomb chapter to be the first student organization in the world to invest in the digital currency.
in 2022, hagan worked a summer internship with the bitcoin policy institute, where he was able to observe and support discussions and lobbying for digital currency legislation across the united states.
in his senior year, hagan developed a business venture, designed to use bitcoin as a way to get money to missionaries in underground churches and developing nations around the globe. such churches in latin america or africa often cannot set up a bank account to support congregational growth and services.
bitcoin allows missionaries in such areas to avoid high banking fees, smuggling risks and local inflation that diminishes their purchase power. “it’s a true free market model,” said hagan. “anyone can set up a bitcoin wallet in just three minutes. it simplifies everything.”
hagan said that being an mba candidate at lipscomb is already having an impact on my career. “it has opened opportunities for me to work on various projects and join in on various conversations. being who i am, i always say, ‘yes.’ if i only said yes when i was comfortable, how would i learn and grow?” said hagan.
“the program has taught me a tremendous amount. not just technical skills either, but soft skills too. the program has been very comprehensive, and i am glad i made the choice to join the accelerated program straight out of school.”