Author: Sean Ongley

  • On the Use of Cryptocurrency

    Some might believe that the use of cryptocurrency is a burden on the environment and our energy system and that contradicts the intention behind Held Gear.

    The truth of the energy system and environmental consequence from industrial activity is more complicated than a unit of energy in and a unit of carbon out.

    Bitcoin mining especially requires massive energy, this fact has monetized an area of waste that the people have long ignored: The Grid. In addition to energy loss over distance, there is waste at the production facilities.

    Energy production is dissipated for no purpose as capacity overruns market demand. Bitcoin is one solution to this problem, utilizing excess energy to create a universally accessible banking system.

    The American Dollar is oil. It is not separable, in terms of its power, or carbon footprint. That era is changing and Held Gear is committed to a decentralized future, healthy ecosystems, and American manufacturing at once.

    Held is producing something in America with materials from American manufacturers. The material itself is low-impact and can be sourced as waste product in pieces too small to sell in the standard market.

    Bitcoin and Litecoin are the longest surviving proof-of-work networks that are truly decentralized and operated by the public, and it utilizes a waste product: surplus energy. This is what Held is all about and this company is proud to accept these units immediately.

    Additionally, Shiba Inu is accepted at checkout. Although it is a meme coin, it has value being supply-capped with low transaction fees on the Ethereum blockchain.

    All payment solutions for this web shop are facilitated by WooCommerce, with cryptocurrency features provided by CoinPayments tied to a CoinBase wallet.

    If you believe another unit should be accepted, or no crypto should be, please contact us with a strong argument why.

  • Livestream Interview of HELD Founder Micah Perry with New Owner Sean Ongley

    Livestream interview with Sean Ongley

    Watch the new owner of Held Gear discuss the life and times of founder Micah Perry, learning why he decided to transfer his business to Sean Ongley.

    Over the next week, the baton will be passed in the form of training Sean (that’s me) on how to build a belt. The last scraps of material will be sufficient to produce a few more units, in addition to the 35 currently for sale on this website and the Etsy shop.

    Items can be backordered exclusively on this shop, while all items sold at Etsy are guaranteed to be in stock.

    Please watch this video in its entirety if you care about HELD as a brand, its ethics, and you want to understand where it came from and where it is going.

    This isn’t the whole picture but its a good conversation and you get to know us. We are spiritual, ethical, anarchists.

  • Inventory Clearance

    The Held Gear homepage, as previously posted, is now open. The inventory listed is highly limited, it only represents the remaining stock of 37 units that Twin holds in storage in Why, Arizona.

    To raise funds toward relaunch, some items are exclusively up for presale on this website and will ship in May. Another batch is set aside for the Etsy store where customers are waiting patiently for the store to reopen.

    Given the total clearance of existing stock at retail price, there will be enough revenue to acquire new materials and restart production.

    Belts can be custom sized, although our off-the-shelf sizes comfortably fit waists from 28 to 42 inches.

    All units can be reinforced with grommets. This option is presented as an additional item and should show up in your cart as such, if you choose it.

    To restore the complete Held catalogue, or get close to it, this will be the goal of 2022. Adding new products and working with designers, this is the exciting future of Held Gear for years to come.

  • The Store is Open

    Yesterday, the shop page opened, offering a wide range of payment options, including Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Shiba Inu. Held is going to HODL a portion of every crypto payment and will work toward establishing trade with our partners settled in Bitcoin and Litecoin.

    All of these services are secure and facilitated through WooCommerce and CoinPayments. We do not store your payment information, that is managed by the above mentioned services.

    Please be patient as details are improved in the shopping experience. Direct mail order by cash, gold and silver bullion, as well as wallet-to-wallet crypto transfers will become available within 2022.

    Product is not ready to ship. If you order something today, it will not ship until May. Held is not yet back in operation. Relaunch mode.

    Please make a pre-order today and help build the future for Held now.