Bitcoin has evolved significantly since its creation in 2009, transitioning into an era marked by maturity and increased institutional adoption. Amid the market speculation around the ETFs and the recent bitcoin halving on price, it’s crucial to remember one simple fact: Bitcoin is exceptional technology.
Instead of taking it for granted, we should loudly celebrate its groundbreaking achievements and the seismic impact it has on finance and technology.
Human nature often leads us to overlook the familiar, taking for granted things that are truly extraordinary. Just as we grumble about airport queues rather than appreciating that we can sit in a flying tin can in the sky, discussions on Bitcoin are often reduced to a few buzzwords—price, volatility, speculation.
But this is ignoring the wonder of a technology that has consistently demonstrated its success and reliability—as evidenced in its daily operations such as block mining and transaction validation. Bitcoin recently surpassed its milestone of 1 billion transactions, not counting transactions on its Layer 2 Lightning Network. This was achieved with core attributes such as clear monetary policy, transparency, and adherence to Austrian economics principles—all elements lacking in our current fiat systems.
The brilliance of Bitcoin lies in its unique combination of cryptography, decentralised consensus, and peer-to-peer networking. Code is law. Economically, it is deflationary, meets the criteria of real money, and has a limited maximum supply of 21 million coins. It is immutable, secure, private, decentralised, and open source. These factors make it censorship and seizure-resistant, permissionless and transparent. In other words, Bitcoin is freedom, returning financial control to the individual.
Bitcoin’s apolitical and predictable monetary policy stands in stark contrast to central bank and government policies that impact global economies. While designed to protect from problems, these policies are subject to human emotions, biases and perceived logic, often resulting in unintended consequences such as inflation and volatility.
Bitcoin’s apolitical and predictable monetary policy stands in stark contrast to the often reactive and politicised monetary policies of central banks, which directly impact global economies. These central bank policies, driven by economic cycles, often lead to inflation and volatility due to their reactionary nature and susceptibility to political pressures. Research indicates that price volatility is often linked to monetary policy announcements
In parallel, fiscal policies—government spending and taxation—also play a significant role in economic dynamics and can influence Bitcoin’s perceived value. For example, expansive fiscal policies (like increased government spending) can devalue fiat currencies, making Bitcoin more attractive as a hedge against inflation.
This dual influence highlights Bitcoin’s resilience and attractiveness as a store of value, especially when traditional policies falter or become unpredictable.
In other words, the government money printer goes “Brrrrrr” and Bitcoin goes up.
This emphasises the attractiveness and resilience of Bitcoin, and is the reason it is seen as a store of value.
Bitcoin fosters economic innovation, with Bitcoin and Web3 technologies changing the market and empowering individuals by democratizing access to financial services and speculative trading.
Traditionally, high-leverage trading requires one to be a high net worth individual with a brokerage account, subjected to onboarding, auditing, and specific financial classifications. In the crypto world, anyone can access high leverage on centralised exchanges, enabling them to make or lose significant sums within defined boundaries and parameters.
While this levels the playing field for access, returning responsibility to the individual, it also raises the question of regulatory compliance. The absence of globally-accepted regulations coupled with the lack of clarity in many existing regulatory areas causes constraints resulting in assets that are intended to be compliant in an environment without clarity. Despite these limitations, these digital currencies and blockchain innovations lay the groundwork for a digital framework that have, and will continue to propel technology forward.
Bitcoin has proven itself as a successful and resilient resource for the world. Experimentation within the ecosystem continues to push boundaries, driving new use cases and innovations.
Too often, Bitcoin”s reputation as a mere speculative asset obscures its profound status as a revolutionary technology. As the vanguard of decentralisation, it is poised to upend traditional finance, ignite innovation, and radically reshape the global monetary system.
Embracing Bitcoin transcends mere financial gain; it heralds a shift toward a financial ecosystem that is more inclusive, transparent, and secure. We must see Bitcoin not just as a ‘’quick buck’’ opportunity but as a transformative force, as an embodiment of financial and economic empowerment.