Bitcoin Is Subjective: It’s Not Money. It’s Digital Art.

Let’s define the Bitcoin network in simple terms.

It’s a distributed database, what we call a ledger of transactions. It’s distributed because it does not sit on a single computer. It sits on multiple computers called nodes that communicate with each other.

You too can run a node on your laptop if you have at least 500 GB of storage on your harddrive.

Then there are the miners who compete in guessing a target number. Once a miner guesses a number that corresponds with the current difficulty adjustment of the network it has the right to write a block of transactions into the database (that sits on tens of thousands of nodes). 

If the transactions are correct (no bitcoins made from nothing, no double spends) the nodes accept the block. For the work done, the miner gets a bitcoin reward - this is when new bitcoins are minted - and some change from transaction fees.

You too can be a miner - this is a permissionless network - you don’t need a permit, a license or anyone’s approval. You need at least an ASIC and the cheapest electric energy you can find - in order to be profitable. 

Then there are wallets (users). The wallets initiate transactions which are then sent into the network to be written permanently into the blockchain. The transactions sit into a memory pool and wait their turn to be allocated to a block through the proof of work of a lucky (and hardworking) miner. 

You too can have a wallet. Or more. 

Now, Bitcoin is a distributed database:

- which anyone can hold by being a node

- where anyone who buys the hardware and electricity can mine 

- where anyone can become a user by holding a wallet and initiating transactions

So how is this money?! 

It seems that a person in this network can be the bank, the rails and the user at the same time.

So how is this money?

It seems that there are these computers and wallets that talk to each other.

So how is this money?

Well… now we get into the funny part.

We philosophically ascribe the meaning of money to these units in the database. And we do it because it seems these units have all the good characteristics of money. I won’t mention them here - I want you to be curious and look them up. 

How is gold money? It’s a yellow, metallic-shiny rock…

How were shells money? They’re parts of a dead sea animal…

Bitcoin is strong and antifragile both in technical terms and in philosophical terms.

Technical: how do you kill a distributed database? There will be at least one miner and one node somewhere in the world. Can you shut down all electric power and all the internet at the same time all over the globe? Remember that there is a certain type of hemp which is still illegal in many places and yet you can buy it almost everywhere. And that shit must be grown, dried, stored, delivered - it’s a physical thing so it must be very easy to stop, right? 

Philosophical: Oh, you don’t like it because we call it money? You’re afraid it will dethrone the Dollar or the Euro? No worries. This is just digital art. It’s NOT money. How can it be money?! It’s a decentralized database. We are emotionally attached to these units in this database and occasionally we trade them with each other. Just like we do it with other collectibles.

So how do you kill a digital meme that lives both on the internet but also into the minds of the people? How do you stop people’s ability to attribute meaning to something? 

You can’t. 

Join us! We’ll be expecting you. 

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Written by: youtube.com/@cesuntbanii, a bitcoiner from Romania 🫡