THAT AIN'T BITCOIN
You hear it all the time. “The Bitcoin rabbit hole is bottomless”. If you’re like me, you’ve been obsessing about Bitcoin for years. The journey of understanding is a long one. There’s always a new “aha moment” where you unlock pockets of mind-altering information.
On the other hand, you have those who haven’t done the work. The ignorant. The critics. They look foolish by trying to fit Bitcoin into systems of the past. They do things like assign general labels to it such as “digital gold”. They group it with shitcoins thinking there’s a “crypto industry” powered by “the blockchain”. They think it has a similar fate as internet products like AOL or MySpace.
They don’t understand the decentralized nature of Bitcoin and why it’s important.
They don’t understand that the Bitcoin protocol is a foundational layer of truth.
“Bitcoin is not a choice. It is inevitable.”
Critics love conflating non-related things with Bitcoin. Let’s make it clear to them that those things are not Bitcoin.
Price is not Bitcoin
Bitcoin has no clue what a dollar, euro or yen is. Yes, there is an exchange rate which can impact a person’s purchasing power. But the protocol is not affected by its FIAT price nor its market cap. Whether the price is $1 or $500k, Bitcoin is used in a censorship resistant, peer-to-peer manner.
Users are not Bitcoin
“Bitcoin is the money of your enemies”. It is neutral money. Open and inclusive to all, Bitcoin doesn’t know who is interacting with it. There is no “community”. People claiming Bitcoiners are mean or toxic are some of the lowest hanging idiots to exist. The protocol should not be mistaken for personas. Imagine Euro users saying Dollar users are mean online. Or horse riders saying car drivers are close minded. These attacks are simply trying to steal market share from eventual Bitcoin users.
Crypto is not Bitcoin
Bitcoin has nothing to do with crypto, blockchains, NFTs, or any of that garbage. Crypto leeches off of Bitcoin’s success, finding opportunistic ways to scam the ignorant. Shitcoins are not decentralized, secure or innovative. Run a node and find out for yourself.
Recommended read “Dear Crypto & Fiat Bros” by Dergigi
Exchanges are not Bitcoin
Sure, they provide accessible on/off ramps. But as we saw with the FTX, Mt Gox and many others, Bitcoin doesn’t care. Exchanges are nothing but businesses. They can implode, rug-pull, or get hacked. Bitcoin keeps going.
Companies are not Bitcoin
Like exchanges, Bitcoin has nothing to do with businesses looking to either advance or diminish adoption. No CEO, board, or stakeholder has any say on the direction of Bitcoin. Microstrategy and Michael Saylor’s position has to use Bitcoin the same way you and I do. Protocol unaffected.
Countries are not Bitcoin
El Salvador was the first to announce Bitcoin as legal tender. Yes, that gives more opportunities to Bitcoin holders. But make no mistake, Bitcoin’s mission is to separate money from the state. Bitcoin is permission-less. We will exchange it amongst each other whether countries like it or not. Tax these 12 words.
Tick-Tock Next Block
Bitcoin is way bigger than you and I. Many will fight it, but every 10 minutes a new block is mined. Anything else happening outside of Bitcoin is irrelevant to the system itself. Don’t mistake the volatility of the outside world with the steadiness and reliability of the truth machine that is Bitcoin. Those that recognize this have reached a level of “Bitcoin Zen”.
Stack hard plebs.
Bitcoin is a token, just like the dollar. There is no value but the value it transfers between users. Without value transfer, a token itself cannot be valued. Unlike the dollar, without use to renew its uniqueness, bitcoin has no value without users. It is the users who continue to impart value. Who owns that value creation? How does one properly price Bitcoin if it is not used in millions of transactions daily?
The paper dollar is impersonal and untraceable. Yes, its value can be deflated by government printing more, but contrary to claims Bitcoin can also be duplicated in unlimited supply.
The problem to be solved is controlling currency devaluation by more creation than represents value creation in society. We do that by requiring publicly traded companies to make a profit. Those who do expand currency in the process of converting borrowed funds to equity. Those who do not, default on borrowings and the default erases that amount of currency. What remains is currency thaat represents profitable contributions to society as determined by society. The dollar is intimately embedded in that system and is where it derives its token value.
To stop corruption politicians from devaluing currency, one must be politically alert and not vote them into office. Many of these people are conmen/conwomen i.e., sociopaths. They are gaming our good will , our good faith in humanity. We need to be more alert.
Bitcoin is no solution. It is made in a computer and not connected to human value creation as is the dollar.