Why We Need Bitcoin
We have a way of buying, spending and erm… saving, so why do we need Bitcoin? Surely a government issued currency is the way to go, no?
Well, what has got us into this financial mess? Governments. What created every other financial mess throughout history? Governments.
Fact is, governments have made a complete mess of all economic eras, and I mean all: every single one throughout history, and they are the very reason why we need Bitcoin (BTC).
Even the most successful times, such as the Roman and British Empires were built on a foundation of monetary success. Only for them to fail.
The United States is now the richest country in living history and it’s also the most indebted country in history. It’s because humans are greedy and governments are run by humans.
It’s time for a change in the way societies are run, and it’s why we need Bitcoin.
Control the Supply of Money, Control the People
Throughout history, governments have taken liberties with the very people they’re supposed to represent. Whether it’s to fund wars or bail out failing institutions governments have done it all by controlling the money supply.
Controlling the supply of money allows governments to exert their control on the people. And with cashless societies and central bank digital currencies on their way, we’re at a critical stage in monetary history.
When it comes to money, centralized systems are dangerously powerful. It’s no secret they already control and manipulate society through monetary policy.
When our financial systems become completely digital, however, they will have absolute control over every single aspect of our lives, and have the means to seize or even delete our wealth at will.
Look at China for example. The new social credit system there has society policing itself. If a Chinese citizen behaves in a way the government deems unfit, their social scores are automatically adjusted.
This affects their social standing and also whether they can get access to local goods and services, such as a loan, a job or even a passport.
And when China launches its CBDC it will be able to program its citizens’ money: automatic fines, tax, and even expiry date on the money will all be possible.
Sound bad? It’s definitely coming, and its why we need Bitcoin.
Every Fiat Currency Falls To Zero
Every single fiat currency has failed and fallen to zero. They have a historical shelf life of about 30 years, so the US dollar isn’t doing too bad.
Ever since coming off the gold standard in 1971, the US has just printed their way in and out of every crisis, and not being pegged to anything means it has been able to manipulate its life longer.
In the 1980s, America was the richest country with the biggest treasury in the history of the world. Since then, however, with its government’s quest for power and greed it has become the most indebted nation in the history of the world.
Today, America’s debt stands at over $27 Trillion. In numbers that looks like $27,000,000,000,000. And the truth is that it can never be paid off. Actually, it isn’t even meant to be paid off.
Economies like Zimbabwe, Venezuela and Argentina have started hyperinflating already. Their people don’t want to hold their currencies, because they’re not worth the paper they’re printed on.
The governments there are implementing new taxes, and ways to stop people trading out of the local currency. The people there are already using Bitcoin as a way to transact wealth among each other.
And in Venezuela, the likes of Pizza Hut, Burger King and Intercontinental Hotels already accept Bitcoin. Well, they’re not going to accept the government IOUs, are they?
I’m not saying it will be like that in the US, UK or any other first world nation any time soon, but inflation is eating away at every currency more than anyone thinks.
Not forgetting, they are all falling against Bitcoin because people are choosing to store their wealth in an uncorrelated asset. An asset that can’t be manipulated and is provably scarce.
Time for a Change: Time for Bitcoin
We’ve always had to rely on governments and banks to issue money, but now we have another option. Now we have Bitcoin.
Bitcoin was born on 3rd January 2009 in the wake of the 2008 economic crash and it is the first truly global, decentralized currency.
It first came to prominence during the European debt crisis in 2013/14. Coincidence? I think not.
It’s a new form of money that no central authority controls. It doesn’t need to be trusted because the code, maths and decentralized computing power verify and secure every transaction on the Bitcoin network.
Bitcoin is censorship resistant and is cryptographically secured on thousands of participating computers around the world, who all have to be aligned to help the network function.
Well, 51% do, but they are all mostly in agreement.
At over 800,000 petaFLOPS, the processing power that secures the network is x200 more powerful than the most powerful supercomputer, IBM’s Summit.
So any change to the protocol requires 51% of the processing power. It’s what makes Bitcoin the most secure computing network ever created.
In a time when governments are watching and controlling us more than ever, and are set to roll out programmable money to help them control us even more, its without question why we need Bitcoin.
Bitcoin cannot be manipulated, it cannot be controlled by a single entity, and it cannot be stopped either. Every transaction is open and anyone can audit the protocol and ledger.
Anyone with an Internet connection can get access to it, and as long as they don’t give away their private key they cannot have their Bitcoin confiscated.
Bitcoin is everything that government money isn’t, and it gives us hope. It’s why we need Bitcoin.
Can’t Governments Switch Bitcoin Off or Make it Illegal?
Many people who hear about Bitcoin, say it will be killed off by governments, because there is no way they would give up their power to Bitcoin.
Governments could turn the electricity or even the Internet off, but what would that do to the world economy?
Anyway, if they did turn it off, after turning it back on, the Bitcoin blockchain would simply start working from the exact block and transaction it was stopped at.
Of course, governments could make Bitcoin illegal. But, let’s say the US outlaws Bitcoin but Switzerland doesn’t. Where do you think all that innovation and money is going to move?
Innovation stimulates wealth creation and that’s what governments crave most. If they were to outlaw Bitcoin, they would basically be handing wealth to a rival state.
Governments could make things hard for Bitcoin, but they can’t stop it. And if they do choose to try and stop it, they will only be helping a rival state.
Why We Need Bitcoin
Governments have forever messed up currencies. It’s what they do best. The state of the global economy today is down to mismanagement of the monetary policy, and it will only get worse.
With Quantitative Easing you’d think governments would have made things better, but the truth is, that money doesn’t make its way into the mainstream economy.
CBDCs are on their way, and they will help in many ways. But they are also dangerous in the hands of authoritarian leaders. In fact, I don’t trust any western government either.
Once CBDCs are launched governments will have absolute control over people, so it’s imperative that we have another option.
Bitcoin is in its infancy, it isn’t ready for anything like a reserve currency status, and people aren’t ready for Bitcoin, yet. As a technology, it’s slow, clunky and pretty awkward for the average person.
However, as Bitcoin evolves and is able to scale at mass, and each economy goes the way of its ancestor, Bitcoin will absorb the failing fiat currencies, and society will naturally upload itself to Bitcoin.
