This post contains a rant, so if you're easily offended, click away.
We've all run into them: crypto enthusiasts who say bitcoin is the future of money.
"It's hella rad, man, no central banks, no middle men, it's on the blockchain and it takes power away from the feds and places it in the hands of people!"
Some of you may be new to the scene, but when I first got into crypto some five six years ago, the gimmick around cryptocurrency was what was stated above: a revolutionary new form of currency that was not controlled by governments and central banks.
It was supposed to bring us freedom from oppressive government and their trash fiat currencies that make us all poorer in the form of inflation, and what was not stolen through inflation would be stolen through taxes.
That's why I got in and bought BTC back in the day.
What about now?
The crypto enthusiasts are still saying the same thing, but what do they mean?
In 2018, cryptocurrencies are nothing but a new form of lottery where people wish to make a profit - profit that is ultimately cashed out in fiat.
I've said it for a long time that the initial price rise of BTC was the worst thing that could happen to the cryptocurrency revolution, since it created the early bitcoin millionaires that made everybody jealous, and got them thinking that they want that, too.
So, everybody started to get in.
But not to start a revolution, no.
They got in to get rich.
And don't get me wrong, it'd be hypocritical of me to say that I haven't enjoyed the fiat profits I've made in crypto, I'm human, but honestly, what more is there to do anyway?
Crypto has become apt stomping ground for all different kinds of scammers, all in it to make a quick buck. Whenever someone praises a coin - be it bitcoin, ripple, doge, whatever - it has to do with the price going up.
It's never about the technology behind it, it's never about what the coin can do to move us forward as a species.
No; a coin is good when it enables one to get the maximum amount of fiat.
I'm a member of a Finnish crypto group on Facebook, and today finally got annoyed by the fact that each and everyone there - it seems - is simply a speculator, looking to make fiat.
Call me an elitist if you so wish, but I miss the days when people in crypto cared about a revolution. It was even more of a niche thing back then, but at least there were smart people around it.
Bitcoin is so outdated it's not even funny. What is so special about bitcoin? What can do it do besides go up in price? Nothing, not a damn thing. Development is slow to the point that it's almost nonexistent and no one cares about the problems as long as the price keeps going up.
Let's imagine bitcoin at 50k, 100k, 500k.
What changes? The amount of fiat people can get buy selling their bitcoin. Nothing else. Bitcoin is expensive and slow to use now, so take a guess how it's going to perform at 100k.
Do you see that as a currency used at your local supermarket?
"Okay, that'll be 0.0000000025 BTC! The average transaction in the bitcoin network takes about two months, so we have free coffee served on the camping site at the back of the store, enjoy your stay!"
The thing that really irritates me is the fact that a better coin already exists, and it's STEEM.
I have my issues with Steemit the website, and Steemit, INC. but STEEM the blockchain is very damn good. No thanks to Steemit, INC. at all, but it doesn't change the fact.
There's nothing BTC can do that STEEM can't, and if there's a coin that could possibly potentially bring us a crypto revolution, it'd be STEEM.
I rag on INC for not marketing STEEM, but that's not even the main issue, since the main issue is that people probably wouldn't care, anyway.
"STEEM? What's that, like 6 bucks, or som'n? Bitcoin is 16k, baby!"
"Okay, what makes it so great?"
"It's the currency of the future!"
"What are you buying with it, again?"
"Dollars!"
The other problem with crypto becoming a tech savvy lottery is the fact that what kinds of people usually buy lottery tickets?You guessed it: stupid people.
So, there you go.
That's your crypto crowd right there.
The embarrassing fact is that governments and central banks have absolutely nothing to fear from crypto currencies. Probably never will.