I recently started doing executive summaries of interesting articles in my Twitter account. Twitter threads are great for that, they force you to keep your thoughts simple and organized in blocks, and I really enjoyed doing it. So I decided to put them on Steemit too. It might reach more people and some others might prefer to read it in a single page instead of going through several tweets.
With this post I start a new section I will call "Crypto TL;DR". Short posts with summaries of interesting articles in the world of cryptocurrencies. They should serve as a fast way for people to grasp on concepts and to stimulate the reader to go and read the full article. Hope you enjoy it!
The Many Faces of Bitcoin
1/ Here's my executive summary thread of the article by @Adam_Tache and @MustStopMurad, highly recommended. “The Many Faces of Bitcoin"
2/ It presents 4 theories about the future of Bitcoin and the ideologies behind them: 1) store of value, 2) digital cash, 3) store of value with central banks issuing their own currencies, 4) breakthrough in information theory and evolution of traditional money.
3/ Theories 1 and 3 overlap a lot, in the same way that 2 and 4 overlap. 1 and 2 are seen all around and easier to understand. The others involve more complex economical concepts/theories.
4/ Theory 1: Bitcoin as a store of value (e.g. gold), backed by Bitcoin Core (BTC) supporters. Bitcoin maximalists want money that can't be inflated or confiscated. Believers in hyperbitcoinization and the disruption of fiat currencies (they lose value as Bitcoin supplants them).
5/ They believe hoarding causes a positive feedback loop, increasing prices. People should "hodl" for the long term. Prioritization of saving and accumulation over superficial consumption.
6/ Technically, the focus is on fewer and bigger on-chain transactions. Incentivize users to run full nodes and have control of their keys. Lightning Network and extra layers advocates.
7/ Theory 2: Bitcoin as digital cash, backed by Bitcoin Cash (BCH) supporters. Spending coins is necessary for mass adoption. Wants to be a medium of exchange before being a store of value. Aims to "bank the unbanked" and allow small transactions like buying coffee.
8/ They believe in unrestricted block sizes to facilitate P2P payments w/o bounds. All interactions are on-chain, no 2nd or 3rd layers. They believe Satoshi's original vision was an electronic P2P currency, not a digital gold. Often use Satoshi's words to justify their decisions.
9/ Theory 3: Bitcoin is a catalyst for John Nash’s Ideal Money. Aligned with theory 1, believes Bitcoin will become a digital gold. The main difference is that they believe nation-state currencies will still exist. They will adjust and survive.
10/ For Nash, it's more important to arrive at an incorruptible global value standard than to focus on everyday transactions. Theory initially thought of by Hal Finney. Scarcity and hyper deflation are key elements.
11/ Theory 4: Bitcoin as a breakthrough in information theory that will result in the evolution of traditional money. Aligned with theory 2 but believes in forks, Bitcoin as the sum of its forks. Ideas backed by individuals such as @ScandalOfMoney, @mwilcox and @desantis.
12/ Believes in Bitcoin to conduct verifiable, timestamped, tamper-proof and transparent transactions without 3rd parties. Favors pushing Bitcoin to its limits and maximize the utility of an open data layer. A platform to enable competitive general purpose computational markets.