Bitcoin Ready?
Image by Sergei Tokmakov, Esq. https://Terms.Law from Pixabay
Today, I'm going to talk about a topic that not many people think about, but I think about it a lot. One of the reasons why I think a lot about this topic is that I have been talking, reading, listening, and sharing about Bitcoin for a very long time now. And over the years, I have asked this question: Is Bitcoin ready? I mean, Bitcoin is ready for the world, but is the world ready for Bitcoin?
So first let me start by talking about whether Bitcoin is ready for the world. And then in the later part of this post, I will write about why the world may or may not be ready for Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is ready for the world. Bitcoin is trustless. Bitcoin is decentralized. Bitcoin has security features that are far, far beyond what people are using now. Bitcoin has a support base, a developer base, and a promoter base — all working towards one unique goal of promoting Bitcoin and encouraging mass adoption.
One of the major reasons that pushed the development of Bitcoin was the recession in 2007 and 2008. Many banks crashed. Many businesses shut down. Many people were laid off because of a cash crunch. A lot of people do not understand why that happened, but a recession comes when there is a limitation of money, limitation in production, when there is an ongoing war in the world, and when the economy is stagnant or going downhill.
Image by Лечение Наркомании from Pixabay
One of the basic ideas behind Bitcoin's creation was that the developers, the creators, wanted to give financial power to the public — to the common man — and take it away from the banks that were exploiting the system. They were increasing housing loan interest, increasing debt, and manipulating other factors that ultimately made the common public suffer.
The creators of Bitcoin wanted to empower common people. They gave the technology to the people — created by a bunch of people, for the benefit of the people — and started one of the biggest revolutions in the world: the revolution of Bitcoin.
When Bitcoin was created and launched, it was already ready for the world. It didn’t need extensions, additions, or removals. It was plain and simple. All it needed was a group of people who believed in its system, in its rules and laws. And when it came into the market, some people were ready to accept it. It did take time for the general public to come around, but most of the resistance came from the fear-mongering created by centralized banks and other organizations.
The markets were crashing, the banks were crashing, most governments were crashing. There were revolutions going on — Arab Spring and what not. And out of this destruction came a phoenix that we today call Bitcoin.
Now coming to the second point of my post. Is the world ready for Bitcoin? I think no. The world is not ready for Bitcoin because no matter how much people try to bring Bitcoin into the mainstream, governments push it back. They fear it will bring chaos, and that they will lose tax revenue.
In the early days, governments across the world created a perception that Bitcoin was only used by criminals. And because of that, Bitcoin’s name was ruined. People didn’t want to associate themselves with Bitcoin because they feared being branded enemy number one by the authorities. If you want to survive in life, thrive in business, and make it to the billionaire or trillionaire club, then all you need to do is what the government asks you to do. You can’t rebel. You can’t ask. You can’t question. And if you do, you are named a criminal. That’s what happened with Bitcoin.
Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay
Bitcoin was created with pure intentions — to take financial control away from corrupt governments, corrupt banks, and corrupt politicians. If all these systems had been working well, Bitcoin would never have been created.
Another aspect of Bitcoin that not many people think about is its supply. Isn’t it strange that someone creates a new technology, a new form of currency, and caps it at just 21 million coins — ever? Have you ever wondered why the creators did that? Doesn’t it seem a little suspicious? They could have minted billions or trillions of coins every year, just like fiat currencies. But no, they capped it at 21 million. Do you know why?
What I think is that they capped it at 21 million to contrast the fiat system, where governments can print endless amounts of money. And printing money isn’t always for economic reasons. Often, it’s a cover-up — for policy failures, for poor governance, or simply to artificially inflate economic growth. The creators of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto and others, wanted to cap not only the number of coins but also the greed of politicians, central banks, and reserve banks around the world.
And I again reiterate: the world is not ready for Bitcoin. Bitcoin is far ahead of its time. It was built for people who want to be fruitful, transparent, decentralized — for those who want to share power, whether it’s money, politics, armies, or knowledge. Bitcoin was meant to be much more than it is now. But slowly, centralized powers are eating away at its decentralization. It’s not completely broken yet, but it may eventually be.
Everyone sees Bitcoin today as a store of value, a store of money. But Bitcoin was supposed to be much more.
Maybe in my next post, I’ll write about all the ideas I carry about Bitcoin. I’ve been reading, writing, listening, and sharing about it since early 2011. That was the first time I heard about Bitcoin. I was a young tech blogger. Someone shared a post from a tech magazine, and I started reading and researching. I got so hyped, so happy that finally, someone had created a system to break us free from the shackles of corruption.
Image by Jeremy Zhu from Pixabay
Why do you think block explorers are public? Because every on-chain transaction is visible. You can’t see the names of people, but you can see the transactions. You can see how much is being sent, where it’s going. You can detect corruption. You can track debt. You can see movement. You can observe how much Bitcoin is being held, loaned, or repaid. This was supposed to be Bitcoin. Much more than it is now.
But the world is still not ready.
Maybe in a hundred years, we will finally see an Ethiopian dream accomplished. A fair system will rise from the ashes of corrupt monetary systems and political lies. Maybe then, the world will be ready for Bitcoin.