Bitcoin is Cooperation
or: How bitcoin promotes collaboration
(Klicke hier für die deutsche Version.)
Bitcoin is not just digital money, but a movement focused on cooperation and collaboration. Bitcoiners consistently demonstrate their helpfulness and promote the growth of Bitcoin without compensation. They support each other and create a strong community based on mutual trust and solidarity. An excellent example of this was recently demonstrated to me at the Bitcoin-only company Terrahash’s booth at Invest [1]. The startup had more visitors than staff, but thankfully enough Bitcoin enthusiasts were present and supported the rush.
In this article, I want to discuss the reasons for cooperation and community among Bitcoiners.
Bitcoin’s limitation promotes cooperation
Many organisms in nature rely on limited resources such as food, water, and habitat. This scarcity forces them to cooperate with each other to increase their chances of survival. Examples of this are ubiquitous: ants, bees, wolves, lions, elephants… all live and work together to secure the survival of their family-like group.
In the business world too, limited resources such as jobs, orders, and customers are the norm for companies. This limitation of resources contributes to successful companies collaborating to find better solutions together and increase their chances of survival. For example, companies in a limited market work together to develop new products or services, or share their resources to save costs.
Like the resources of nature or the business world, Bitcoin is also limited in quantity. The worldwide number of available Bitcoin will never exceed 21 million. The scarcity of Bitcoin, combined with its security features, increases the value placed on it every day. In contrast, fiat money is losing the trust placed in it today because it is based on unlimited money creation. Companies and individuals increasingly see Bitcoin as the best money and use it as an alternative form of wealth preservation.
Bitcoin is changing the economy
Bitcoin’s quantity limit will change the business world. New business activities will be more challenging to finance from today’s perspective. For this, I would like to give you two reasons:
- Bitcoin cannot be created out of thin air like fiat money. The increase in fiat money leads to its loss of purchasing power, which can only be countered with investments and speculation.
- Technological progress promotes the appreciation of Bitcoin’s purchasing power. While fiat money loses purchasing power and investments are necessary to preserve wealth, Bitcoiners increase their purchasing power through savings.
Those who can increase their purchasing power through savings will generally avoid investments because they carry risks. As a result, entrepreneurs must plan and monitor their expenses and investments more carefully than with fiat money. They must focus on more efficient and sustainable business models.
Cooperation creates more value than avoiding liquidity shortages
However, economic actors can address liquidity shortages by increasing cooperation. Although alliances* and joint ventures* are not a new invention, their prevalence in a Bitcoin world will increase significantly. Only by jointly developing new products and business models can economic actors increase their chances of survival.
* Example: Renault and Nissan work closely together to share technologies and resources and thus increase their competitiveness.
** Example: General Motors and Toyota shared knowledge and technology for hybrid cars and reduced costs and risks.
Cooperation will become the new normal and will also include consumers. With Bitcoin, they not only have savings to finance new services or product ideas, but they are also the only ones who make the purchasing decision that determines the success of products and companies.
Bitcoin enables financing despite high risks
In our world today, products are financed and developed before they hit the market. Bitcoin will reverse this relationship. By financing product ideas or not, consumers give manufacturers certainty about how popular their product will be. Money and natural resources cannot be used more effectively.
The internet and social media will make it easier for entrepreneurs to find private investors. Savers decide as investors of the new products how many Satoshis* they are willing to risk. As the risk increases on the part of the manufacturers, the investment willingness of the savers decreases. However, since Bitcoin transactions in the Lightning Network cost almost nothing, manufacturers have more room for maneuver. They can accept smaller amounts for risky projects and only need to find more investors to realize their product idea. With the high fees of the fiat system, this path would be unthinkable.
* Just as the cent is to the euro or dollar, Satoshi is to Bitcoin: 100,000,000 Satoshis = 1 Bitcoin.
In the future, people’s problems and needs will play a greater role in product development than what is technically feasible today. Only when the need is greater than the perceived risk will savers invest.
Conclusion: 21 million Bitcoin
The maximum of 21 million Bitcoin will lead to a change in the working world, requiring increased cooperation and resource optimization. At the same time, the appreciation and use of Bitcoin as a valuable resource will be strengthened.
I would be interested to hear what you think about my thoughts. What do you want me to focus on more? Please let me know in the comments.
***
Did my 5,463 characters give you a new insight? Honor them with a donation via Lightning. You want to read more from me? Support my work with a few Satoshis. Understanding takes time. Your promotion gives me time to organize my thoughts and write them down.
***
Quellen
[1] https://terahash.space/ Status: 06.04.2023
