The 10 Advantages of Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin
I must warn by saying that in this blog post, I refer to Bitcoin quite a few times. This is simply because Bitcoin is the most famous Cryptocurrency and in our opinion, the most Cryptocurrency-like Cryptocurrency. Here are the 10 brilliant benefits that Cryptocurrencies offer to us.
Cryptocurrencies are Currencies that:
- Can be used by anyone
- Can be used in any country, for free.
- Can be stored safely by anyone, for free
- Are controlled by everyone and not a single authority
- Are resistant to manipulation
- Open to innovation and improvements.
- Can be transferred across the world in seconds, for free
- Are Un-confiscatble
- Are Censorship resistant
- Have true Value behind them
(1) Can be used by anyone. You don’t have to provide any documentation or belong to a certain country to purchase this currency. You cannot be expelled and cut-off from the Bitcoin Monetary System, unlike other jurisdictions. The US government cannot ban you from using a Cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, don’t worry. Every being that is born on earth is invited to participate within the Bitcoin money system. Which other currency flaunts such inclusivity?
(2)Can be used in any country, for free. Cryptocurrencies are completely global currencies; which is why Bitcoin is commonly referred to as ‘The Currency of Earth.’ It is borderless. You can access your funds in any country and spend them in any country for no extra cost. You won’t have to worry about monster Exchange Rates when overseas. If you’re from Estonia but visiting Kenya, you can spend your Bitcoin in Kenya just as you would in Estonia, for exactly the same cost. No other currency boasts this trait, which again makes Cryptocurrencies all the more unique.
(3) Can be stored safely by anyone, for free. As long as one has a device to store these coins on, storing them is completely free. To store Cryptocurrencies, you need a device like a Smartphone (which costs as low as $5 in some nations), laptop or an external Crypto storage device like a USB. You don’t have to put up with the fees that banks charge to store your money no more. In the past, wealth was stored at home, which was fortunately free. However, the security of this method is weak as anyone can thieve it. Therefore, mankind decided to start storing their wealth with banks who could safely protect it; but due to their monopoly, banks can afford to charge astronomical fees for this service. However now, an alternative has arisen where you can safely store your wealth privately, with no additional costs; the Cryptocurrency Wallet.
(4) Are not controlled by a set of unelected individuals who have the power to act on self-interests. However, this trait varies depending on the Cryptocurrency. A currency like Bitcoin is infinitely more ‘decentralised’ than the XRP token. The Federal Reserve, the institution controlling the US Dollar, US monetary system and a fair share of the global economy, is run by 7-unelected Board of Governors, which all happen to be white males (I myself am a White Male. I am not hating on White Males. I am drawing attention to the lack of diversity within the most influential institution on the planet). Bitcoin in comparison is controlled by everyone involved within the network. Bitcoin has Universal Consensus where power is democratised. Unlike many ICOs, Bitcoin’s Governance is also Decentralised as Developers are not in charge of the protocol.
(5) Resistant to Manipulation of the currency. In the last few years, we have seen a score of Reserve Currencies like the Yen and the Euro be purposefully devalued due to the States’ decision to print more money. By printing more money, governments make already existing money less valuable as there is now more of it. Just last month the Venezuela Dictatorship Government removed a further 5 Zeros from the Currency’s Valuation. In other words, if you owned 100,000 Bolivars in July 2018, you would now have 1 sole Bolivar. Although the buying power of that 1 Bolivar has changed, someone’s entire wealth should not be in the control of a Centralised Authority that has the power to meddle with the value of it. Others may argue that Cryptocurrencies, depending on their distribution, can indeed be manipulated. And whilst that is true at the minute (whilst volume remains infinitesimally low compared to other globally used assets), if & once the ‘big institutional money’ flows in, it’ll be harder for ‘whales’ to do this. If you’re interested, I studied this further in an article titled ‘Is BTC truly decentralised’ which you can read here.
(6) Open to innovation and improvements. Some Cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, are examples of Open-Source Technology. This means that you are free to try to better the technology and develop code that’ll do this. You think you can make Bitcoin better? Please do. We have seen this with the work of the team at Lightning Labs. In December 2017, the cost of completing a single BTC transaction soared to $40! However, as Bitcoin is Open-Source, a group of developers working at Lightning Labs were able to provide a solution to the problem. They created an improvement which allowed for Bitcoin transfers to process instantaneously and at a negligible cost. It’s a globally inclusive network in terms of both design and usage.
(7) Can be transferred across the world in seconds… for free. Standard overseas bank transfers can take days and weeks to process; not because it takes banks that long to wire the money but because they need time to take your money and invest it for their own gain. With Cryptocurrencies (as they’re P2P), you remove this need and therefore, leverage technology to achieve instant money transfers across the globe. This trait is extremely beneficial for the Remittance Market which hosts $466bn per annum from overseas workers sending money back home to their native country. Although Cryptocurrencies are described as “free,” technically they are not. Most Cryptocurrencies that boast “free transactions” actually have to include a cost, to incentivise miners. However, this fee is insignificant and is very often is below $0,01.
(8) Un-confiscatble. As Cryptocurrencies are decentralised, they are non-confiscatable. Once the coins are in your wallet, they are yours and yours only; no one else has access to it. This differs from traditional bank accounts where banks and the government can seize your wealth at whim. In the case of Cyprus, the EU decided that in order to reduce banks debts, every Cypriot’s savings that exceeded 100,000 Euros would be seized and taken from their accounts. As such many woke up the following day to see that their life-savings had vanished over-night. Many businesses filed for bankruptcy as they could no longer could afford to pay their employees as well as finance all of their other costs. If humanity is striving for optimisation, we should value and leverage this trait of Cryptocurrencies as much as possible. Protect your wealth, or have it confiscated (as previously seen in countries like the US, Australia & Germany)
(9) Censorship resistant. No one or no party can censor your participation within the Currency’s ecosystem. In the case of Wiki Leaks, Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin allowed them to monetise their content and actually kept them open for years. As what WikiLeaks was doing was clearly against the government, the government banned them from participating within the global money network and prohibited anyone to transact with WikiLeaks. Therefore, the anonymity of Bitcoin and the fact that its censorship resistant allowed WikiLeaks to take donations from their readers in the form of Cryptocurrencies. For years WikiLeaks stayed alive because of the generous and anonymous Bitcoin donations that readers gave.
(10) It has inherent value. Unlike fiat currencies, Cryptocurrencies have value because of their Capped Maximum Supply. There will only ever be 21 million Bitcoins and has created Scarcity. As something becomes increasingly rare, it should appreciate overtime. Furthermore, tying back to the Open-Source nature of Cryptocurrencies, if improvements are made to the currency then the value should rise also. The Lightning Network analogy mentioned earlier remains relevant here. Bitcoin’s value has increased as a result of Lightning’s technology improvements and in the long run, Prices always equals Value. And finally, I hope this 10-point list demonstrates why Bitcoin does indeed hold inherent value.
REMEMBER, IF YOU BUY CHEAP AND SELL HIGH, YOU’RE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT!
DISCLAIMER: THIS ARTICLE EXPRESSES OUR PERSONAL OPINIONS, PREDICTIONS, AND MARKET SPECULATIONS BASED ON THE WAY WE INTERPRET THE INFORMATION WE HAVE AVAILABLE TO US. IT IS BY NO MEANS TO BE CONSIDERED EXPERT ADVICE. WE TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY/ LIABILITY FOR ANY ACTIONS TAKEN BY YOU BASED ON ANYTHING WE HAVE MENTIONED.
WE ARE IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH ANY COMPANIES, SITES, CRYPTOCURRENCY EXCHANGES AND CRYPTOCURRENCIES THAT WE MENTION IN THESE ARTICLES, THESE ARE SIMPLY THE ONES WE CHOOSE TO USE DUE TO OUR PERSONAL PREFERENCE.
