Common Bitcoin Objections: No Use Case
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Bitcoin is a technological breakthrough initially lauded by technologists and niche internet forums before hitting the world stage. But what does it do? Are there real-world, everyday reasons to own bitcoin, or does the refrain “there are no use cases” ring true?
Bitcoin is a monetary asset competing against gold and other stores of value. That is its immediate use case.
A store of value is any commodity or asset that retains purchasing power into the future. An asset’s ability to fulfill the role of a store of value is a function of the asset’s underlying characteristics. Do the underlying attributes engender confidence that it can be saved, retrieved/exchanged at any time, and maintain or increase its value over time?
What a civilization gravitates toward as a store of value throughout history is not random. Instead, society optimizes (over an extended timeframe) for the best form of money, constrained by the current technology.
New technologies throughout history have been catalysts for a transition to more sound money. Bitcoin is potentially the next chapter in the story.
Theoretically, a store of value should be the soundest monetary asset. All else equal, “bad” money will drive out “good” money from circulation according to Gresham’s Law:
“The law states that any circulating currency consisting of both “good” and “bad” money (both forms required to be accepted at equal value under legal tender law) quickly becomes dominated by the “bad” money. This is because people spending money will hand over the “bad” coins rather than the “good” ones, keeping the “good” ones for themselves. Legal tender laws act as a form of price control. In such a case, the intrinsically less valuable money is preferred in exchange, because people prefer to save the intrinsically more valuable money.”
This process could drive bitcoin to be the next widely held store of value. With superior underlying attributes, bitcoin will be held as a store of value while other forms of money are spent.
Bitcoin offers unique attributes for a monetary asset that was not feasible 14 years ago, bolstering its potential use as a global store of value.
Delving deeper into some of these unique attributes will help illuminate the paradigm shift underway and use cases bitcoin fulfills.
First, bitcoin is hard coded with a known monetary policy and is the only verifiably scarce and perfectly inelastic asset. Unlike any other commodity, bitcoin’s supply cannot respond to increases in demand, and its monetary policy is consistent due to the decentralized nature of the network.
Bitcoin is global and censorship-resistant, with the importance showcased in recent cases of governments overstepping….
…and in nation-state maneuvers.
To have trust that an asset will not be able to be taken away from you is paramount for many institutions and individuals, irrespective of political ideology or citizenship. Eliminating counterparty risk (in the form of political or monetary policy) is ideal, but up until this point, quite impossible.
Bitcoin is a variable that changes the store of value equation because it eliminates the need for an intermediary. A global asset that can be accepted anywhere by anyone with an internet connection is revolutionary.
Demand for a censorship-resistant asset without counterparty/political risk should increase over time, driven initially by high-net-worth individuals, nation-state treasuries, and emerging market countries with historically unstable currencies and leadership.
Bitcoin is well-positioned to supplant gold as the heir to the sound money and store of value throne. The total addressable market for sound money is massive, but new technologies take time to gain traction, especially in a market with entrenched stakeholders.
