The Bitcoin Must Return To The Original Vision Of Its Creator Satoshi Nakamoto
This will first require a change in the behavior of the Bitcoin HODLERS.
Bitcoin was officially created on January 3, 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto for a specific purpose. Indeed, Satoshi Nakamoto details very clearly his vision of Bitcoin in his white paper “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” which I recommend you read if you have not already done so. His vision of what the Blockchain Bitcoin should be is found from the first line:
“A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.”
With Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto therefore wanted to create a transparent and decentralized payment system that would be freed from the financial institutions that usually act as trusted third parties in online transactions.
Bitcoin As A Response To The Failing Traditional Financial System
This mistrust was totally in line with the climate at the end of 2008, since at that time, the world had just entered a banking and financial crisis following the subprime crisis of summer 2007. The climate of mistrust towards banks and the traditional financial system was therefore at its height.
This global economic crisis from 2007 to 2012 marked a turning point in public confidence in the traditional financial system.
In this context, Bitcoin has been able to gain popularity among a technophile public deeply disappointed by the traditional financial system that it considered deficient. Then, from the end of 2013, the media began to focus on Bitcoin and the revolutionary technology of the Blockchain on which it is based.
It must be said that the price of Bitcoin had just exceeded $1,000, which was a reason in itself to make headlines and try to interest the general public in this new technology.
Bitcoin Is Mainly Seen As A Speculative Instrument
It is 2019 and now the Bitcoin is mainly seen as a speculative instrument. Of course, this is a new kind of instrument, but the purpose of many people buying Bitcoins remains the same as that of investors in the traditional financial system so criticized by Bitcoin advocates.
Many buy Bitcoins for the sole purpose of making large profits by accumulating them without ever trying to spend them.
The famous people’s currency, totally decentralized and transparent, wanted by Satoshi Nakamoto, is therefore reduced to the status of a simple financial instrument of speculation.
So when I read articles related to Bitcoin, most of them just talk about investment, bull or bear cycles and market prices. Technical analysis are multiplying to find out what the price of Bitcoin will be in 1 month, 1 year or even 10 years.
Influencers are gaining popularity by predicting that the Bitcoin price will reach $1 million in the future.
The consequence of this attitude of the greatest number is quite dramatic for Bitcoin and its potential mass adoption by the general public.
The Revolutionary Side Of Bitcoin Is Only Too Little Highlighted
Since Bitcoin is simply promoted as a new investment tool, the general public has a hard time seeing what interest it can have for it beyond the simple fact of making a few profits by taking some risks with their fiat currencies.
The general public is not in a position to perceive the revolutionary side of Bitcoin and what it can bring to the world in the future.
Even worse, Bitcoin’s enemies, namely central bankers, regulators in the major developed countries or most economists, are taking advantage of this situation. Indeed, in the face of the speculative madness that has seized the world of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, it is very easy for them to denounce the dangerous side of Bitcoin and this new world.
Traditional finance men do not miss an opportunity to scare the general public by describing Bitcoin as something very dangerous.
Dangerous because it is highly volatile but also because Bitcoin is, according to them, the favorite network for criminals wishing to launder money.
If you are a Bitcoin fan convinced of its immense potential like me, and I’m sure you are, all this is very frustrating. Why? Quite simply because Bitcoin is probably the most important technological revolution since the emergence of the Internet and its emergence is slowed down by the greedy attitude of some.
HODLERS Do More Harm Than Good To Bitcoin
In the Bitcoin’s world, there are the HODLERS and there are the others. The Bitcoin HODLERS are the most ardent supporters of Bitcoin. They believe strongly in the future of Bitcoin, which they see replacing the traditional financial system in the future.
For a true HODLER, there is nothing crazy about considering that Bitcoin could become a global reserve currency in the future.
This unshakeable trust in Bitcoin pushes HODLERS to accumulate more and more Bitcoins month after month at any price.
Indeed, since they are certain that the price of Bitcoin will reach records in the future, it seems essential to them to accumulate as many as possible. Their goal? To become extremely rich the day the Bitcoin will be adopted by the general public. They are convinced that this day will come.
The attitude of the Bitcoin HODLERS is paradoxically transforming them into enemies of the Bitcoin.
This last assertion must seem surprising to you. This is quite logical since I am talking about a paradoxical situation. By accumulating new Bitcoins at any cost without ever trying to spend them, HODLERS transform Bitcoin into a simple store of value.
Bitcoin must be spent through transactions to gain in utility for the greatest number of people and thus have a chance to replace the traditional financial system or at least to constitute a credible alternative. Without it, the general public will never be able to benefit from Bitcoin and it will remain in the hands of a minority of informed people.
Bitcoin Must Return To The Original Vision Of Its Creator
Nowadays, the Bitcoin has therefore moved far away from Satoshi Nakamoto’s original vision. Indeed, it is impossible to use Bitcoin on a daily basis to shop or exchange with any of your friends.
Bitcoin is not (yet) a medium of exchange for the general public.
Bitcoin is currently more a security or a commodity and is becoming a real store of value. It is no coincidence that we talk more and more often about digital gold when we talk about Bitcoin.
The fact that Bitcoin has moved away from Satoshi Nakamoto’s original vision is a service to the world of traditional finance.
Bitcoin, and even other cryptocurrencies, will always be more easily discredited as long as they are a mere speculative tool.
Nevertheless, the situation is far from hopeless because everything can still change. You must never forget that Bitcoin will be what its community decides to do with it.
Behaviors With Bitcoin Must Change
In order to put the Bitcoin back on the path that its creator Satoshi Nakamoto had imagined for it, it seems to me essential that the behavior concerning it evolve. All this must start with the first users, the famous HODLERS, who must stop the simple accumulation for switching to the use of Bitcoin.
The more Bitcoins are exchanged via daily transactions, the more useful Bitcoin will become, which will automatically increase its price.
Some people’s famous dream of seeing the price of Bitcoin reach for $1 million can only become a reality if Bitcoin becomes a real currency for as many people as possible. This moment will come when the mass adoption of Bitcoin by the general public will have taken place. And this mass adoption will be achieved when you will be able to use Bitcoin for most of your daily purchases.
The media also have a role to play. They must stop focusing solely on the investment side of Bitcoin but rather highlight its revolutionary side and all it will bring to the world in the future.
I am not talking about traditional financial investors here because their behavior with Bitcoin will probably never change.
Indeed, profit and greed are their only motivations and I suspect they will never change their behavior with Bitcoin. However, they are limited in number and their bad influence will be largely compensated by an awareness and a change of attitude on the part of the HODLERS who are the real defenders of Bitcoin.
By changing their attitude, the HODLERS of the Bitcoin still have the possibility to instigate a change in mentality and behavior so that the Bitcoin comes closer to Satoshi Nakamoto’s original vision:
Bitcoin must be a decentralized and transparent online payment system owned by the general public.
It is now up to them to play to breathe new life into Bitcoin.
