Treat Bitcoin like Money and it will Become Money
Time and time again we bitcoiners are faced with theories of what will spark mass adoption. Different ways to release the floodgates to the world’s first global currency. And, if you have enough skin in the game, then your definition of bitcoin is much more holistic than it’s initial application as currency. Be that as it may, let’s not stray too far from that initial application. The original white paper says it right in the title, “Bitcoin: A PeertoPeer Electronic Cash System”. My education in mathematics and technical tendencies have afforded me with a very deep understanding of what it means to have definition. The definition of a thing, any thing, is the explicit and detailed explanation of its bounds. If we take a look into the definition of bitcoin as it is stated in the title of the white paper, then we will see that it is spelled out quite clearly that currency is an innate intent of the network. And, what do you do with currency, spend some, save some, and invest some.
Now, I know that it may seem cumbersome to spend bitcoin; however, all new technology is cumbersome until it isn’t. Your perseverance and commitment to the technology as a money is what will eliminate the friction when it comes to dealings with bitcoin. Use amazing services like, Fold, Purse.io, and Gyft. Put your bitcoin into circulation. Think of economy as a running stream, the more fluidly that stream moves the more power it can generate if you were to build a turbine on that stream. In order for bitcoin to reach that point of glorious no return to the business as usual practices of our “modern” cash system, then bitcoin needs to be more than a stream, it needs to be an Amazonian torrent at a 15 degree decline. It can only become this way if you, we, are spending it. I am far from an expert, but I do believe there is a property of cash known as transaction volume, and this is directly proportional to the value of the cash that is transacted in that system. In other words, if the transaction volume increases, then the value increases as well. At the moment, bitcoin is transacting like a toddler made sand castle stream on a crowded beach, we need to get Amazonian with the flow! Treat bitcoin like money and it will become money…go ahead spend some.
To stay with the metaphor of running water, one can liken saving bitcoin too the accumulation of a glacier at the top of a gradual incline. Savings are fresh, replenishing, and resilient, just like a glacier. If you have bitcoin saved then you can add to that flow of transactions. However, just as glaciers are subject to external factors that will aid in their deplenishment, so is your bitcoin savings. It must be tended to and given personal and well established metrics in order to maintain its status as a source for the Amazonian transaction flow. Perhaps a less exciting nature of a savings…just like a glacier, is how terribly boring and unexciting it is. It doesn’t move much, and it looks a little stagnate to be honest; nevertheless, if a glacier is well kept and can look breathtaking. Treat bitcoin like money and it will become money…go ahead and save some.
Now, this is the most tricky aspect of cash. How in the world does one invest bitcoin? And, in my opinion, bitcoin takes the main tricks out of investing naturally. It is designed as a deflationary currency. Under one simple condition, one simple ifthen. IF (adoption becomes massive), THEN(bitcoin gains immense value). If you have been in this game as long as I, then you also know adoption is no easy feat. Incepting psyches is no easy feet. Well, often times, in order to get have what you want, doing another action causes your wants to intersect with fruition. Let’s revisit our metaphor, and liken investments as tributaries of our Amazonian flow. The denotation of a tributary in this context, a river or stream flowing into a larger body of water.
Well, that is a very well put metaphor for how investing begins. Tributaries start as a tiny route for water that doesn’t want to travel down the path of the rest of the water in the system, and it starts eroding its way toward new paths and new possibilities. Some tributaries become sources of power and influence, for instance, the Missouri River is a tributary of the Mississippi River here in the USA. The Missouri river was such a massive tributary we went ahead and started calling it a river. Since, bitcoin is deflationary start to view its innate properties as a cash system as that main river, the Amazon, or the Euphrates, or the Mississippi. The investment opportunities may be murky and unknown at the moment; but, natural erosion of the current landscape is bound to happen and new cash flows will create new sources of power. Try to find those new tiny paths and turn it into a Missouri River! Treat bitcoin like money and it will become money…go ahead and invest some.
Originally published at thebitcoinpodcast.com on September 17, 2015.