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Is Bitcoin a Swiss Bank?
5 Metaphors to Understand Digital Money
Explaining Bitcoin is hard. For some is digital gold, for others, hard money, for many, just an enigma too difficult to decipher. Using analogies and metaphors helps by connecting the abstract with the familiar.
We use metaphors daily, even in science — the genetic code, quantum tunneling, electron clouds, and the tree of life. These poetic licenses help create a mental image of the destination while maintaining scientific objectivity.
Many metaphors have been used to describe Bitcoin, some are catchy — the honey badger, the peaceful revolution, the orange pill — some are pejorative — bubble, ponzi, scam — but anyhow, using analogies is always a good way to explain a subject that seems dry and abstract from afar.
1. Bitcoin as a Virus
This analogy might not sound very flattery, but hear me out. A virus is neither dead nor alive, yet immortal. Spreads exponentially, given the right conditions, and changes the host (or kills it), becoming stronger and antifragile in the process.
Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer technology that adapts to attacks, can’t be killed or stopped, and infects every mind it touches. What is seen can’t be unseen. Like the internet, smartphones, or social media, once it gathers…
