"Bitcoin not blockchain. Bitcoin is money." This is a key idea to grasp and is the most important takeaway from this article, so keep this in mind as you carry on reading. 

Did you know, the term "blockchain" was never in the original Bitcoin whitepaper? Yes, the technology Bitcoin relies on is indeed Blockchain, however this is all just coding. It is nothing innovative or out of this world, what actually is out of this world is the idea of Bitcoin being money, and replacing the existing traditional FIAT system. Therefore in this article, I will be focusing on the monetary aspect of Bitcoin, and not the technological side. 

What is money even? This is the first main idea to grasp when entering the world of Bitcoin. The definition of money is that it "is an economic unit that functions as a generally recognized medium of exchange for transactional purposes in an economy". Gold, salt, cattle and now FIAT, all these are/were money. Bitcoin is a new entry to the term money. It can be sent user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network, serving as a medium of exchange. Especially important, is that this can be done without the need for intermediaries. Meaning, Bitcoin is decentralised and permisionless on top of being censorship-resistant, which is the whole appeal of Bitcoin and is what makes it appealing and valuable. What makes Bitcoin more appealing than traditional FIAT is the idea of scarcity and inflation. There will only ever be a total of 21 million Bitcoin, meaning as more Bitcoin is mined, there is only a fixed inflation rate. Since total supply is capped, this leads to scarcity and as more people buy Bitcoin and the supply of Bitcoin decreases, the value (take note that I say value and not PRICE) of Bitcoin increases as people who want it cant get it. This is unlike FIAT which inflates year by year as more money is injected into the economy and monetary supply increase, thus decreasing the value of your current FIAT holdings. 

The next key idea we will be looking at is what gives Bitcoin monetary value. To unravel this idea, we will have to look at the term "Intrinsic Value". Intrinsic Value is defined as "true, inherent, and essential value of an asset independent of its market value." Bitcoin is termed "digital gold", but unlike Gold which is a precious metal that can be used in factories for manufacturing, or as jewellery, you have to know that Bitcoin has no real value. Similarly, the USD (which was once backed by the Gold Reserve) has no real value to it now, after abandoning the Gold Standard. The only reason we are all using it (or other currencies as well) is because we were told and taught to. But it is time we change the system. 

The price Bitcoin is at now (at the time of this article it is hovering around 9300 USD) is based on what us HODLers/Speculators believe or perceive the value of Bitcoin should be. And this perceived value is based on the appeals and fundamentals of Bitcoin as aforementioned. Why this idea is important is to help you survive this "bubble-like" market we are in. The Bitcoin/Cryptocurrency market that we are in is largely still a speculative one and knowing how to value Bitcoin is an useful skill to have. Bitcoin is severely undervalued now and its current prices is way lower than it should be. More and more people are finding out about Bitcoin and adoption is rising at a fast exponential rate. Regulators are looking at Bitcoin, financial institutions are jumping on board, and most notably, recently the president of China Xi Jinping praised blockchain. Compare this undervaluation now to in 2017, when Bitcoin was at its peak of 20k, when it was extremely overvalued. The market was relatively small and new and largely speculative, most people were "gambling". Had you studied the fundamentals of Bitcoin that time, you would have seen that at that early stage/years of Bitcoin, a price of 20k at that time was too expensive and the correct move was to SELL and not BUY. Thus valuing Bitcoin at the right price is an useful skill to have for both HODLers/buyers who are looking to buy and accumulate long term (to make sure you don't buy at the peak or at prices too high) and traders trying to short or long the market (to maximise profits). 

However unlike previous years, which were all mere speculation, there is less speculation now as we have fundamentals and key ideas built in, which many of us Bitcoiners understand and believe in and that idea is Bitcoin being the Ideal Money. I believe that Bitcoin (alongside other Cryptocurrencies) will challenge the existing systems in place, displacing the traditional financial system that we have now, which is why I (and most I assume) are HODLers and in it for the long term. I would term the stage that we are in right now as price discovery, instead of speculation. As more and more people discover and understand Bitcoin, the price will definitely rise to a higher and more properly-priced value.

Nonetheless, some people still see Bitcoin as a way to get rich quickly and easily, a form of "gambling". Others see it as an asset (speculative) and HODL/Trade it as a form of diversification from traditional stocks and bonds. So which type of Bitcoiner are you? Let me know in the comment section down below! 

Regardless of which type of Bitcoiner you are, buy Bitcoin now with the Crypto.com app and find out how you can get a shiny metal Visa Card!

Thanks for reading!! 

P.S. 

I highly recommend these two reads to further reinforce the ideas and opinions I have expressed above.

What is Bitcoin's Intrinsic Value (Investopedia) and Our Weird Relationship With Money (CNN Opinion)