Read now to learn how the freedom and self-sovereignty enabled by Bitcoin exceed the importance of any project in the 'Crypto' space.
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The evolution of the “crypto” space over the past decade and a half is mind-boggling. Bitcoin started it all in the late 2000s, and still reigns supreme as the most popular cryptocurrency and as the only truly decentralized monetary medium in the world. The space is ever-evolving though and new blockchain-based projects are launching every week. Some may eventually provide a bit of lasting value to their users…but many likely will not.
As time has passed and as the number of projects piggy-backing off of Bitcoin’s success has grown, an increasingly large group of Bitcoiners have adopted a new mantra to help remind participants and spectators of where true value can be found: “Bitcoin is not Crypto”.
“Bitcoin is not Crypto” means different things to different people. My goal with today’s discussion isn’t to tell you what it should mean to you, but rather share my own experiences with and opinions on the topic.
Let’s dive right in:
What Is Crypto?
A lot of “hard-core” Bitcoiners will tell you that everything in crypto is a scam, and that only Bitcoin matters. There are certainly a large number of scams in the space, and I certainly am highly skeptical about many of the so-called “revolutions” happening in the space outside of Bitcoin. That said, I am open to the idea that there may be some people in crypto who are genuinely trying to improve people’s lives. Their project isn’t on the same level as Bitcoin though, as we’ll see later on.
In a nutshell, I see things in crypto that aren’t scams the same way I see normal businesses: attempts to solve everyday problems in a way that makes incremental improvements in customers’ lives.
I don’t despise search engines for making knowledge more accessible. I don’t despise grocery stores for making food easier to get. I don’t despise social media for introducing new ways to connect and socialize. But I recognize that each of them have significant tradeoffs in terms of resistance to centralized control.
In that same vein, I don’t hate crypto for introducing new ways to interact with art, video games, finance, and more. But I recognize that none of those endeavors is anywhere near as important as ensuring that the world has accessible, manipulation-proof money.
In other words, I recognize that the goals of crypto and business may be acceptable in certain cases, but they are secondary in importance to the goals championed by Bitcoin and its community.
What Is Bitcoin?
So why is Bitcoin so important? There are a number of different answers to that question, and answering it is why I write this newsletter. But if I had to narrow it down to one answer, at this moment I’d focus on the world’s absolute need for money that can’t be controlled or co-opted by any government or corporation for its own benefit.
Simply put, our world is being destroyed by governments and corporations who put their needs and their opinions above the lives and livelihoods of everyone else. Fiat currencies grant them the ability to do that quite easily, so it should come as no surprise that governments have spent decades ensuring that more and more of their citizens’ lives run on top of the fiat monetary system. They want to control their citizens and will fight against anything that gets in the way.
Bitcoin gets in the way. In fact, Bitcoin completely blows fiat systems out of the water in a side-by-side comparison. They are polar opposites, and the competition doesn’t bode well for fiat:
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Fiat is restrictive, but Bitcoin is accessible.
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Fiat is controlled, but Bitcoin enables freedom.
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Fiat is worthless, but Bitcoin retains value.
Bitcoin is an escape from the financial slavery propagated by fiat. Bitcoin is a lifeline to those who are drowning under the excesses and control of the fiat system. Fiat is taking us to a dark place, and Bitcoin is a light to lead us back from the brink of destruction.
That is why Bitcoin is not crypto. For all its promises, real or contrived, of soon-to-arrive benefits, crypto offers little more than an incremental improvement over the status quo. In more ways than one, crypto’s offering is wildly less important than Bitcoin, which is freedom money in a world that’s losing its freedom.
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This is not financial or business advice. This newsletter and related content are for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrencies and digital assets can be risky. Always do your own research before making any sort of investment.
