Bitcoin is a monetary revolution that will change the world of the future in terms of money. Bitcoin’s unique monetary attributes are supported by Blockchain technology, which, combined with Bitcoin, becomes a technological disruption.
The consequences of a system such as Bitcoin on the world of the future will be numerous and will go beyond money.
By offering the same opportunities to all the inhabitants of the Earth, Bitcoin will change the game by allowing a redistribution of the cards that the current monetary and financial system does not allow for. This system is flawed and not fixable.
In what follows, I propose you discover 10 famous quotes that will help you to open your eyes to the why of Bitcoin, but also the importance it will have in the world of the future.
Satoshi Nakamoto on trust problem with central banks and banks that Bitcoin addresses
“The root problem with conventional currency is all the trust that’s required to make it work. The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust. Banks must be trusted to hold our money and transfer it electronically, but they lend it out in waves of credit bubbles with barely a fraction in reserve. We have to trust them with our privacy, trust them not to let identity thieves drain our accounts.”
— Satoshi Nakamoto, Founder of Bitcoin
The current monetary and financial system was unilaterally introduced by Richard Nixon in August 1971 when he ended the convertibility of the U.S. dollar into gold.
This system was then officially legalized by the Jamaica Accords in January 1976. It is based on a blind trust that citizens should be able to have in central bankers and private bankers.
Unfortunately, history has shown us that it is impossible to have this level of trust in the men at the head of the current system. The central bankers, who are not representative of the people, can print thousands of billions of dollars out of thin air in a snap of the fingers.
This is the only response that the Fed and other central banks seem to know to all the ills of the economy. To do so would be like treating the ailments of an alcoholic by giving him a little more alcohol every day. You understand that this can only get worse over time.
Private banks are at the center of an opaque banking system that favors the natural inclination of humans for corruption. Money laundering scandals multiply year after year without sanctions commensurate with the crimes committed.
I’m not even talking about the waves of credit bubbles that the unscrupulous attitude of these private banks creates, or the little respect they show for the privacy of citizens.
To respond to these problems that will sooner or later cause the end of the current monetary and financial system, Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin. He then offered it to all the inhabitants of the Earth as a magnificent gift that would allow them to change their destiny in terms of money.
Friedrich Hayek on the need to take money out of the hands of governments
“I don’t believe we shall ever have good money again before we take it out the hands of governments.”
— Friedrich Hayek
Born in 1899 in Vienna, Austria, Friedrich Hayek is an economist and philosopher recognized as one of the most important thinkers of liberalism in the 20th century.
Friedrich Hayek worked in the field of the information economy, analyzing, in particular, the causes of economic crises, especially the 1929 crisis. He developed a theory of entrepreneurship, the role of political institutions, and the reforms he believed were necessary for the modern monetary system.
He belongs to the Austrian School which advocates different liberalism from the majority neoclassical liberalism which consists of challenging the mathematization of the economy, in considering that economic crises are caused by speculative bubbles.
In this respect, Friedrich Hayek thus separates himself from the dominant model embodied in particular by Milton Friedman.
Friedrich Hayek knew during his life different monetary systems. He knew the gold standard system set up at Bretton Woods at the end of the Second World War, then the current system set up unilaterally by Richard Nixon in August 1971.
Friedrich Hayek has spent his life alerting people to the dangers of the current system.
He has always been very critical of this system. For Friedrich Hayek, it was essential to have competitive money outside the control of the States. This would be the best protection against the risks of inflation.
For Friedrich Hayek, it was obvious that inflation decided by governments has always been carried out solely for the benefit of the governments themselves:
“I do not think it is an exaggeration to say history is largely a history of inflation, usually inflations engineered by governments for the gain of governments.”
Today, many people think that money should absolutely be a prerogative of the States. In his book “The denationalization of money” published in 1976, Friedrich Hayek argued for a money market outside the monopoly of the States.
According to him, it is essential to move away from the dogma that money should be the responsibility of the States.
The emergence of Bitcoin is thus the realization of Friedrich Hayek’s dream.
Indeed, Bitcoin exists in limited quantities. There will never be more than 21 million BTC in circulation. The monetary policy of Bitcoin does not depend on any arbitrary decision of humans.
Written into Bitcoin’s source code, Bitcoin’s monetary policy is programmatic. Everything is inevitable with Bitcoin.
Milton Friedman on the role that an e-cash will play in reducing the role of governments
“I think the internet is going to be one of the major forces for reducing the role of government. The one thing that’s missing but that will soon be developed, is a reliable e-cash.”
— Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman is an American economist, considered one of the most influential in the 20th century. An ardent defender of liberalism, he was awarded the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory, and the complexity of stabilization policy.
He works in both theoretical and applied fields of research, being at the origin of the monetarist movement, and the founder of the Chicago School.
In the latter part of his life, Milton Friedman witnessed the emergence of the Internet. Fascinated by this invention, Milton Friedman considered that the Internet would be one of the main factors in reducing the role of governments in money matters.
The prerequisite for this was the existence of a reliable e-cash.
The Bitcoin created by Satoshi Nakamoto meets this pre-requisite once stated by Milton Friedman. It is the first step in the separation of money from the hands of the State. In the years to come, Bitcoin will continue to grow in importance in societies around the world.
Satoshi Nakamoto on why Bitcoin is different from the previous e-cash failed attempts
“A lot of people automatically dismiss e-currency as a lost cause because of all the companies that failed since the 1990’s. I hope it’s obvious it was only the centrally controlled nature of those systems that doomed them. I think this is the first time we’re trying a decentralized, non-trust-based system.”
— Satoshi Nakamoto, Founder of Bitcoin
Since the creation of Bitcoin by Satoshi Nakamoto, many people have been reticent about its chances of success with the general public.
As early as the early 2010s, Satoshi Nakamoto explained to Bitcoin’s critics why his invention was different. All the e-cash systems that failed in the early 1990s had one thing in common: they were all centralized.
Bitcoin is the first attempt at an e-cash based on a decentralized system. The Bitcoin Blockchain is permissionless and trustless. That makes all the difference.
More than eleven and a half years after the official launch of Bitcoin, everyone will easily agree that Bitcoin is an incredible success that has been able to surpass the $200 billion market cap.
And yet, this is nothing compared to what Bitcoin is expected to achieve in the future. The Bitcoin price has a real chance of reaching the million-dollar mark in the next 20 to 30 years.
Bitcoin is an essential lesson for all startup founders to remember. When a product meets the needs of the market and is launched in perfect timing, you don’t need millions of dollars to be successful.
Paul Buchheit explains that Bitcoin is the TCP/IP layer of money
“Bitcoin may be the TCP/IP of money.”
— Paul Buchheit, Creator of Gmail
Bitcoin is a unique invention in the history of mankind. There can only be one Bitcoin. Many people have been trying to launch competing cryptocurrencies for the past decade claiming to be able to supplant Bitcoin.
These founders of Altcoins claim loud and clear that their technology is superior to Bitcoin. Their cryptocurrency would have more potential than Bitcoin for the world of the future when you listen to them.
The beautiful words of these people make some people believe that it is useful to look for the next Bitcoin. In reality, it is a misunderstanding of things that will waste a lot of time and money for those who fall into this trap.
Bitcoin should be seen as the money protocol for the Internet. As Paul Buchheit, the creator of Gmail, said, Bitcoin is the equivalent of the TCP/IP layer of the Internet.
While the Internet has evolved since its launch in the 1990s, it has never been replaced. Web giants such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, or Apple have not created a new Internet. Instead, they have relied on the Internet to build products and services worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
With Bitcoin, it will be the same. The Bitcoin protocol will evolve, and these products will be built on the Bitcoin Blockchain in the years to come.
Bitcoin is here to stay, and looking for the next Bitcoin is as useless as looking for the next Internet. Forget about Altcoins so that you can fully concentrate on Bitcoin being the true signal.
Marc Andreessen on Bitcoin’s incredible network effect
“In fact, Bitcoin is a four-sided network effect. There are four constituencies that participate in expanding the value of Bitcoin as a consequence of their own self-interested participation. Those constituencies are (1) consumers who pay with Bitcoin, (2) merchants who accept Bitcoin, (3) “miners” who run the computers that process and validate all the transactions and enable the distributed trust network to exist, and (4) developers and entrepreneurs who are building new products and services with and on top of Bitcoin.”
— Marc Andreessen
Marc Andreessen is an American entrepreneur and investor, but also a software developer famous for creating Mosaic. As a reminder, Mosaic was the first popular web browser in the world.
He then co-founded Netscape. He is now a general partner of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
In addition to these activities, Marc Andreessen has been a strong supporter of Bitcoin since its early days. He has been explaining for a very long time that Bitcoin is the future regarding money. When asked in the past why Bitcoin was going to be a resounding success, Marc Andreessen emphasized the four-sided network effect of Bitcoin.
Consumers will pay for Bitcoin through merchants who will accept Bitcoin as a means of payment. Then, the Bitcoin miners will make their computing power available to the network so that blocks can be mined and transactions can be executed correctly.
Finally, the developers and entrepreneurs who will be encouraged to build new products and services on top of the Bitcoin Blockchain.
This network effect will only increase the utility of Bitcoin over time. Bitcoin should be seen as a monetary network that can change the world in terms of money.
Erik Voorhees on the two reasons why Bitcoin is so valuable
“Economists and journalists often get caught up in this question: Why does Bitcoin have value? And the answer is very easy. Because it is useful and scarce.”
— Erik Voorhees
Opponents of Bitcoin, be they politicians, bankers, or economists, often argue that Bitcoin has no intrinsic value. These people do not seem to understand that the value of something is totally subjective.
For those people who are interested, I invite them to read this excellent Wikipedia article on the subject of the “Subjective theory of value”.
The supporters of this theory explain globally this:
“The value of a good is not determined by any inherent property of the good, nor by the amount of labor necessary to produce the good, but instead value is determined by the importance an acting individual places on a good for the achievement of his desired ends.”
Thus, the U.S. dollar is only valuable because a majority of people decide it is. It is the same for gold. For Bitcoin, it is the same.
Bitcoin users are convinced by the monetary revolution that Bitcoin embodies. They want to believe in the better world that Bitcoin builds for everyone in the future.
Erik Voorhees already gives two main reasons why Bitcoin is so valuable. This is due to its usefulness and its scarcity.
The latest is one of the 6 main reasons I often give to all those who tell me that Bitcoin is worthless:
- Bitcoin is scarce. Bitcoin is the hardest money in the world. There will never be more than 21 million BTC in circulation. Bitcoin’s programmatic monetary policy is there to abstract it from the corruption inherent in humans. It is a great advantage to finally have good money at our disposal.
- Bitcoin is transparent. The transparency of the Bitcoin network is to be contrasted with the opacity of the current banking system. Nobody knows what is going on at the heart of this system. Nevertheless, the tip of the iceberg is chilling with fines for money laundering or manipulation that keep falling against the world’s major banks. The people deserve better.
- Bitcoin has no leader. Bitcoin belongs to all its users. Its goal is to give power back to the people by removing the control of money from the hands of governments. This is the number one prerequisite for us to have good money available again, as Friedrich Hayek said in 1984.
- Bitcoin is decentralized. Rather than a system with a single point of failure, Bitcoin relies on a decentralized system based on its users. They are the ones who ensure the operation and security of the Bitcoin network by providing their computing power. This works perfectly because Bitcoin has never been hacked in more than eleven years of existence.
- Bitcoin is borderless. Bitcoin transcends national borders. It allows you to make transactions halfway around the world in a matter of minutes without the risk of censorship by a third party. Bitcoin remains the best solution to transfer money around the world safely and quickly.
- Bitcoin is synonymous with freedom. Bitcoin protects 5 fundamental human rights. It gives you the freedom to live your life on your own terms. In a world where governments and web giants threaten your freedoms, Bitcoin is your best money weapon to keep control.
Janet Yellen who admits the Fed’s inability to regulate or supervise Bitcoin
“The Federal Reserve simply does not have authority to supervise or regulate bitcoin in any way”
— Janet Yellen, Chair of the US Federal Reserve, Feb 27, 2014
For all defenders of a world where the money is taken out of the hands of governments, Bitcoin is great hope. Bitcoin is our best chance to have a weapon to protect our privacy when it comes to money in the future.
With the future rise of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) or the digital currencies of companies such as Facebook’s Libra, Bitcoin will be the only alternative for people around the world.
Former Chair of the Fed, Janet Yellen had confessed in early 2014 that the U.S. central bank had no authority to supervise or regulate Bitcoin.
Since that statement, the situation has not changed. Bitcoin remains out of control of the central banks and governments. It has no leader and belongs to all its users. Now that it can work even without the Internet, Bitcoin is truly unstoppable.
Chris Dixon explaining that Bitcoin brings us into the era of math-based currencies
“There are 3 eras of currency: Commodity based, politically based, and now, math based.”
— Chris Dixon
Founder of Hunch, which was later acquired by eBay, Chris Dixon put his finger on what Bitcoin was all about: entering the era of mathematically based currency.
Previous eras had been those of commodity-based currencies, and those of politically based currencies.
These currencies have shown many significant drawbacks, and mankind is ready to move towards a better solution for the many with Bitcoin. Bitcoin abstracts the people from the risks of corruption inherent in the humans who run the current system.
The transparency of Bitcoin allows everyone to verify everything that happens on the network. Everyone is free to form their own opinion of what the truth is at any given moment. This is one of the essential reasons for Bitcoin’s success.
Despite what politicians repeat falsely all the time, it is much more difficult to use Bitcoin for illegal activities than the U.S. dollar.
Bitcoin does not depend on any human. Its programmatic monetary policy is irremediable. The SHA-256 algorithm that is at the heart of Bitcoin’s consensus algorithm gives you more guarantees that no bank will ever be able to do so.
This new era will benefit the greatest number of people and help build a fairer world.
Tyler Winklevoss on Bitcoin that protects us from human error
“We have elected to put our money and faith in a mathematical framework that is free of politics and human error.”
— Tyler Winklevoss
The Winklevoss twins are famous American entrepreneurs in more ways than one. They are at the origin of the idea that led to the creation of Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg then stole the idea from them and made Facebook an incredible success.
After winning their battle in court against Mark Zuckerberg for the theft of their idea, the Winklevoss twins used the millions of dollars they received in compensation to buy BTC in large quantities in the early 2010s.
They also took advantage of the opportunity to create the Gemini trading platform, which is one of the most widely used in the United States.
With more than 150,000 BTC owned, the Winklevoss twins are among the largest known Bitcoin owners at the time of writing, according to the latest news on the current distribution of Bitcoin circulating supply.
They are Bitcoin billionaires who explained their bold choice at the time by the fact that they wanted to believe in a currency that could abstract humanity from human error. In fact, Bitcoin is based on a mathematical model that does not depend on political decisions or the inclination for human corruption.
Bitcoin responds to the great emerging need for the coming years: to be able to protect its wealth over time in a way that is resistant to censorship.
The intrinsic characteristics of Bitcoin have incredible consequences since it allows Bitcoin to preserve 5 fundamental human rights:
- The right to privacy
- The right to basic banking services
- The right to security through encryption
- The right to freedom of speech
- The right to save your money
Satoshi Nakamoto’s invention holds out the hope of building a fairer, and therefore better, world for as many people as possible in the future.
Final Thoughts
Bitcoin has been evolving at its own pace day after day since its official launch on January 3, 2009. This is something essential to ensure that the Bitcoin revolution can be carried out safely.
A lot has been said about Bitcoin since its creation. In this story, I have listed 10 quotes that will help you better understand the importance of Bitcoin for the world of the future. The secret is not to listen to what the powerful at the head of the current system say, but to do your own research.
That way you will find out how money works, and then why the current system is flawed and not fixable. Then you will be able to understand why Bitcoin is the answer to these flaws. This will give you a chance to become aware of the monetary revolution that has been progressing block by block for more than eleven years.
This monetary revolution aims to build a better world for all in the future, and you absolutely have to open your eyes to get on board. If you don’t, you may bitterly regret it in the future.
(Disclaimer: This story contains an affiliate link for the book “The denationalization of money”. If you choose to purchase after clicking this link I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!)
This post was first published on my personal website sylvainsaurel.com