Understanding Bitcoin, is all about, understanding what money "is" ... but not least, also ... what money could and should be.
When Bitcoin appeared in 2009, it was only a very few who understood what it really was that "Satoshi Nakamoto" had created and let loose on the world. At that time, few were really in with the whole idea of "other" solutions to money or currency, than a few select politicians and or bankers having absolute control and over the creation and security of money.
Slowly the new idea spread in the anarchist and minarchist communities (read: anti-authoritarian people) and it started to gain some traction. At some point the mainstream media caught ear about it and when the Cyprus crisis came, Bitcoin mooned to over 200 dollars a coin, in 2013.
This created a new focus on the weird new "decentralised" currency and new people came in. This is why I call it a free market currency reform, since it is completely free for any individual, whether or not they want to participate in it or not. It is a different story with the centralised FIAT currency issued by states and their centralbanks in alliance. The "liquidity" of these money is "upheld" by threatening individuals with guns (as stated by "economist" Paul Krugman). The individuals forced to use a monopoly of money is not in control of the value they themselves creates, unless they do not participate in any market and are self-sustained.
The global monetary FIAT money system today is deliberately "flawed" in order for those who "own" the system to siphon money out to themselves. It is based on a principle of "borrowing" new money into existence and relies on both the aforementioned forced liquidity and individuals wanting to(read: cannot have a decent life without) borrowing money from the FIAT banking system.
Without touching on the obvious immoral nature of this system, it is inevitably going to crash. The signs are in and practically everywhere. Debt is running wild, money printing "easing" (for the banking system itself) is measured in trillions now. Most people are living from pay check to pay check and unemployment is going up everywhere.
At the same time there is the possibility to enter into a network of "currency" that is inherently hard-capped to a maximum of 2,100 trillion units (the max number of Satoshis in the fully mined blockchain), where each individual participating has sovereign control over. This is a paradigm shift if there ever was one !
These were just a few of the reasons why Bitcoin will win.
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Additionally these superior abilities apply, compared to gold (the previously most liquid commodity until the forced FIAT):
* low cost of storage
* low cost of transfer/shipping
* perfect divisibility into 2100 trillion completely identical units, both in the sense of each unit being 100% identical and the amount of units is in a sweet spot
* impossible to counterfeit
* truly decentralized (gold has been stolen by states/banks)
* truly borderless (no customs to search your wallet)
* weightlessness. Gigantic amounts of money can be transferred without the use of extra energy
* very fast transfer over huge distances (could potentially be transferred across the universe without any third party involvement)
* objective verification build into the network
* the money can in principle be (used) anywhere that you have digital access. No one likes to walk around with gold in their pockets
