Everyone is too focused on how much money Bitcoin can make them and aren’t focused on the most important thing Bitcoin can provide; separation between money and government. The days of cash are numbered; within 50 years or less money will be completely digital (unless something radical happens that sets back civilization 100 years). Here’s the question do you want a digital economy that is completely ran by a government or a megacorporation like Facebook? Or do you want money that is open, decentralized, and censorship resistant?
Money Ran by a Government, Bank or Corporation
No matter what these institutions will try and track everything you do but with a centralized digital economy they will blatantly spy on you. They will know every single thing you have ever purchased, and may use that against you in the future. Imagine if an Adolph Hitler took over a centralized digital currency; he could find out who all of his political opponents are just by looking at their purchases. Did you support the wrong politician? Did you buy the wrong book? Sympathetic to the wrong causes? Now the dictator knows who you are, and can just yank away all of your money. He can also keep you from donating to organizations he doesn’t like or can impose all sorts of ridiculous regulations with ease.
It doesn’t have to be a dictator; maybe it’s Facebook. Facebook bans people all of the time. Maybe they take your digital wallet when they ban you. Maybe they figure out a certain group is speaking out about Facebook company abuses; they keep people from donating or buying from them. A centrally governed money system is ripe for human rights abuses; just watch what the CCP is up to and ask yourself “is that a society I want to live in?”
Bitcoin
Bitcoin is decentralized; no government can just shut it off unless they shut down the whole internet. Bitcoin is open; anyone with an internet connection can download a Bitcoin wallet and participate. Bitcoin is censorship resistant; you can send your Bitcoin to anyone and anywhere in the world. Paypal might be able to keep you from donating to Wikleaks but Bitcoin won’t. It is also pseudonymous; each wallet has a random string of numbers and letters. A government can figure out who you are but it’s more work. They can confiscate your Bitcoin but it’s not very easy; people are usually arrested first. Governments are not able to shut down 1 million Bitcoin addresses at once like they could with a centralized digital currency. Neither can governments just print Bitcoin whenever they want; Bitcoin is a capped currency.
This provides people with freedom from some of the worst government offenses. If you don’t know “what is Bitcoin than please read this article. It’s essential that you educate yourself on what makes Bitcoin special. What matters is that we have a monetary system that protects us from tyranny. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies do a much better job with that than any centralized digital currency ever can.
