nasura moi

Bitcoin crossed a major milestone this month, it hit a staggering value of $60,000 per coin. Just one year ago, it was only at $3,000 and many thought it was done for. And back in 2015 when I first discovered it, Bitcoin was trading at $245 per coin (and sadly I didn't buy). From the figures I just mentioned, a pattern should be easy to notice: Bitcoin has and continues to exhibit exponential growth. But it also has other interesting properties. It is the fastest growing asset in history, averaging about 400% growth per year. It is completely decentralized and cannot be shut down or controlled by any institution or state government. And despite it's digital existence, Bitcoin is a finite resource as only 21 million coins will ever exist.

So I find it pretty perplexing that everyone and their mother has not jumped into this cryptocurrency revolution. Well, not that perplexed since there's still plenty of hurdles for the average person. For one, the concept of a digital only monetary system not backed by anything physical is still pretty alien to regular people. This is funny because most fiat currencies like the US dollar are exactly that, just credit. Sure, they have physical pieces of paper circulating in the economy, but how dollars are made and primarily used is purely digital. We are quickly moving towards a cashless society, and most people nowadays carry no dollars and simply swipe their credit cards for everything from their lattes to their avocado toast.

The only difference between a dollar and a Bitcoin is that the former is backed by the US government (and all it's guns) and the latter is backed by the collective faith and belief of the people that use it. Philosophically speaking, one is backed by the threat of force and the other is backed by the peaceful exchange of millions of people that generally want to be left alone. This is not how most people see Bitcoin because most people still have more faith in their government than they honestly should, given world history. So when they hear of a digital money alternative that has no state endorsement, their minds will quickly turn to thoughts of anarchy—and they'd be right.

If the dollar represents Capitalism, with all of its benefits and pitfalls, then Bitcoin is the perfect representation of true Anarchism. Not the chaos and violent riots you see today from extremists in black hoodies and masks, but anarchism in its true definition: an absence of government. Bitcoin would be the money of such a society since it cannot be controlled by anyone but is freely available to everyone. And ultimately if we ever reach such a world where governments are a relic of the past, this is the ultimate endgame for such a monetary idea.

Until that day, however, Bitcoin will continue to be the best place to store wealth because every other asset vehicle is as fundamentally bankrupt and unstable as the institutions behind them. I have no faith in structures of centralized authority ruled by a few, but will always have faith in the collective power of free individuals making their own choices.