If you Google “the real value of bitcoin” you will get over nine million hits. So why am I writing another post on the subject?
Well, I can’t claim to have read all nine million pages but I do know that some of those posts project that Bitcoin is worth $0 and some will say it will be worth $1 million. So clearly there is a wide divergence of opinion on the value of Bitcoin in dollar terms. I don’t want to throw my two Satoshis into that argument because I know I can’t see into the future and I have enough experience of financial markets not to trust anybody who thinks he can!
There is a good argument that says the real value of Bitcoin lies in its underlying blockchain technology. The Bitcoin project solved some technological problems that hadn’t been solved before, so hats off to the author/s of the white paper and the development team. It’s a bit early to say just how important blockchain technology will prove to be - opinions on that topic also very widely but there’s no doubt that Bitcoin has spawned a whole new industry sector encompassing blockchain, cryptocurrencies and smart contracts.
Blockchain is not the only thing about Bitcoin that matters though. Henry Ford is often quoted as saying: “It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning“. Well yes Henry, if we understood and could see a viable alternative then there certainly should be a revolution! While I have been aware for some time of the scam that is being perpetrated by banks and governments, I’ve only recently come to believe that there is an alternative - cryptocurrency. Whether it turns out to be Bitcoin itself or some other variation, Bitcoin has certainly paved the way for a return to a form of global money that doesn’t just evaporate in front of our eyes.
You can’t hang around the cryptocurrency world for long without being exposed to some fairly radical political philosophies. I must admit that some of the ideas that are bandied about the crypto-universe scare me shitless.
But I can also see why people in this community tend to think about new ways of running the world politically and economically and that, for me anyway, is the real value of Bitcoin.
I believe that our future world will work very differently to todays's world and that will be thanks in part to Bitcoin. That future could be utopian or dystopian. It is up to the current inhabitants of the Earth to steer it towards Utopia. For me that means a perfect place for all of the Earth's current inhabitants and all future generations to live.
I want to be a part of that revolution.
Bitcoin is a political statement. That's way more powerful than just tech and price!
I agree! I'm not sure that was the original intention but it is the empirical result.
I think you're right that the real value of Bitcoin is in the underlying blockchain technology. The problem with BTC is that it's outdated, slow moving, and extremely expensive. BTC has already proven that it cannot scale to a world currency level. The store of value argument goes on the premise that you can convince the masses to use it. This won't happen when there are better alternatives.
I also want to be part of the revolution :)
Really well done on your first post! I am following you and will be supporting you! May the Steem whales be with you.
There is of course also the situation with the dot com bubble. Yahoo was first but Google overruled it later on...
Blockchain is indeed probably here to stay. But it's still a matter of understanding the real value of some currencies. To me it's not clear which ones are here to stay...
There's the believe in a general concept but that has to be matched by actual implementations.
E.g. I'm a believer in this decentralised content concept. I don't know if the current implementations will survive.
@ddhaeyere I'm with you there. Something will come out of it but we can't be sure what it will be. I feel that should guide our investment decisions. I'm planning a post on that topic and hope you'll get to read it.
Haha, anything that's good for the nerves is good for me :)