Greetings, @demotruk!
Thank you for your very valuable article! I enjoyed it greatly, particularly because it presents such a clear example of the sterling use-case for bitcoin when it comes to personally escaping oppressive capital controls.
However, I was completely startled by some of your closing remarks:
"Does this justify $400 billion in market cap for the Bitcoin network? No, absolutely not."
The fact that you and your wife found it to be of life-changing value seems to me to absolutely and strongly justify the value of the Bitcoin network all on it's own, but that of course is not the only use-case for bitcoin. This excellent paper from Fidelity provides an astute analysis of the extreme value of Bitcoin as a monetary good and a store of value asset. You and your wife would do well to retain as much of the assets you've secured through the use of bitcoin on the Bitcoin network in order to preserve them through the present global financial upheaval.
"Does it justify the scams and the grift and the multitude of worthless meme tokens and projects without substance? No."
I am in complete agreement with this statement; and it is also a clear clue as to the value of BTC remaining permanently head and shoulders above most other "pump and dump" crypto projects, although there are undoubtedly excellent use-cases for certain select other crypto projects. But bitcoin is clearly the one for asset preservation, portability, and freedom from state theft and interference.
" The environmental damage of proof of work? Nope."
And here we again very strongly diverge in our understanding of the value of BTC. The very strong Proof of Work requirement is in reality one of Bitcoin's greatest strengths, as it powerfully secures the network. Not only that, but because of a positive alignment of incentives, it also serves to hasten the development of improved sources of energy, uses energy that would otherwise be simply lost as heat, and stabilizes power grids around the world. I would encourage you to do some reading on the subject and consider revising this inaccurately negative opinion about proof of work. It is a myth promulgated by the "powers that shouldn't be" because they are threatened by honest money.
The only reason that Bitcoin in particular was used is because it is presently the most widespread in acceptance, liquidity and availability. It has that mostly from incumbency and network effect advantages over the alternatives. If Ethereum or Litecoin or Hive gained the network effect lead then those would have been used instead. I don't believe Bitcoin has a long term future in the face of technically superior alternatives, but I don't need to believe it does in order to make use of Bitcoin, make use of crypto, or to use Bitcoin in demonstrating the point that crypto in general has clear value.
Thanks for your thoughtful response. Your points are certainly valid; however, (along with every BTC maximalist) I think your estimation of the future of Bitcoin will be proven wrong by its future history. And I'm very glad that you've found it useful in the present for the personal sake of you and your wife!