Bitcoin a Revolution not an Investment
This may be less of a blog and more of a rant, but here we go. Every day, I'm confronted with the reality that the vast majority of people in the crypto space are only here for a quick buck. Now, there is nothing wrong with trying to better your current station in life, and I think we can all put in a little effort to improve our station in life. For many, that means acquiring more money to do the things we enjoy.
Although the potential for short-term gains is there, the true value of Bitcoin goes beyond its market price. Bitcoin should not be viewed as an investment, nor is it some sort of savings account that aims to do better at preserving value compared to your local bank. It is a shift in our understanding of money entirely. Now, in the short term, Bitcoin may make you rich, and it may perform better than the fiat currency you currently use. But this is only because of your relative position to Bitcoin in its early price discovery phase and the paradigm shift that is occurring in our monetary system.
Harder assets become more valuable (nominally) as money becomes less valuable. For example, housing in the U.S. is considered one of the hardest, most secure assets an individual can own, and as such, most Americans put their hard-earned money into homes hoping that, as our money devalues over time, the home will appreciate. This devaluing of our money has gotten us into a hard situation, we are constantly swimming upstream in an attempt to stay in front of an ever rising cost of living. Governments routinely print money to buy votes, finance wars, stimulate companies, and any other thing that tickles their fancy. The problem is that the printing of this money is essentially a tax on every dollar we own individually, as it devalues the dollars that were in circulation.
Just as in most parts of life, value is inherent in the amount of work needed to acquire or create an asset, whether it be gold dug from the ground or a luxury watch that consumed numerous man-hours. Value represents scarcity, either no one wants to make it, or it is extremely hard to get. Bitcoin gets its value from the intense process of mining it and confirming the blockchain and getting transaction fees. But the real value, the real reason for Bitcoin, is to escape the tyranny of the modern monetary system and push humanity towards a better world.
In a world of fiat, where the value of traditional currencies is constantly being eroded by inflation, Bitcoin offers an alternative that can serve as a store of value. It's important to remember that Bitcoin's value is derived from the work and resources required to maintain the network and the utility (sovereignty) it brings individuals, not simply from speculation. While the prospect of financial gain is certainly attractive, we must not lose sight of the true value and purpose of Bitcoin.
