In Crypto, Trust > Everything
There seems to be a lot of disagreement amongst the millions of people who own crypto on which one is the "best". Let's take a step back and remember why we are all here.
There is really only one thing that truly matters in crypto - and for that matter in anything we rely on being our currency or store of value. It is trust.
Building trust is not easy. In fact, it’s incredibly difficult to build trust that spans over race, religion, countries, governments into all walks of life.
100,000,000 People use crypto today (about half own Bitcoin). Many of these people live in countries that are currently at war. Many of these people live in countries that are under embargo or economic sanctions. Many of these people live in countries run by dictators or corrupt governments.
The bottom line is they trust Bitcoin. They trust Bitcoin more than they trust their government, banks or gold. In fact, the countries that use it the most are the ones that truly understand the purpose of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin isn’t a “get rich quick scheme”. It is a store of value that escapes the risk of central banks and ensures privacy and security of the asset. And probably most importantly doesn’t provoke war (outside the Twitter wars of course).
Bitcoin vs. Other Crypto
I personally feel there is no point in comparing Bitcoin with any other crypto. It’s not apples to apples, and usually it’s focused on one thing - which one had a better return on investment. I understand that may be the only thing some people care about, but it wasn’t why Bitcoin was created - so if they sell their Bitcoin to buy other coins - I am glad they are gone.
There are many coins and tokens that went up 1000%+ this year, and I am sure many people made a lot of money. And if that is the only way something is measured - “The amount of money made in a short period of time” - then certainly there are much better cryptos to throw cash at than Bitcoin.
But when you take a step back and look at the bigger picture - you can begin to see why Bitcoin stands above everyone else.
Security. Yes, Bitcoin uses a ton of energy. And certainly, it should be a priority to continue to move to 100% renewable. But this is the price we pay for a highly secure store-of-value. If Bitcoin continues to represent trillions of dollars of value for millions of people - I think we can all agree that security is critical. In the recent years almost every bank, major corporation and even the government has been hacked. As computer hackers become more sophisticated, it will become more and more clear that the trade off of energy and security will be necessary to protect the biggest digital monetary network.
Speed. Yes, Bitcoin is slow. It takes time to verify a transaction and that’s a good thing, since a transaction could be millions of dollars. Bitcoin wasn’t meant to replace the speed of a credit card. That was not the goal. It was meant to replace the impenetrable safe. I think we can all agree that Credit Cards are the least secure thing in our wallet. Take a look below, it’s not going down either.
Freedom. The biggest aspect of Bitcoin that people underestimate is the true potential to bring real freedom to people who currently do not have it. Nobody knows the full impact Bitcoin will have in the long term by enabling a more open and private means for currency. Some would argue it could be the first step toward world peace. After all, when you eliminate the “borders” of money, and everyone is using the same store of value - that’s a pretty good first step.
Simple. The beauty of Bitcoin is the simplicity. It didn’t try to be all things to all people, and by de facto it allowed for the creation of other crypto. It was meant to be the bedrock of a revolution. It simply tracks a transaction from one address to another. It’s because of this, nobody should be comparing Bitcoin with Ethereum or other cryptos. They all serve a purpose (even if that purpose is solely to pump and dump). I have always believed if you want to have fun and buy/sell/trade crypto - then do it with the other coins. Bitcoin you should just buy and hold. You are staking your commitment for a better world. Not to make a buck.
You think it’s hard to HODL, try dying.
I don’t want to be over dramatic, but let’s just put things in perspective. Wars have been fought over gold, land and even oil. All stores of value have created animosity between men, women and children. We are in a constant battle between the “haves” and the “have nots”. It’s what drives most of the violence in our world.
So if you had a choice between dealing with a 30% dip or potentially avoiding future wars where people not only die, but die for no reason - I choose a 30% dip every time.
It’s time you realize you’re not just stacking sats. You are fighting the first war that actually is worth fighting for - and if you sell, your are surrendering the hill.
Be patient. Have a little fun. But for God’s sake - hold the line.
The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.
Leo Tolstoy