This space suffers from the problem of distorted views. What makes Bitcoin valuable in the first place is its decentralized nature. The fact that it is a distributed system, with no central point of control, no central point of influence, not even a central point of its user interface. This is the source of its strength and reliability. Without this structure, without the ability to simply download a piece of software and start working with it, there is really no value to be gained.
It’s no different from a bank database then. No one can be guaranteed access when someone (the operator) wants to take it, no key structures like the supply cap or inflation rate can be guaranteed when someone (the operator) can change them at a moment’s notice.
Many people in this space enjoy the erosion of these buildings at this time. They champion solutions like ETFs and other custodians as a way to pump up the price and increase their own profits with the absolute value of fiat. They attack those who work for and advocate solutions that do not disrupt Bitcoin’s core value proposition, painting them as ghosts “threatening what makes Bitcoin valuable.”
It is a complete reversal of reality. Spooks are Heroes, and Heroes are Spooks.
Saylor literally defends retainers as a superior form of adoption to independence. He compares people who build and sell tools to protect themselves from FUDsters and fear mongers, or “paranoid crypto anarchists.” Painting the people who build the tools needed to protect and preserve the core structures of Bitcoin that provide value in the first place. He completely ignores the dynamics that led to gold and its role as sound money that dissolves over time as governments intervene and manipulate it.
They did this because all the gold was held by the custodians, no one was holding it for themselves. No one used it directly, everyone choosing to use paper holders cut from the precious metal itself instead. Bitcoin could very well suffer the same fate. Either with bitcoin paper diluting market demand, or guardians gaining influence in the consensus process and the rules changing directly to suit their needs and demands.
Bitcoin is a social consensus system, the nature of which is completely defined by the players participating in the system. The size of those players, their individual circumstances, the vulnerability of government interference, how many make up the majority of economic activity (at best, decreasing at worst), all these things have a significant impact on the way Bitcoin. it will evolve and exist as a system.
Many people in this space enjoy short-term actions that jeopardize its long-term sustainability as a neutral and layered system for short-term benefits perceived in the form of price appreciation and economic benefits. The engineers who work tirelessly and with little thanks to maintain those important buildings that provide value are attacked as villains and government agents, while the corporate suits and real ghosts who attack those buildings are cheered as heroes.
The world in this space is upside down.
This article is a Take it. The views expressed are entirely those of the author and do not reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
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