On CubDefi, I noticed they highlighted a tweet from Elon Musk announcing it is now possible to buy a Tesla with Bitcoin, which is great as that was one of the sticking points for the media saying that "Tesla doesn't even accept Bitcoin yet".
But, Musk's second part of the tweet is far more important and exciting.
Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin, not converted to fiat currency.
This is massive.
What this means is that there is absolutley no benefit to them accepting Bitcoin at Tesla unless they are able to find usecases that they are able to use that Bitcoin for other purposes. This means that while there is a Bitcoin gateway in, to benefit, they have to also have Bitcoin gateways out, meaning that any Bitcoin they take will go into supporting (and therefore further legitimizing) other Bitcoin usecases. But, they aren't likely going to be using it to buy pizzas for the staff Christmas party (although that would be newsworthy), they will need to find other corporate uses for it. Who else is officially taking Bitcoin that offers services to Tesla and more importantly, how many will be offering their services to Tesla in a year from now?
Not only this, what happens with the tax on the car when paying for the Tesla in Bitcoin?
In order for this to happen, an entire network of bridges between the old economy and the new have to be set up and then, an entire network of new economic bridges need to be built between traditional business models to include crypto. Not only crypto, but decentralized cryptocurrencies where the trust in the value is underpinned by the community of users participating in the network.
Elon Musk seems to be making a point that he ad his group of companies trust us with his value more than he trusts the owners of fiat currencies, who have proven themselves quite untrustworthy with the economic policies they have implemented.
This further highlights the difference between the current bullrun and those of the past in how the dynamics have changed because of who is getting into the industry now. Also, it indicates the growing trend (especially with the prevalence of stablecoins) that I believe will make the coming bear quite different to that of 2018-2020, as people will stay in crypto, rather than cashing out to fiat currencies to protect themselves, as the protection is now "on chain".
This is hyper bullish for the future of crypto currencies that were not so long ago being ridiculed, but are now being bought by the most valuable companies in the world, forcing the traditional economy to evolve to include it. For those who continue to deny the changing trends and participate, they will increasingly be exposed to the volatility of being excluded from the new economy, as not only will their customers start moving away from them, but their supply chain will to.
Legitimization comes down to the community of users who are willing to support it and while crypto was just a group of nerds and upstarts, the authorities didn't have to pay it much heed. However, now that it is the companies that they want to retain, there is very little chance of putting a lid on it now. If they do try to crush it, they risk the retaliation from large economic producers within their borders and the potential that they will seek greener and freer pastures in other locations.
As I have said before, with economic mobility comes the requirement that a location has to be attractive for residents, which includes how those residents feel about the way they are governed and treated. If people feel they are not getting treated well, they will leave and they will be able to taker their wealth with them, wherever they want to go on earth - as long as they don't hold a lot of fiat. But, I am pretty sure if things keep goin on this projected path, there will be a lot of places willing to welcome he crypto refugees in.
All of these various moves that are being made, whether by Musk on Bitcoin, Dorsey on NFTs or Vitalik talking about building stronger communities, all trend toward a single point, decentralization and the many points it will create to address problems that centralization can't see, let alone solve, especially since a lot of the issues are caused by the actions of centralization itself. This really is a new era that we are entering into and one that is going to fundamentally change society as we have lied it to date, moving us into another phase of societal evolution of the kind we have never lived before - at least at scale.
I don't know about you, but I am pretty excited to play a small role in this global change, as even if I have limited scope and reach, it all adds up. This is something that we need to remember as participants too, as while we are "just one person" in a decentralized environment, everything we do compounds against everything everyone else does to create dynamics and trends that will drive the next fractaling of society, the new instances that will open up new capabilities, opportunities and potential.
Some are in it for the money.
Some for the crypto.
One direction leads to a sustainable future, one holds us to a failing past.