The Real Importance of Bitcoin
Sometimes with Bitcoin, we get caught up too often in the price. Thinking about where the price may go, how much we need to accumulate to become rich, and dreaming about how it will change our lives forever. This is something that we are all guilty of. It makes perfect sense why most of us would have this mindset. Bitcoin and crypto are still very young and are some of the most volatile financial assets on Earth. The old saying “high risk, high rewards” truly applies here. Over the years we have seen people become rich overnight with crypto, and we want our seat at the table as well.
But, perhaps we have lost our way? We have gotten caught up in the greed and potential riches, that we have forgotten the true importance or need for Bitcoin. Right now is the time that we need to return to our roots, and remember why Bitcoin is so important.
No one should cast judgment without looking at themselves first, and I am right there with everyone else. It is so easy to forget the actual use case for Bitcoin, and instead, just look at it as a number on a computer screen. Watching the daily price movements swing up and also crash down. Recently, I have been obsessed with the idea of obtaining financial freedom. I am convinced that Bitcoin and crypto will allow this to happen. However, that isn’t the original reason why I first got into Bitcoin.
Believe it or not, but when I first got into Bitcoin years ago, I had no idea about the price potential that it had. I didn’t know that there were predictions that 1 full Bitcoin would someday be worth over $1 million. Instead, it was the technology and the freedom Bitcoin provided me that instantly appealed to me. I was an American that was living overseas, and sending money back home was a painful task. Not only was it expensive, but it was slow as well. When I learned about Bitcoin, the first way it appealed to me was as money that I could take anywhere, send anywhere, and transactions were relatively fast. Trustless and permissionless. Fast forward to today and I have been living overseas for several years now, and my Bitcoin/Crypto holding’s value has increased dramatically. Fairly soon, I am planning to move overseas once again. If these assets were saved in cash, it would be a very difficult task to take them with me. Even if I was able to, there would be heavy taxes placed on them. However, because they are crypto this process will be incredibly easy.
Many of us are extremely privileged and look at crypto as an investment. We are incredibly fortunate to live in countries that are financially stable and aren’t corrupt. While inflation has been high worldwide during the last two years. During normal times we can depend that our cash value won’t be eroded away too quickly. However, many people around the world live in countries where this can’t be said. The inflation that the world has been experiencing for the last two years, is only a taste of what these countries are always experiencing.
The people in these countries either don’t have access to banks or wouldn’t want to keep their savings in the local fiat as the value is inflated away so quickly. Instead, these people will often keep their savings in food, animals, or anything else and trade/barter. And then there is the whole issue of governments being corrupt and trying to control their citizens. Money in the bank can be stolen, and physical assets can be seized or stolen.
For these people, Bitcoin is a dream come true. The Bitcoin protocol is hard as a rock, and there only being 21 million Bitcoin ever in existence is something these people instantly understand the value of. Just look to the Zimbabwe dollar which has become worthless due to being overly printed. Then add the fact that Bitcoin can be held, but not stolen like a regular asset such as cash, gold, or jewelry. The government can’t seize it, and people can send it anytime they want. An asset that actually rewards you for saving, instead of having your value inflated away. For people in these areas, Bitcoin is a life hedge. It finally begins to put them on equal footing with other people around the world to have success.
This week the Africa Bitcoin Conference has been taking place. At the conference, there has been a multitude of announcements being made for Bitcoin adoption and development coming to Africa. Block investing into Africa Bitcoin mining, Strike integrating with several African countries and the list goes on. While many of us get caught up in what the current price is, when the next Bitcoin halving is, or even the current scandal in the industry. However, this is the real news that we need to be paying attention to. This is why Bitcoin was made, and it will change the world.
The countries that are well off will be the last to officially adopt Bitcoin. Instead, it will be those countries that are struggling to get by that will instantly recognize Bitcoin’s value and adopt it. Countries such as El Salvador, and soon more countries in Africa as well. If we can all take our “greed blinders” for just a bit, and take a crash course remembering the real value that Bitcoin can bring to the world, and why we first fell in love with this tech. That is when the real adoption will begin. Naturally, once that adoption happens, prices will soar as well.
As always, thank you for reading!
