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by olalonde
1158 days ago
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> but isn't the benefit BTC is supposed to offer the infrastructure itself? My point is that the "infrastructure" is nice, but it's not the sole advantage of Bitcoin. The primary benefit, in my opinion, lies in its predictable and unalterable supply mechanism, which prevents any entity from manipulating it. While the on-chain payment system and the relative ease of self-custody are great features (and necessary for the system to work), they are not essential for enjoying the benefits of Bitcoin as a currency with an immutable supply. You can still reap those benefits when using "off chain" payment systems that use BTC balances (e.g. credit cards/PayPal/Cash App/etc.). Also, Bitcoin has an open API, making it easy to create payment systems on top of it (the equivalent for USD would be... obtaining an account at the Federal Reserve? transporting cash?). Hope it makes sense, let me know if anything is still unclear. |
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>The primary benefit, in my opinion, lies in its predictable and unalterable supply mechanism, which prevents any entity from manipulating it.
I agree, and to add to this point the supply is fixed. No more printing. I don't necessarily disagree with your response, it's just that I find this
>...the relative ease of self-custody
hard to believe. It's not easy. The Average Joe just buys BTC on Coinbase (or cashapp or whatever) and it sits there. Those are not their Coins (we all know this). Maybe I've missed something in the past couple years that's made things easier, or maybe I'm just a puritan who insists on hardware wallets.
Anyway, I'm mostly arguing against myself here because I do think that the fiat system is a problem. But again, even if I make that argument I struggle to see BTC as an actual currency and not as some sort of reserve asset. I don't think there's an example beyond Gold where something has existed as both. And making the argument that BTC is the same as Gold is a very strong argument to make, because without electricity and the internet my BTC is worthless. Suppose for a moment that the US does troll itself into a WWIII scenario with Russia and/or China in the next couple years - a war where Internet infrastructure will obviously be a target. Is BTC still worth anything? Gold will still be worth something, because it has physical uses in war time. But BTC?