Bitcoin is a tool of free speech. It is a cliche, but a true cliche. The decentralized nature of Bitcoin means no one can ever fully control it. There is no centralization of Bitcoin, no central bank of Bitcoin. This means, Bitcoin allows people to bypass censorship, both by governments and by corporations. Neither governments nor corporations can control Bitcoin. They can not force someone to stop using, despite how hard they may try. They cannot prevent bitcoin payments from being processed. Bitcoin means voices will always be heard, even if they are unsavory. That is a good thing, society benefits from a multitude of voices in the mix. Society also benefits from more economic activity, especially if other industries are trying to stifle competition. Bitcoin offers people’s voices to be heard, and their ability to sell products.
Bitcoin is decentralized. No one controls the blockchain, which powers Bitcoin and its transactions. This means no company or country can ever control Bitcoin. This is an important characteristic of Bitcoin, it means Bitcoin truly is the money equivalent of free speech. Despite attempts, no country can ban Bitcoin. India tried, with a Central Bank ban on banks working with crypto companies, but they failed. India has a booming crypto industry, and the country’s Supreme Court ruled the Central banks ban unconstitutional. Companies can’t rule Bitcoin. Although they can cut off their services, credit card companies and banks often do this, Bitcoin offers payment systems that no one can be banned from. There’s always a way to digitally pay someone.
One of the most obvious examples of this is the cannabis industry. Many banks refuse to do business with cannabis stores and suppliers, even in areas where it is totally legal. Hence, weed entrepreneurs are completely cut off from credit cards. This necessitates the need to use cash for transactions. But cash isn’t secure, it is prone to theft, problems in accounting, and makes online payments hard. In states like California, only a small number of credit unions are accepting cannabis business, and armed guards with lock boxes have to escort the money from the businesses to the union. This cannot be sustained, large amounts of cash cannot be regularly transported across towns.
Bitcoin offers the cannabis industry an alternative. It's a totally digital payment, thereby making it easy for online and in-person sales. It also makes it far more secure, since Bitcoin wallets are often far more protected than your physical wallet. (Unless you keep your wallet in a safe surrounded by laser beams). Bitcoin helps break the hold banks have over the cannabis industry, by offering easy to use, decentralized payments. Bitcoin can help the cannabis industry continue to boom, especially as more states and countries legalize it.
Gab, a twitter alternative for ultra right-wing users, is another example. According to Gab, Visa, along with a number of other payment platforms, have banned them from using their systems. In response, Gab has moved to accept Bitcoin as the primary way for them to receive money. Although many view Gab as reprehensible, corporate censorship can expand to limit other voices. Bitcoin provides a means for those voices to be heard.
Bitcoin also fights against government censorship. In failing countries like Zimbabwe and Venezuela, populations have turned to Bitcoin as their everyday currency. Those governments can’t do much to stop them, even going as far as to create their own cryptocurrency in Venezuela. This failed, preventing them from taking back a way to control their population. Instead, the people’s economic voice can be heard, free from government intervention and censorship. Bitcoin achieves this.
Bitcoin is freedom of speech. It allows people and companies to bypass attempts of censorship by the hands of corporations and governments alike. Bitcoin fights against the system by creating its own system. One that emphasises people. One that emphasises freedom. Bitcoin fights against censorship, and this benefits society by creating new economic opportunity, and new voices heard in the masses. The “man” will lose. Bitcoin will slay it.
