For once, I wanted to start my article with a quote.
If you've been interested in Bitcoin long enough, you'll already have recognized who this quote is from.
We owe this quote to Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious inventor of Bitcoin.
If you reread this quote carefully, you'll have a good idea of why Satoshi Nakamoto invented Bitcoin. Or discovered it, according to some. But that doesn't change my point.
In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, Satoshi Nakamoto clearly understood what the main problem was with fiat currencies, and more generally with today's monetary and financial system.
This problem is one of trust.
fiat currencies require absolute trust in the few unrepresentative people who run them. Absolute trust in the central bankers not to debase the currency constantly. Absolute confidence in the banks to hold the people's money without abusing loans. This leads to waves of credit bubbles with barely a fraction in reserve.
With the reserve requirement rate at zero in America, you can see that the Fed has once again abused this trust.
Finally, trust that these intermediaries will respect our privacy. With governments set to launch their CBDCs in the future, you can see that this trust has been betrayed, or is about to be.
Bitcoin is here to give you back the power over your money by freeing you from these useless middlemen. The people don't need these middlemen, contrary to what the educational system has always tried to make us all believe.
With Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto shows us that a decentralized monetary system is sufficient for the people. We don't need banks or financial institutions of any kind to come between us and our money, charging exorbitant fees.
We simply need the power to live our lives on our terms.
Anyone who's understood why Bitcoin exists understands this. Otherwise, you can't claim to have understood the why of Bitcoin as I explain in “The Truth About Bitcoin
So it should come as a surprise to you to see all those so-called Bitcoiners with a strong following on social networks who can't stop rejoicing when they see BlackRock or Fidelity about to get SEC approval for their spot Bitcoin ETFs.
As I said, these financial giants have only one objective in mind: to resume their role as intermediaries in this new emerging monetary system that is Bitcoin.
Understanding that Bitcoin is here to stay, these institutions want to take their place within this revolution so as not to find themselves disrupted. You might think this is great, as the influx of American investors into the Bitcoin world will drive up the price of Bitcoin in US dollars.
Indeed, this will drive up the price of Bitcoin in fiat currency.
But if you've understood why Bitcoin exists, it's not something that should interest you more than that, since the aim is to develop a circular economy centered on the Bitcoin system, and not to sell your Bitcoin for weak money like the US dollar in the future.
Unless all those so-called Bitcoiners famous on social networks aren't interested in developing this circular economy, but simply in the financial aspect of Bitcoin.
Because, basically, these financial giants are going to try to financialize Bitcoin completely, turning it into just another asset they can control and manipulate. The danger is great, in my opinion, and that's why I find it hard to understand such excitement on the part of all these so-called Bitcoiners.
I say so-called Bitcoiners, because you can't be a true Bitcoiner if you don't think that the arrival of these financial giants in the Bitcoin world is a danger to the Bitcoin revolution.
I've already talked about this several times in recent days, proof that it shocks me and that I find it hard to move on to another topic when I want to write about Bitcoin.
Some will say that this is a kind of Trojan horse and that once these giants are in the Bitcoin world, owners will seek to own their Bitcoin outright. Maybe, but I don't believe it at all, because Bitcoin will simply be offered to them as a financial product, nothing more and nothing less. What's more, they will have no way of taking possession of their Bitcoin private keys
In short, they will benefit from an increase in the price of Bitcoin in fiat currency, but certainly not from the liberating power of the Bitcoin revolution. And that, in my view, is the whole point of Black Rock and Fidelity, which are institutions close to government authorities all around the world. To ensure that Bitcoin remains just another asset and that its monetary revolution is unable to express its full potential, to protect their interests within the current monetary and financial system.
This opinion is far from popular, but it will give you a better idea of who the real Bitcoiners are among all the well-known influencers in this universe, from those who only seek to privilege the financial side of Bitcoin, without even taking an interest in the deeper meaning of its revolution.
More reading
Bitcoin Optech Newsletter #258
Meme of the day: Did you come back to save the human race from machines? No, I'm here to buy Bitcoin on the cheap
How did Nassim Nicholas Taleb go from Bitcoiner to a Bitcoin hater?
Don't be surprised if Apple bans the Nostr Damus client from its App Store
