Bitcoin Still Captivates Me

I got into the bitcoin scene back in 2013, and yeah, a lot's changed since then. But honestly, I still think the tech has massive potential. It’s wild how many people holding bitcoin these days don’t really get its real impact. The whole idea of colored coins and using blockchain for document notarization is a total big deal. It doesn't need a central authority to keep things running. It’s a public ledger where we don’t have to trust any third parties. With bitcoin, we can be our own bank. One big concern I have right now is that some projects are straying from what Satoshi Nakamoto originally envisioned. Bitcoin was created to be a solution against economic oppression (remember that Chancellor on the brink of a second bailout for banks line?). Let’s harness bitcoin to create a new world. A world where everyone can access information freely.

Unfortunately, I think we have actually given part of bitcoin to heavy centralization all the name of adoption, today and now, the government has some level of control on bitcoin through ETFs, through centralized exchanges they themselves regulate, and even some of the non-custodial wallets we have today may not be fully non-custodial because they don't want to end up on a government's black book. We can take bitcoin back to its full decentralized form if we want, but this will require the entire bitcoin community working together, can we boycott all of this centralized exchanges and start trading bitcoin between ourselves in peer to peer form?, can those who patronize ETF companies stop, boycott this companies and start buying the real bitcoin from holders of the real bitcoin through peer to peer trading? This are the real questions..

While there's still the purpose of why it's built and we're doing that. As we know, change is constant. And that's why there are changes of how early adopters perceived to the current situation and development that it is getting. That change is being embraced now but you hit it with the reality that most of the investors that has got it recently, are only having it for what they knew it about and that's as a store of value and not more with technicalities that it has got.

That's a vague concern, what is this "original vision"?

Most people who own Bitcoin today are probably not into the technological aspect of it. Most are coming because of its potential to grow one's money faster. Bitcoin is largely treated as an investment. Others are joining because of Bitcoin's potential to protect their wealth from devaluation. However, as to Bitcoin being a public storage of information, arbitrary data which could be freely accessed by anybody anytime, would you consider that part of Satoshi's original vision?

That's a fair question. Satoshi didn't talk extensively about their personal motivations for the project aside form a peer-to-peer payment system that has no single point of failure. I can only assume that his intention was to create something that could store value without a centralized point of failure. In order for that to happen, the protocol must be useful for exchanging some sort of information. If information could not be timestamped by the network, then bitcoin would not be as valuable as it is today. However, as I have been saying for many years now, bitcoin is destined to become a natural duopoly. In the long run, there will only be room for 2 competing mining pools (black/white, good/evil, day/night). The fact that Satoshi put that newspaper headline in the genesis coinbase demonstrates that their motivations were to avoid predatory taxation (ie. governments who cater to private banking interests as opposed to the common citizenry). Let the banks fail if they must. It should not be the common citizen who pays for their usurious lending practices. With bitcoin, we have a payment system that cannot be controlled by these legacy markets.

Yeah, sad, but that is reality now. The good thing here is that Bitcoin is still Bitcoin. You can still fully use Bitcoin just like it was before. About the ETF thing, we can't stop this now, it will stay, just like what happened with Gold. Some saying ETF is good for Bitcoin it helped Bitcoin to grow, add more market cap, trading volume and ability to other to get more exposure with Bitcoin.

Even from the onset we really could not have stopped the ETF. When I said 'we', I mean the crypto community, since those who filed for it have only one cure purpose, which is to get it approved and create room for them to make profit. The danger of the ETF is just giving too much hand to centralised authority to hold a large portion of Bitcoin, which creates room for market manipulation by them, but the ETF approval – I join those who said it has created room for more friendly crypto rules, but KYC is also getting stricter; that's some of the price we have to pay while they bring in their funds into the market.

Who developed the project beyond what satoshi did? Change/technology itself or the community? And what is the inconsistency? Oh.... ETF? But the question is could it have been avoided? I don't think so. Change is a wave that constantly struck and adapt with technology. Bitcoin is a digital currency and trading between is almost inevitable as all other currency/fiat, commodities and stocks are traded. We are in investment driven economy and I don't think it would have been averted as one of the best growing assets. However, bitcoin still retains its decentralised potential if you are dealing on P2P. It just gives a choice and opportunity for investment.

Thumbs up OP for starting so early Im started around 2017 4years late than yours. I wonder how many bitcoin you amass during the earlier period. Well Satoshis Goal is quite simple no third party and use bitcoin for peer to peer. Right now it has a different path or more to say become an asset that is considered valuable like metals which resonate the importance of its value through trading and investment. Maybe we can still find its use once global adoption kicks more but will that be possible for now? Or it will continue ti be like a a very unique asset that is more valued as an investment asset only.

No matter how the situation unfold, whether bitcoin becomes more widely used as a means of payment or remains primarily an investment, it’s still good that it exists, that we know about it, and that we can use it. Right now, the global situation is so unstable that national currencies can and already do lose value. That’s why it’s wise to have several alternatives to preserve your purchasing power.

As a currency, I can’t use it in my own country. Not in every country. But as an asset, I can enjoy it, and I’ve already embraced a whole new world with Bitcoin. When I have the chance to travel to countries that accept Bitcoin as payment, I’ll use it as a historic experience in my life. Bitcoin has long been popular as a store of value. So, in my opinion, many people now hold Bitcoin to protect their wealth rather than keeping fiat money that will lose value. I believe Bitcoin is now primarily used as an investment asset—buy and hold.

This keeps me wondering what the possible deviations you're talking about are, because Bitcoin is all about what we have seen it to be, i also don't know about what other projects you're talking about here, except if they are altcoins that are being consistent towards introducing new projects each time, which i don't expect that we give much attention on such, because they are only alts.

I did not enter bitcoin talk in 2013 and I did not enter bitcoin this year either but I am still fascinated about bitcoin and even if I don’t understand your level of fascination I am still sharing the same feeling of fascination. I concede that most people who owns bitcoin don’t understand the implications because some people who owns bitcoin are still shivering during dip.

Ofcourse. And Btcoin was actually meant to be a breakaway alternative to centralized financial/economic system. They weren't meant to be mixed, else the network becomes corrupted and insecure.  The possible risk to Satoshi Vision was mostly due to consumption of wrong information and infiltration of the system by foreign bodies. The foreign bodies constantly attempt to infect, corrupt and hijack the rest of the community through rewards, loyalty, false visions and principles, but the healthy cells miraculously fought this off and neutralized the effects of the corruption and mind control. This is main reason Bitcoin remains solid It's really pleasing to see older members who I believe were more passionate and ideologically driven than the newer ones who seem to be too attached to fiat system. We expect the idealogical ones to join or pop up once in awhile and have greater influence over the system regardless of their position on this forum. I also expect them to have higher power over Bitcoin to help secure it and prevent the corruption from spreading. The "New World" which is formed by light (or good information) is already in existence The information is free and available to anyone who needs it. We expect them to consume only the good, once they consume and believe it, they become like us and help transform Bitcoin into a better system.

Most people talk about the benefits of investing in bitcoin instead of its core value as an alternative currency in this vast digital world on earth, people now don't care about that, they just think bitcoin is going to 1 million and they want to get a share of that price increase as a life support and prove to the world that they can become rich with bitcoin. His vision is indeed different from Satoshi's seeing the behavior of many people today treating bitcoin as a hedge, regardless of that it is not negative but actually very positive because bitcoin has more utility.

If all of these boycott you have mentioned is adhered to, it will actually bring Bitcoin back to its original complete decentralized nature, but the problem with that is, some persons will exploit the system so badly, taking advantage of others since they know it's decentralized and they can stay anonymous with very little to no regulation, except the community will set up an independent regulatory system to checkmate some of those exploiter, then we could see to give it a chance.  So invariably The adoption and ETF has an advantage and it's disadvantages on Bitcoin.

A lot of people who have bitcoin now only see bitcoin as an asset and as something to earn profit from but don’t really understand the deeper technology that comes with bitcoin. I’m sure over time these potential will be realized by the future generations. Those who want something like bitcoin but with different tweaks then they could make their own. This is what will happen soon. Instead of changing bitcoin, they’ll just make their own “bitcoin”.

Bitcoin is now a symbol of trust for people in terms of independent transactions and maintaining the value of assets. When people do not trust the conventional monetary system, they have no option but Bitcoin. Currently, all the countries in the world that are not able to transact through dollars due to restrictions can now complete their activities using Bitcoin. Currently, the increase in oil prices has become a major cause of inflation in almost all countries of the world. The prices of all types of stock trading, including real estate trading, are falling. In this adverse situation, Bitcoin is being considered as the only way to maintain the value of assets. Bitcoin is now working as the best alternative for various purposes including transactions, security, and maintaining the value of assets.

Hence why Bitcoin is also known as digital gold. It's value is next to nothing in the world of financial asset management and its use case is one that bridges all borders and corners of the world that is plugged into its system for transactions or holding investment portfolio for either long or short term..