What you might see as losses in this market since it peaked at over 120k can actually be viewed as your way of helping to keep Bitcoin away from centralization and control by the wealthy. Think about how much that’s worth because this is another type of investment where you just need to be patient for the rewards to come later.
Right now, Bitcoin is in a kind of "self-defense" mode, trying to show that it’s not under the thumb of rich elites who can manipulate the price. If they really had that kind of control, they would’ve leveraged it to gain more influence over Bitcoin’s operations and its future. That would mean they could push through changes without any input from the rest of us, just for their own gain.
If it turns out that they’re completely wrong about their influence, it’ll be a lot tougher for them to pressure developers or the Bitcoin community to bend to their will.
We’ve got to stick to the guiding principles that should direct how we operate on the Bitcoin Network. If we don’t, we could end up with Bitcoin looking a lot like fiat currency.
This is a sacrifice worth making if you truly care about the future of Bitcoin.
The price of Bitcoin is determined by the forces of demand and supply
I don't believe Bitcoin itself is or can do anything.
Coin centralization doesn't mean Bitcoin is centralised
They can't effect any changes without our knowledge and consent because bitcoin is open sourced and decentralized
Majority wins via nodes not one with the largest amount of Bitcoin (POS).
Sorry How?
There is no doubt that every lost bitcoin is being distributed to the holdings we have in Bitcoin, this is happening not because of preventing centralized institution or government from taking over the network, but to make us have the assurance of how a lost bitcoin can only contribute to more growth of the network instead of being lost in vain without increasing bitcoin value, another thing to consider is the demand and supply, which determines how profitable will go and the value of bitcoin over a particular duration of time.
For Bitcoin to remain decentralized, it has to be different from fiat banking system and that's why the loss we as investors or believers in Bitcoin experience, helps to keep the ledger pure.
Any investment in Bitcoin test ones patience and tolerance for drawdown because without this, how can we truly say Bitcoin is decentralized, self sovereign and different from fiat currency?
The only thing anyone can truly lose is time and the only thing anyone can truly gain is memories.
Your point is a fair one, although I would think of lost coins as more of a donation to everyone. Losing your money could mean it went to some altcoiner who then dumped into a memecoin pump. Just because you lose money, doesn't mean Bitcoin gained it. Bitcoin isn't a zero sum game in spite of people thinking it may be. That's not how value creation works.
TBH, I struggled to understand what Op was talking about. The title seems to be different from what the thread is talking about. I don't know if Op meant that whatever money we lost as a result of negative volatility is a contribution to the network to fight centralization?
Lost coins through carelessness or scam does not in any way protect the bitcoin network.
The network already has its PoW protocol that protect it, so I seem not to understand clearly what Op meant.
Even if you sold it, there is a good chance your bitcoin will be on the hand of another retailer.
Bitcoin is still decentralized because hashrate is distributed across many pools and nobody have 51% of hash rate.
Even then, it isn't really a loss unless you are realizing your loss by selling your bitcoin now.
When I first saw the title, I thought it was a lost Bitcoin, like you lost access to your wallet
But overall, if the current unrealized losses are fine. It's not lost until you sell it. And these are just a number.
For me, if you are really believing to Bitcoin, these bear market we are experiencing right now are basic, soon most people will realize how this bear market is basic.
Buying at the top should come with a basic understanding that for you to be at a place of balance that bitcoin has to go really high and seeing bitcoin come down ever since it went that high brings out a sense of intentionality to continue holding till it finds it way to the top. No investor in going hard in his investment with the plan of just contributing to the system. moreover, there are other means of showing that you believe and support there technology behind bitcoin than losing as you are inferring.
Well I lost almost everything (my job, my reputation) while trying to keep it decentralised p2p but eventually centralization keeps winning, because decentralisation has flaws under the current laws and system and people always find ways to abuse it for their personal gains. As for elites I think they can do anything and keep manipulating crypto, from dev to media to govt, everyone is under their thumb, they just don't show it.
Losing some value is still a loss, not a reason to contribute to maintaining decentralization. It seems like consoling yourself in the face of losses won't work with such an excuse; in fact you can sell Bitcoin P2P anytime you wish and that doesn't contradict the first reason.
Yet, many retail losses occur in exchange wallets.
You were tying to keep things decentralized by cloning cards and stealing money?
Wow, that's a new one!
I'm bowing down to you, beacon of freedom and purity!
Bullshit!
Bitcoin going down means rewards are going down, which means hashrate leaves the network, only the strongest players survive, the security of the network is more centralized.
The rest is useless noise you need to take some meds for!
I was a localbitcoin trader (biggest in India in those days) and dealt with hundreds of people everyday. When you are dealing with random people in p2p you can't figure out the cash flow, one wrong person with wrong money and here i am even after 10 years telling people that I didn't do anything wrong except selling bitcoins to a person I didn't knew was into wrong things. This is exactly why I said decentralisation never worked as it should have because people are always ready to abuse it. Anyways not your fault mate, I've gotten accustomed to hear these allegations, thanks to the corrupt policeman of my country and the laws. Maybe someday someday sherlock homes will figure out that it doesn't makes sense. crypto user =/= cards.. I had my own card, I never used it, I liked crypto more.
No no no, lost bitcoins can't be considered for a measure of events to keep bitcoin or the network decentralized neither does that csuse have a relativity with centralization.
The decentralization of bitcoin was already a core program of the project. Lost bitcoins can only be considered be considered as unwilling donation to give an edge and contributes to the market price never to fall to "0".
The market price is neither not controlled by any authorities just like you said but high institutions and whalers can actually manipulate traders and investors mode of actions psychologically and they can be forced to sell or even buy out of Fomo depending if the news of effects is negative or positive.
Note the difference between loosing your bitcoin to scam or the other is a spent and gone bitcoin while loosing it at as lost of access to your wallet stays alive.
Contributions can be something like don't panic sell your bitcoins in bear market in crashes, falls, and in corrections during bull market. It can be other things like moving your bitcoins from centralized exchanges, custodial wallets to your own non custodial wallets because it reduces risk of losing your bitcoins to hackers or worse governments. Then it can be your good start before you run your own Bitcoin full node which surely contributes to Bitcoin decentralization.
From using a non-custodial wallet to run your Bitcoin full node, there are some differences and requirements in hardware but after having a first condition, a next one becomes more comfortable and can come to you naturally.
Lost bitcoins is donation, gift to everyone.
That's a good point but I don't believe that demand and supply is everything here, even useless tokens still have their own charts to draw out, so half the demand of Bitcoin is gone right now it still won't stop Bitcoin playing itself out.
Even the rich have to respect the chart or get annihilated, it's why they have professional traders behind them as well, to know when they have to exit and secure some profits atleast, and then prepare for the next bottom to get back in again.
Bitcoin has it's usefulness honestly but making profits out of it is most important to a lot of people than just using it because of it's utilities, it's all about making profits.
It's all depends because this does not apply to everyone at the same time in the same way, if you have been holding while the market was $120,000 and now you still hold without selling at $60,000 choose that you already lose half of the assets, but this losses is not completely achieved except you already sell while in loss, but as long as you are able to hold until the bull market resumes, then you are most likely to make even beyond losses of your holding when the market make all time above $126,000.
This is it? We get to a point where Bitcoin dropping more means we are winning more? Do you hear your self!
It IS an opportunity to get more cheaper. It IS some thing Bitcoin has done in the past which is a good thing as it means things should look better relatively soon. It IS an opportunity to keep holding while others are leaving but all of it is ASSUMING Bitcoin is going to recover and do better than ever before, just like all the other Cycles it went through!
But being more confident in Bitcoin being a success and being excited for a Price drop because 'it is a sacrifice' sounds like cult insanity!
When you mean lost, do you mean coins sold or coins lost due to loss of Private keys and/or seed phrases. If the latter is what you mean, then it is considered a donation to the network that contributed to it's increase in value due to induced scarcity from fewer coins in circulation. I don't think such losses helped keep the network safe from centralization, more miners joining the network are responsible for more security and increased decentralization.
Bitcoin is not Ethereum which switched to POS due to corruption, the miners and devs are decentralized, a consensus must be reached before any changes is effected, so manipulating the price due to heavy investment in bitcoin would not in any way change the rules.
This point got me confused
Surely time heals. Op should hodl on to the coins that has reduced in value because with time it will recover and probably give more value, that bitcoin for you.
But if he gets annoyed and throws it out to the wind, he is not contributing to bitcoin decentralization because known of us can change that status of bitcoin as a decentralized digital asset, not even how much value we lost. That's if he lost anyway