I fell in love with the idea of cryptocurrency because of the power of stateless money. The idea that you could create a currency, a currency, that anyone in the world could use, trade, and store easily was intoxicating.
That you could allow the unbanked to be banked and allow money to be sent from anywhere to anywhere for practically nothing. That is the bitcoin that I fell in love with and it is a shame that it has strayed so far from that ideal.
But from the small-scale chaos that’s come from the bitcoin scaling issue, you can see something beautiful about the market for the cryptocurrency. There are some small-scale political battles that take place and have consequence, but ultimately, all debates will be settled by the market.
The large block supporters lost the political battle, but regardless, there is once again a bitcoin that holds true to the original ideal of a money that empowers people around the world, bitcoin cash.
And it is not just one option. There are countless different coins competing to solve unique problems. Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Dash, Monero, and dozens more that have sizable markets and legitimate use cases.
Bitcoin going off the rails is a bummer, but it is fairly insignificant in the greater scheme of things because of the free market in crypto.
In the past when wealth was trapped in fiat currency, you could do nothing but stand by and watch your wealth disappear as politicians destroyed the value of bolivars, pesos, and dollars. But now all you need to do is make a simple transaction on your phone or computer and in less than a minute you can change to one of the plentiful options that serve you best.
Less than a decade since the creation of the first cryptocurrency we are watching the development of a truly competitive market for money. It is crazy, chaotic, and scary, but it is beautiful to watch.
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