Return to the essence of Bitcoin: its value is not just price

Original title: About Bitcoin: Return to the Essence, Simple Thinking

The next wave of the digital revolution is washing over us as every aspect of our daily lives becomes connected to the internet. But this article isn’t about telling a story about what that future will look like. We already know it. Self-driving cars, building and maintaining relationships through video calls, threaded conversations, online payments, and more devices that collect data to enable a seamless consumer life.

Instead, we should be thinking about who will govern the digital world, and how you can maintain some level of control. When it comes to bitcoin, it’s a call to get back to basics, to abandon the obsession with price rises and falls that seems to be driving the new interest in cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin’s departure from the norm

Bitcoin’s arrival today is in some ways an accident, a fortunate combination of favorable circumstances. It was created on the margins of society in response to a broken global financial system, and while most people were still focusing on the 2008 financial collapse, it had already grown through the cracks.

Governments around the world have never liked it, but only a few countries have ultimately taken steps to ban Bitcoin. The price surge of 2017 has led to bans and increased regulation around ICOs, mining being banned, and increased KYC burdens on cryptocurrency exchanges, but there has been no outright global ban on Bitcoin.

Now, Bitcoin is too powerful to be banned, with public companies like the popular Tesla adding BTC to their balance sheets, as well as a string of financial institutions and high net worth individuals. Of course, it is technically possible to severely curb Bitcoin. However, a true global Bitcoin ban would make many people unhappy, and few governments would be willing to instigate such an approach.

There is a real opportunity before us, but if you’re only focusing on the price of Bitcoin, you might be missing it.

The value of Bitcoin is more than just its price

While the exponential price rally has certainly been a surprise to many who bought into Bitcoin early — or at least it was at the start of a major bull cycle — it’s not the only thing that matters.

Most of the discussion online seems to revolve around BTC reaching a certain price point, as if that’s the end of the game. But who looks up at the stars and thinks of nothing more than a number? Fundamentally, that’s the most boring way to look at it.

Bitcoin can go to $150,000 or it can shrink to $1,500, but what it represents remains the same.

Bitcoin is a fundamental shift in the way we think about power structures. Everything we know is built on centralization, gatekeepers, and borders. Bitcoin is decentralized, freely accessible, and borderless. No single entity can cut you off (de-risking), freeze your wealth (government sanctions), or solve your problems (don't forget your password). We don't know who created Bitcoin, except for an online nickname whose true identity is a mystery, but we all can own it.