Airbitz CEO: Bitcoin development cannot deviate from the track of decentralization

Logically, 2015 should be the year for Bitcoin to soar. This is because economic development around the world has not been very peaceful this year. For example, in Zimbabwe, inflation eventually led the government to abandon its own currency and use the US dollar. In Greece, the situation is even worse. The government forced banks to adopt capital controls. The economic crisis is an opportunity for Bitcoin. It is time to show its strength and save those who are under the control of central institutions.

However, in fact, Bitcoin did not take off as people expected. Why? Before answering this question, let's briefly review the history of currency development.

Currency in the past is actually very similar to Bitcoin. Whether it is gold, jewelry, or jade, the various items used for exchange are based on their own value. This is also the source of the unit of value. You put your gold on the scale and it weighs one ounce, then it is worth this much.

Of course, since gold is not easy to carry and transport over long distances, people invented paper money. In fact, paper money itself has no real value. It just records the existence of a certain amount of gold and can be used as a certificate to redeem gold.

Since then, trust has entered the monetary system, because both parties must trust each other for the paper currency to have value.

Over the past several thousand years of human history, the system of paper money plus trust has had a huge positive impact on our society. From this system has emerged the modern financial system, which has driven tremendous growth in the global economy.

However, as society develops, paper money has also exposed many shortcomings. I will not mention that the collapse of the existing monetary system may lead to the disappearance of the money that ordinary people have worked hard to save for a lifetime. Isn't it ridiculous that we have to pay banks to help us keep our money?

Ever since I first used a check, I have been brainwashed that my money belongs to the bank. I remember a scene in the old Hollywood movie "Mary Poppins" where a little boy reluctantly deposits his first pocket money (two pence) into the bank. He originally wanted to use the money to buy food for the birds, but he knew that if he deposited the money in the bank, it would be difficult to withdraw it.

We pay billions of dollars in fees to banks and other custodians every year. But many people will say to me, "This way, your money will be safe. If the bank has problems, the government will come to rescue it."

But I don't like my financial situation being monitored by private institutions, let alone the government. In fact, all the restrictions imposed by banks on us are the result of government regulations. For example, you can only withdraw so much, you can only deposit so much, when you can withdraw money, and so on.

Maybe you don't think there is anything wrong with this, but imagine that you bought a Chevrolet, but the government told you that you can only use it on weekdays. Then you would be unhappy. Why should the things I bought with my own money be subject to your control?

Having said so much, I should talk about how Bitcoin can "fight" the bad behavior of banks, but I want to say that Bitcoin is still difficult to do. Why? Although most people in the Bitcoin community agree that centralization is contrary to the spirit of Bitcoin, we have not made much effort for decentralization.

Do you store your coins in some Bitcoin exchanges? These exchanges (I won’t mention the names) will collect your information and even freeze your funds.

Currently, most Bitcoin exchanges are similar to banks and do the same thing as banks do - help keep your money.

Therefore, this also means that the government can easily monitor your funds through these exchanges. This is the case with Bitcoin exchanges in Greece.

In addition, storing your coins in these bank-like exchanges will limit your access to the world's Bitcoin. You can only use your funds within the scope of authorization of the exchange you are hosting, and these exchanges rarely achieve global Bitcoin connectivity.

It's like the early days of the Internet. For a while, America Online was the only way to access the Internet. But then people could simply download some software (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.) and access the entire web, no longer limited to the AOL portal. That's when the Internet exploded. Maybe the analogy isn't quite right, but the idea is the same.

Many people told me that bank-like Bitcoin institutions are necessary to handle more complex transactions, such as investments. I know what they mean, these institutions can use a lot of resources to screen reliable investment projects and pay interest to depositors, which is what the current financial system needs.

I want to say: this is right, but also wrong. It is right because the Bitcoin ecosystem does need some lending institutions that can make large-scale commercial investments. It is wrong because it implies that investors and investees cannot be independent of a central institution. The Internet has opened up a model for building trust. Bitcoin also needs to establish this trust structure, and the "蜂群思维" is critical to the success of Bitcoin.

The core premise of Bitcoin is that your money is completely independent and not controlled by a central authority. Many Bitcoin users don’t even know that their funds are being controlled.

Bitcoin is an experiment, and if we want to truly realize its potential and make it successful, we must carefully maintain its core decentralized nature. We need to make users understand how the Bitcoin network works and what decentralization really looks like.

This article was written by Paul Puey co-founder and CEO of Airbitz.