14 years after its creation, what would the creator of Bitcoin think?

First of all, please note that this article in no way intends to “speak for” Satoshi Nakamoto. The creator of Bitcoin has reasons to remain anonymous and to have not given any further news. We respect this point. We are just looking here, to try to see, if 14 years later the publication of the Bitcoin white paper, these ideas are in line with what he imagined.

We can indeed legitimately ask the question because in 14 years, the'ecosystem has changed profoundly. New actors (surprisingly) have appeared. We are very far from the idea of ​​bitcoin exchanged on the Darkweb between a few geeks who were looking for a way to pay while remaining anonymous.

Today, bitcoin is traded on trading platforms run by renowned financial holding companies, the traditional media which decried it as a casino currency now praise it, it has even become legal tender in some country.

In short, in 14 years, we can say that bitcoin has arrived exactly where we would never have thought -logically- that it would arrive. In the hands of financial barons and in the safes of the biggest banks, bitcoin is today a financial asset of the elites…

Is this a happy destiny or on the contrary, have we not signed without knowing it, a destruction of what was the essence of bitcoin? Here is a quick summary of the history of bitcoin, from its origins…

2008: Creation of Bitcoin with the objective of creating an alternative to banks

Today, it is true that we almost always talk about bitcoin for its incredible growth. Each wave of newcomers occurs during an exponential bull run where the price of bitcoin reaches new heights. It is common to admit that very often people enter for financial possibilities and ultimately find another interest in finding out about the subject. This is indeed the case for many people, as you can see for yourself by talking to cryptocurrency holders.

Thus, the majority of people who discover bitcoin do so through the promise of wealth and easy gain. True (although exceptional) stories of fortunes created overnight have fueled many people's dreams of getting rich.

However, Satoshi Nakamoto does not talk about return on investment in his writings. In the White Paper, Bitcoin is above all a peer-to-peer payment infrastructure, therefore without an intermediary.

The ultimate promise and goal of creating Bitcoin was to provide an easy-to-use infrastructure between different parties. The title of the white paper is: “A peer-to-peer Electronic Cash System”. Everything is already said in the title. The ultimate mission was for person A to be able to pay person B directly, without having to go through a bank.

The fact of being able to pay without going through banks is a fundamental freedom of people to dispose of themselves. Bitcoin is a pragmatic and scientific response to a highly moral problem: that of the freedom of individuals to be able to exchange freely and anonymously. It is no coincidence that the designers of similar payment systems were part of a group called the “cypherpunk“. We can summarize the essence of this school of thought as the search for individual freedom through technology.

Lire: Who are CypherPunk and how did they influence the creation of Bitcoin?

2012: The discredit of a currency used by “delinquents”

The big problem with the adoption of bitcoin is the fact that for people in developed countries, paying online was not a problem in itself. Companies and fintechs like PayPal have paved the way for online payments. Anyone with a bank card can pay online without any difficulty.

Also, in the beginning, using Bitcoin required a certain technical skill. You had to download the Bitcoin Core software, know how to mine or buy bitcoin peer-to-peer on a few platforms little known to the general public. In short, it was not easy and simple before the first exchange platforms make their appearances.

Paying with bitcoin was a necessity for offenders at first. Moreover, the rise of bitcoin began with its use on SilkRoad, a marketplace on the Darweb. The particularity of SilkRoad was that everyone could buy and sell all types of products, including illicit products (weapons, drugs, etc.). Obviously, for this anonymous marketplace, it was necessary to use an anonymous currency, and therefore bitcoin.

Thus, the first people who felt the usefulness of bitcoin were necessarily buyers or sellers of illicit products.

With the insolent success of SilkRoad, bitcoin left the sphere of geeks and cypherpunk cryptographers to enter the sphere of criminality.

Besides, this is how bitcoin made headlines. “A trafficker’s currency”, a “currency which allows the financing of illegal activities”, etc.

In this context, the media and the general population could not “understand” the philosophical foundations of bitcoin, nor even its usefulness.

However, trading on SilkRoad nevertheless caused the price of bitcoin to rise. It is certainly with the rise in its price that Bitcoin began to attract the attention of other people.

2013: The beginnings of valorization

For the first time, BTC will reach $1000 before falling. It will be necessary to wait until February 2017 for BTC to reach and exceed this historic threshold.

At this time, Bitcoin is experiencing a period of divergent interest. On the one hand, many states are getting scared and starting to legislate. New laws are emerging. We are also seeing the ban on the use of cryptocurrencies in certain countries such as China, Algeria, India, etc.

When the media talk about bitcoin, it is in pejorative terms (the criminal aspect is still present) and other elements are denounced. At this point, the difficulty of the hashrate and the energy consumption of mining are singled out.

Regarding the rise in the price of Bitcoin, many critics see it as unfair and stupid speculation. We talk about bitcoin as being a casino currency with no other use than speculation. Some will even go so far as to draw a parallel with the effect of “tulopomania”.

For a whole period, with each drop in price, it was announced that bitcoin was dead. At the same time, the adoption of bitcoin continues to grow. This is more visible in emerging countries where bitcoin appears as a financial solution accessible to everyone.

2017: Bitcoin becomes mainstream and the digital gold rush begins

In 2017, we are witnessing a new wave of first-time investors in cryptocurrencies. The triumphant arrival of Ethereum having enabled the creation of new tokens, there is euphoria on the markets. New companies are born every day and raise millions of dollars through an innovative fundraising process: ICO (Initial Coin offering). It is then the equivalent of IPOs for stock market entries except that in the cryptocurrency market at that time, there was no regulation. Anyone can simply invest and buy new tokens.

At that point, bitcoin gained a certain market dominance that it has never lost since. It’s the explosion of altcoins and the cryptocurrency market is starting to take shape. The public is becoming aware of the potential of blockchain. Some will then “prefer” the pragmatic uses of tokens and will turn away from bitcoin. For some people, this serves as a payment currency while the new tokens have more pragmatic uses.

In short, the crypto ecosystem is taking shape and Bitcoin is gaining ground. There are more and more investors and recognized entrepreneurs say they are investing in Bitcoin. We can cite John McAfee or Michael J. Saylor, the founder of MicroStrategy. These statements will then “clean up” the image of Bitcoin. It is then entrepreneurs appreciated by Tech who become its apostles. It is no longer criticized as much by the media which are beginning to grasp the advantages it can have from a technological point of view.

At this time then, this is the period when Bitcoin becomes mainstream. There are more people who have entered since 2016 because there are simple ways to buy it (with a bank card) and the price of bitcoin always reaches new records. In short, it becomes an interesting investment and very easy to access. The “good father” is interested in bitcoin.

The 2020s: Bitcoin becomes the preferred asset of the new generation

The Covid crisis has -probably- been very beneficial for the world of cryptocurrencies. While the entire world population was confined to their homes, the internet was the only window on the world. You had to pay online, get delivered, watch films and be entertained online. The use of cryptocurrencies has benefited from confinement. It was during this period, for example, that we saw the explosion of DeFi. The promises of profits with very high APY rates have finally attracted a new wave of speculators.

She is younger and discovers bitcoin through social networks. They then discover YouTube channels, TikTok accounts and gurus on Twitter who are increasingly popularizing bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Real remuneration for influencers (partnerships, sponsorship, affiliations, etc.) will then attract more and more people into this universe which promises rapid wealth. The gold rush is on.

As the creation of tokens becomes easier, new companies offering protocols and applications to generate returns attract ever more people and capital. THE Yield farming was the quintessence of this attraction for quick profit. “Magic money” was then at its peak and the use of NFTs and Metaverses completed the exponential growth of market cap of the crypto market as a whole.

NFTs with a system of eternal royalties then attracted institutional investors who until then had little interest in cryptocurrencies such as museums, artists, etc. As for the metaverses, it is the companies and clothing brands (in particular) who have invested in them. When Facebook decided to change its name to “Meta” it was the catalyst for this interest in metaverses. Many brands then jumped headfirst into these virtual worlds, like Adidas, Puma, Balenciaga, etc.

Since 2020 and the arrival of new arrivals, there are all trades and all ideologies. Even the most cautious investors have joined the dance. Traditional banks are partnering with crypto companies of all kinds, politicians are creating MNBCs, and teenagers are trading cryptocurrencies on their phones, seeking financial independence.

Bitcoin has become a financial asset of mass adoption

Many people who invest in bitcoin today are unaware of the libertarian origins of the cryptocurrency. It is no longer its independence that is highlighted. . It is very often compared to theor in the sense that it would retain value over time. It is even for many a currency to fight inflation. For others, it is an ideal speculative currency for budding traders.

In this sense, we can say - even if it seems paradoxical - that Bitcoin has succeeded. Today, it is a currency traded throughout the world just like a classic fiat currency. Innovations like lightning network have allowed it to be ever more practical to use on a large scale.

In 14 years, he is even considered by some economists as “a sound money", i.e. a viable and sustainable currency in the long term.

Lire: Is bitcoin sound money?

Today, we are even very far from his image as a delinquent. Bitcoin is becoming the asset par excellence for the unbanked and individuals without financial knowledge. Profiles who claim to be bitcoin come from all walks of life.

The elites own more and more bitcoin and why is this problematic?

If bitcoin was originally created to escape banks, over time it became a new asset in their portfolios. Bitcoin was created to be the people's currency, without borders, without controlling entity and is intended to be an alternative to the banking system. Originally, bitcoin was the currency to counter the “elites” of today’s world. Today, it has become a stooge of the elites…

It is very surprising that the elites own bitcoin and this can pose different problems. The word elite is to be understood in the sense understood by Nayib Bukele for example, namely, financial institutions, large financial groups, holding companies, politicians and all those who possess power and who are on the right side of the current international world system. The elites, in short, are the privileged ones of the current financial system.

It is then a shame to see so many elite seeking to own so much bitcoin...What are their real intentions? It stands to reason that we need to question this behavior. If it’s not simply fueled by elite greed, let’s hope it’s not to “control” Bitcoin and take it out of the hands of the people…

This is indeed what we can fear. Large groups have such significant financial resources that they come to own a large part of the bitcoin in circulation. This is one of the biggest problems that Bitcoin may encounter in the future. Today, according to a NBER study (National Bureau of Economic Research.), bitcoin is concentrated in few hands.

In fact, 10,000 individual investors own 1/3 of the bitcoin in circulation. The largest holders of bitcoin are those on exchange platforms like OK ou Binance. Likewise, crypto-billionaires are very often founders of exchange platforms, like Sam Bankman Fried for example.

Is Bitcoin what Satoshi Nakamoto predicted?

It seems difficult to answer the question without nuance. We cannot decently speak for Satoshi Nakamoto. Did he plan this? Does he see what bitcoin has become? Is he proud of it?

It all depends on the framework in which we reason. If we speak from an ideological point of view, it seems that Bitcoin is gradually being stripped of its decentralized essence. While it was intended to be the currency of the people for the people, it is increasingly concentrated in the hands of yesterday's privileged people.

To buy and send bitcoin, most people will use a trusted third party (an exchange platform for example). However, this is precisely why Bitcoin was created: to avoid trusted third parties!

It's like a cancellation of its very principle. Likewise, the obligation of the KYC procedure where you have to submit your identity documents to buy bitcoin places us at the opposite end of the idea of ​​non-censorship.

From this point of view, the mass adoption of Bitcoin is just a way of using it without its sovereign principle. Just like the FIAT currency, Bitcoin in such a system remains an almost banal financial asset. It is subject to financial market rules and can be controlled by political authorities. Thanks to KYC, they have the identities of bitcoin owners….

This is also the idea that emerges from the magnificent documentary “le Mystery Satoshi,” available on Arte. It is also one of the best documentary on bitcoin, both in terms of graphic quality and intellectual relevance.

What is the future of bitcoin?

Now we cannot predict the future. What we know, 14 years later, is that despite the successes encountered, we must still remain vigilant. We must seek to preserve as much as we can the altruistic philosophy that makes up the DNA of bitcoin. That is why bitcoin in DeFi for example is also important. This is the only way to protect it from centralization. We must learn to overcome our greedy instincts and seek long-term prosperity rather than quick personal wealth. Greed, the search for immediate profit, and self-interest can destroy what bitcoin took over a decade to create…

Bitcoin can help entire countries that do not have a viable financial structure and can also solve problems of conjectural inequality in developed countries. It could also serve as a reserve asset and standard for an international sovereign currency as the economist suggests Saifedean Ammous.

So, of course, this can contradict the values ​​advocated by the prevailing capitalism of our societies. It's up to us whether we want to continue living in such a corrupt and unjust system. Let’s remember the adage “Bitcoin fixes this”. We have a new possible alternative with a currency that aims to be more ethical and more democratic. It’s up to us not to sabotage this tremendous opportunity.

It must remain the currency of the people and must be used in a decentralized way as much as possible….It is much more than a question of principle….It is a question of survival.

Useful resources:

• https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/silk-road-arrest-shines-light-dark-web/story?id=20460774
• https://time.com/6110392/bitcoin-ownership/
• https://river.com/learn/who-owns-the-most-bitcoin/
• https://bitinfocharts.com/top-100-richest-bitcoin-addresses.html