If you’d like to learn more about bitcoin, read the white paper, check out hope.com or you can reference this website for up-to-date statistics on the bitcoin network. Here are some reasons why Bitcoin is better money.
Secure
The bitcoin network is defended by millions of powerful computers all around the world running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
These computers try to guess a very large random number (SHA-256) and the difficulty auto-adjusts so that the correct answer is guessed on average every 10 minutes.
Network strength is measured by number of exahashes per second (EH/s) where 1 EH/s (exahash) is 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 H/s (hashes, or guesses, per second).
The bitcoin network currently completes about 700 exahashes per second (EH/s). That's a 7 followed by 20 zeroes (700,000,000,000,000,000,000) hashes (or guesses) every second of every day.
As the hash rate increases, network security increases because more computers are securing the network. Hash rate is trending up and to the right.
There was a recent commotion about quantum computing threatening the security of bitcoin, and while this does pose a threat in the future, at the moment it's several orders of magnitude away from being a threat to SHA-256. If SHA-256 is able to be cracked by a super quantum computer in the future, every bank, country, and password will be able to be hacked. By the time this happens, the global computer network, bitcoin included, will need to upgrade to quantum resistant algorithms.
Decentralized
There are no central computers for the bitcoin network, instead it’s a collection of individually operated nodes and miners. Nobody has any ownership of the network or any ability to influence the network.
Michael Saylor owns 439,000 bitcoins, but he has no more control than the guy who owns .001 bitcoin.
The only way the bitcoin network rules can change is if the individual computers maintaining the network agree to make changes to their software.
If people disagree over what the rules should be, then the network splits in two and each individual can choose which to follow.
This happened before, Google “Bitcoin block wars,” to learn about how an attack on the bitcoin code created a new coin called Bitcoin Cash, which has trended to zero against Bitcoin.
Separation of Money & State
Several governments have taken harsh measures against bitcoin, and China has even banned it completely. Since then China has unbanned it, and we've learned that the bitcoin network is resilient and will continue to run regardless of individual country laws. In Canada when protests were happening over the extremist COVID policies, President Trudeau froze the bank accounts of Canadian citizens to stop the peaceful protests.
The government can steal your money in your bank, your real estate, and your car, but the government can’t take your bitcoin.
The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States is actively debasing the US Dollar and the entire currency is subject to the powers of a cabal of bankers and politicians. The USD is currently losing 5% with inflation, and people are happy.
Bitcoin's inflation is coded into a computer network and it's trending to zero. We don't have to wait for a FED meeting to decide what to do with our money. Bitcoin is separation of money and state.
Limited Supply
Bitcoin is a perfectly inelastic good. If the price of bitcoin goes up 1000x there is no way to create more bitcoin.
If the price of gold doubled tomorrow, we would mine more gold or sell more jewelry and the supply of gold would increase.
The code of bitcoin states there will only be 21 million available, and 19 million have already been mined. There are only 2 million bitcoin left to mine for the next 120 years, so this asset is scarce and getting scarcer.
Better Technology
Bitcoin allows for faster and cheaper payments. There are billions of people without access to Venmo who need a solution. Bitcoin is the global solution for sending money. With Bitcoin, your payment is instant and costs a few cents.
Do you know why you type "www." each time you use the internet? It's an internet protocol we all use on the internet network. Bitcoin is the money protocol of the internet, and within a few short years everyone will be using the bitcoin money protocol without knowing it.
Instead of asking "Venmo or Paypal" people will just say "send me money" and bitcoin is how they'll do it.
Shitcoins
Why bitcoin and not some other coin?
Bitcoin is the first, the biggest, the strongest, the most valuable, and the most ethical cryptocurrency coin we have. Bitcoin allows you to be your own bank anywhere in the world. You can read the code, you can audit the network, and everything is open-source. The founder of bitcoin didn't benefit from his invention. It is the greatest technological advancement in money since gold.
Bitcoin uses proof of work, which requires real tangible assets, in the form of energy and computers, to create new bitcoin and support the network. Other coins use "Proof of stake" so that the founders and insiders have overwhelming control and new coins can be created without any real world effort or work.
Most alternative coins also have an unlimited supply and their code and rules are constantly changing based on the desires of each coin's CEO. Only 21 million bitcoin will ever exist, so when you buy some you're buying a fraction of a limited supply.
Since these alternative coins have CEOs or founders responsible for them with overwhelming control of the network, the government can control them if they desire. These coins are more like digital securities for companies, while bitcoin is more like a commodity. Alternative coins are a threat to the US dollar, while bitcoin is replacing gold as a store of value.
Anything other than bitcoin is a copy of bitcoin without any of the benefits. They are scams to get rich quick. Stay away.
That was a brief summary of some of the key points around bitcoin. What do you think? Comment below and let me know! - Tom
Is a block a single bitcoin? And you say the computer has to guess a number - so you’re saying that I could have a computer and guess a random number and create a bitcoin?