Bitcoin: New world money, or biggest scam?

By Osamede Arhunmwunde…

I won’t blame you if you think Bitcoin is just a scam. Why would you trust a digital currency like Bitcoin?

Many people believe that digital currencies like Bitcoin have no real “money” value, and that’s because the average individual does not truly understand what money is, and the history of money.

Think about it. What is money? How was it created? What has been the history so far of money as we know it?

Here’s the truth about money that history has taught us: Money is a unit of account that serves as a medium of exchange, and money can be anything, if enough people agree on it. It’s the so-called network effect.

So what is Bitcoin, and what’s driving its demand?
At its core, Bitcoin is just a digital payment system that allows us to send and receive value without the need for a trusted middleman (Middlemen like Banks, remittance services like western union, bureau de change, etc.)

The transactions are verified, secured, and bitcoin units controlled using cryptography.
The real strength of Bitcoin however is the underlying network of highly secure computers that support it. These computers run a new form of a public distributed database called “blockchain.” Think of the blockchain like a large open “excel spreadsheet” where everyone can verify each transaction. Its open and transparent. You see today’s banking system is one of control and surveillance. It is a slow system, and centralized by design. It gives a few people absolute control over our money.

Read also: 5% levy on Nigerians, unbundling of NNPC, other major changes as NASS finally pass PIB

Bitcoin is the opposite: decentralized by design. Bitcoin has no central authority. So, its value is dictated by the marketplace, not a central bank.
Bitcoin has no central location. That means no government can ever shut it down, neither can it be confiscated.
Bitcoin has a finite supply: 21 Million coins and cannot change. Central banks around the world print money at will every single year. This causes the value of your “wealth/money” to go down. Which means the cost of living goes up for everyone. Bitcoin is different. You can’t “print more”. No abusive central bank can “print” more.
This deflationary monetary system of Bitcoin is one reason you can expect bitcoin’s value to increase significantly over time.

Bitcoin has proven to be a better store of value than Gold: Unlike Gold, Bitcoin is very easy to transport. You can carry $1 million worth of Bitcoin on a flash drive (Cold storage) without drawing unnecessary attention to yourself, think about carrying $1 million worth of gold bars…
Think about if you were in countries like Venezuela, Cyprus, Greece, Zimbabwe, etc when their banking system “was” in trouble and capital controls were set in place by the government, where the average hard working citizens could not access their “wealth-money” at will…
Gold couldn’t do the trick. Bitcoin was the real safe haven.

Unlike Gold, Bitcoin is divisible. You can spend as much or as little of a Bitcoin as you like. It’s truly revolutionary.
More than $2 billion per day is transacted across the Bitcoin network without the need for a central clearing authority (https://www.forbes.com/sites/ktorpey/2017/11/20/bitcoin-now-processes-2-billion-worth-of-transactions-per-day-a-10x-increase-in-2017/#439055982fba).

This has never happened before in the history of the world and it makes Bitcoin very special. The Bitcoin market has its risks, but it is the greatest technological innovation since the internet.

The market cap for Bitcoin is $116 Billion USD today (March 29th, 2018) and the market cap for gold is $8 Trillion USD. This presents a unique investment opportunity. There is still huge room for bitcoin to grow. The best way to gain exposure to Bitcoin, is to buy directly from a Bitcoin exchange and hold your Bitcoin in your digital wallet where you control your private key. Please stay away from “multi level Bitcoin opportunities” as well as “high interest Bitcoin investments” they are scams!

If you purchased Bitcoin on January 1, 2017, you would have paid $960USD. On January 1, 2018 Bitcoin was valued at over $13,000USD. That’s a return of about 1250% in 1 year. You would have turned $1,000USD into approximately $12,500USD

The thing about disruptive technologies like this is that it fights to prove itself on an outdated infrastructure. Think about the first cars ever made fighting to prove their value on roads created for horses…

To determine if Bitcoin’s rise will last, you can’t get caught up on where it is today. You must look to the future. The world is changing, Bitcoin and the underlying blockchain technology will help you and I hold our central banks and governments accountable. This technology will give us the power to truly control our financial future.

 

RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears

Click here to join the Ripples Nigeria WhatsApp group for latest updates.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now