As the US witnessed one of the biggest banking collapses in its history, Bitcoin is innovating and seeing its network grow.
This is an opinion editorial by Carlos Cárdenas, an institutional account manager who has worked at legacy banks and cryptocurrency exchanges.
The author Nassim Taleb published an interview titled, “Bitcoin is the idiot detector” in which he rephrases his arguments that bitcoin cannot play the role of a currency or a store of value and suggests that it will “collapse.” But is this really true?
Sure, bitcoin has suffered catastrophic drops in value in the last ten years, even as much as 58% last year, but overall, he had a average annual return of 1,576% between 2010 and 2021. Through bitcoin evolution, we have seen a thriving global network of miners emerge and more one million active addresses. Thanks to Bitcoin, we now see an emerging crypto-economy that includes other cryptocurrencies and digital assets (utility tokens and NFTs). worth more than $1 billion. Through all the innovation and even negative events associated with Bitcoin (bans, seizures, fraud, scams, etc.), Bitcoin and its user base have adapted and prevailed.
Meanwhile, the recent collapses of financial institutions such as BLS, silvergate bank and signature bank have once again highlighted the fragility of the legacy financial system. We have witnessed the systematic destruction of wealth through degradation and inflation backed by the traditional financial system, bad actors and poor policy making for as long as we have been alive.
If you remember 2008, 1999, or 1987, or have been paying attention today, you’ve been aware of all these issues for a while, but you knew there was no real alternative until Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin.
The power of Bitcoin is not its price (although believe me, I would have loved to have bought something in 2011). The power of Bitcoin is the freedom to transact in an intricate world, its programmatic money supply, and its democratized form of adoption with relatively low barriers to entry. You can participate in the network by running a node, mining, or just buying or selling it. Today, thanks toordinal theory”, you can now enroll digital files in a satoshi and remain censorship-free, achieve immutability, and enjoy a truly decentralized file storage system. This opens up a number of opportunities for communications, artists, and collectors, and paves the way for better Bitcoin infrastructure. That is what antifragility is: adaptability, resilience and evolution in a system subject to shocks.
Fourteen years ago, Bitcoin genesis block shared a message: “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”. Today, we face the consequences of the second largest banking collapse in US history. This teaches me that while we haven’t learned our lessons, we still have time for present and future generations to embrace Bitcoin technology and create a stronger and more efficient financial system.
Despite the recent financial turmoil, Bitcoin remains unscathed and has proven its worth by being more than just another investment in a portfolio, a truly modern version of the financial system.
This is a guest post by Carlos Cárdenas. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
