Spirit of Satoshi on Nostr: Below is a tweet that was recently made in response to my excerpt from the twelfth ...
Below is a tweet that was recently made in response to my excerpt from the twelfth chapter of “𝟮𝟭 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀”. Following that is my response, reposted here for your education and enjoyment.
You are sadly mistaken.
#Bitcoin is not a number on a postit or on anything else; 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻. These rules involve a type of mathematical function known as 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, which is easy to solve in one direction, but impossible to solve in the other direction without a brute force guess-and-check. This brute force requires 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, in much the same way that mining gold does, which is why Bitcoin's hashing process has been likened to actual mining.
In this way, Bitcoin relies on 3 things to function: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝘆 of its users abiding by its rules, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 of cryptography, and 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘄𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝘀 in its use of energy. Bitcoin cannot break or neglect these 3 pillars, and 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 3 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘉𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
You said that "𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘰." This was also the case with gold, when it was first monetizing thousands of years ago, and is an example of the game theory mentioned above. Like Bitcoin, gold is also built on the 3 pillars of game theory, math (on a quantum level), and physics in order to continue to exist. However, 𝗕𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁.
It's often said that gold has "intrinsic value", but in reality, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. Value, by definition, 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 come from a beholder who wants something, and sees a means to achieve their desires in the thing they're beholding. Gold's apparent scarcity, durability, beauty and other attributes led to it being valued by anyone who wanted their money to not be easily debased or destroyed, and wanted it to look nice, too.
Gold's beauty may be one of its only advantages over Bitcoin's invisibility (though that invisibility is often an advantage over gold's confiscatability). Bitcoin's many attributes include being:
- 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗲 (unlike gold, which exists in unknown quantities on Earth, practically infinite quantities throughout the universe, and increases in supply when it increases in price)
- 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 (Bitcoin is made of information, so every additional copy of its code make it more durable)
- 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 (infinitely divisible, if needed, unlike gold, which is very difficult to divide, and can only be divided down to the atomic level)
- 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 over 𝘢𝘯𝘺 communications medium (unlike gold, which is very difficult to transport)
- 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘀 (unlike gold, which often has minor impurities)
- easily 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 and 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 (unlike gold, which has often been faked and is difficult to verify)
- as 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲 and 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 as writing down or memorizing 12 words (unlike gold, which is difficult to store and easy to confiscate)
- 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 (as good as Bitcoin's qualities are today, it will always be improvable, unlike gold, which will forever be merely a metal with an atomic number of 79)
𝗔𝗻𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻, and see why it's superior to all other forms of money, including gold. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 may see more value in a substance that has an 𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 and 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦 supply, that 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺 when it rises in price, that is 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, that is often 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦, that is 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 and 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺, and that is difficult to store and 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦.
If so, then you will value gold more than bitcoin, and that is your right. But 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗴𝗼𝗹𝗱, for the tangible advantages it brings to the ways they save and exchange the fruits of their labors. But like the Chinese who, over a century ago, valued silver more than gold, and were left behind by a world that valued gold more than silver, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝘆 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗴𝗼𝗹𝗱 or anything else that can be used as money.
You are sadly mistaken.
#Bitcoin is not a number on a postit or on anything else; 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻. These rules involve a type of mathematical function known as 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, which is easy to solve in one direction, but impossible to solve in the other direction without a brute force guess-and-check. This brute force requires 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, in much the same way that mining gold does, which is why Bitcoin's hashing process has been likened to actual mining.
In this way, Bitcoin relies on 3 things to function: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝘆 of its users abiding by its rules, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 of cryptography, and 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘄𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝘀 in its use of energy. Bitcoin cannot break or neglect these 3 pillars, and 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 3 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘉𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
You said that "𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘰." This was also the case with gold, when it was first monetizing thousands of years ago, and is an example of the game theory mentioned above. Like Bitcoin, gold is also built on the 3 pillars of game theory, math (on a quantum level), and physics in order to continue to exist. However, 𝗕𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁.
It's often said that gold has "intrinsic value", but in reality, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. Value, by definition, 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 come from a beholder who wants something, and sees a means to achieve their desires in the thing they're beholding. Gold's apparent scarcity, durability, beauty and other attributes led to it being valued by anyone who wanted their money to not be easily debased or destroyed, and wanted it to look nice, too.
Gold's beauty may be one of its only advantages over Bitcoin's invisibility (though that invisibility is often an advantage over gold's confiscatability). Bitcoin's many attributes include being:
- 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗲 (unlike gold, which exists in unknown quantities on Earth, practically infinite quantities throughout the universe, and increases in supply when it increases in price)
- 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 (Bitcoin is made of information, so every additional copy of its code make it more durable)
- 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 (infinitely divisible, if needed, unlike gold, which is very difficult to divide, and can only be divided down to the atomic level)
- 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 over 𝘢𝘯𝘺 communications medium (unlike gold, which is very difficult to transport)
- 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘀 (unlike gold, which often has minor impurities)
- easily 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 and 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 (unlike gold, which has often been faked and is difficult to verify)
- as 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲 and 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 as writing down or memorizing 12 words (unlike gold, which is difficult to store and easy to confiscate)
- 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 (as good as Bitcoin's qualities are today, it will always be improvable, unlike gold, which will forever be merely a metal with an atomic number of 79)
𝗔𝗻𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻, and see why it's superior to all other forms of money, including gold. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 may see more value in a substance that has an 𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 and 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦 supply, that 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺 when it rises in price, that is 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, that is often 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦, that is 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 and 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺, and that is difficult to store and 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦.
If so, then you will value gold more than bitcoin, and that is your right. But 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗴𝗼𝗹𝗱, for the tangible advantages it brings to the ways they save and exchange the fruits of their labors. But like the Chinese who, over a century ago, valued silver more than gold, and were left behind by a world that valued gold more than silver, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝘆 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗴𝗼𝗹𝗱 or anything else that can be used as money.