Bitcoin’s Greatest Value Is in Its People
Transparency, privacy,
Humanity is one of the most valuable resources that human beings have and Bitcoin proves it. This seems very obvious, but it happens that many times we forget our power of transformation and responsibility as individuals. Technologies do not change people, at least not magically, but those people that create and use these technologies to transform society.
A user, doubledowndope, said that he had accidentally received 1 BTC two years ago. The Internet user reported that in 2017 he had made his first purchase of bitcoins in Tucson, Arizona. After having communicated with the seller through Localbitcoins, he met him at a local café to settle the sale. Doubledowndope would pay USD 3,000 in cash for the price of 1 BTC.
However, at the end of the afternoon, two bitcoins for the price of one arrived in his wallet. The keychain had processed the transaction twice without detecting any error. Doubledowndope said that the seller called him desperately a few hours after the exchange, to check if an additional bitcoin had actually arrived at the address and if he could recover it. Everything seemed to favor the buyer, who could simply decide not to return the money transferred.
This user decided to return the money, since he considered that honesty, apart from Bitcoin’s transparency, was a more valuable asset than that additional bitcoin. He explained that everyone should learn that Bitcoin is not just about value, wealth or power but about people, since people are more important.
People Are the Key
The words of this anonymous person should echo in everyone’s mind: “People are more important.” It is not about power, or wealth, or even technology, regardless how safe and reliable it may be. In the end, only the example and initiative of a person can change his or her destiny.
The appearance of Bitcoin can definitely mark a before and after in modern history. Its ability to decentralize power allows much more democratic forms of governance on the Internet. It considerably improves the paradigms of secure communications and privacy proposed by previous technologies. Besides, its immutable public record promotes a more transparent society, which is not trusted until the information is verified.
It can be said that Bitcoin is a huge grain of sand that pushes humankind to transform its models of government, interaction and socialization. None of that countercurrent flow could nevertheless be possible if it were not for one or several people who put the idea into practice. In other words, the creation of Bitcoin occurred thanks to Satoshi Nakamoto and his contributors.
Cypherpunks, that particular group of the 1990’s comprised of scientists, cryptographers and enthusiasts that believed in a more private and free Internet, laid the foundations of what today is known as Bitcoin. However, Bitcoin could have been something else or more of the same.
Its creators may have developed a technology that allows censoring a few, distributes power among an elite few, and ensures wealth in the hands of the powerful. However, since it is constituted under the principles of equality, privacy and decentralization, it has become a weapon of resistance.
By Willmen Blanco