Making the case that Bitcoin is not freedom: Pacific Bitcoin Panel

"Bitcoin (BTC) is freedom" is one of Bitcoin's many epithets. Like "Bitcoin is digital gold,” “bitcoin is property," or even Bitcoin is absolute digital scarcity, these phrases bounce off the walls of Bitcoin-themed conference arenas. They are also remembered for eternity on social networks.

But one of the general Bitcoin mantras is "Don't trust, verify." Rooted in an old Russian proverb, the phrase has come to define the spirit of Bitcoin. It suggests rules, ideas, and concepts that need to be tried, tested, and verified. So with that in mind, to what extent is Bitcoin really freedom? To what extent can we point out that Bitcoin is categorically a tool for freedom?

Can Bitcoin set people free?

At the Pacific Bitcoin conference in Los Angeles, hosted by Bitcoin-only exchange Swan Bitcoin, this debate came to life. During a panel discussion succinctly titled "Bitcoin Is Freedom," three freedom fighters and thinkers explored ways in which Bitcoin might not be as emancipatory as it is proclaimed online.

Craig Warmke, professor at Northern Illinois University, Yan Pritzker, co-founder and CTO of Swan, and Alex Gladstein, director of strategy at the Human Rights Foundation, discussed the nature of the magic money of the Internet. Bitcoin does not have a central body, and is unlikely to change its rules, or hard fork, any time soon. Crucially, Bitcoin fought off a serious threat from a source code change. during the block war, which, in a sense, crystallized the Bitcoin code at least in the short term.

Now, naturally, the relationship between Bitcoin and freedom can vary and can depend on each individual's personal experiences and perspectives. However, Bitcoin is taken for granted as freedom due to its decentralized nature and its ability to allow people to store and transfer value without the need for intermediaries or government control.

For example, Gladstein cited examples of people living in disadvantaged communities around the world. She observed that people living under dictatorships and very repressive governments can use Bitcoin to achieve their goals and objectives, regardless of what their government wants to do or what their government says.

"The reason Bitcoin is freedom is that it gives anyone with access to the Internet and we can access those property rights."

Warmke expounded on the idea, suggesting that, like a dandelion flower, Bitcoin is spreading and it's beautiful, but "certain people's preferences for how they think the world should be leads them to want to, you know, kill it." ". In this context, it is the censorship-resistant properties of Bitcoin that contribute to making it a tool for freedom.

You don't need Bitcoin, until you need it

However, for people who don't understand or don't want to understand Bitcoin, then you can't free them. Yan Pritzker addressed this point head on; he talked about his country of origin Ukraine and the answer Bitcoin embodied at the beginning of the war between Ukraine and Russia.

He explained that the Ukrainians “had never heard of Bitcoin, they didn't care about Bitcoin, they didn't need Bitcoin. They were being bombed. So that was not a good time to introduce them to Bitcoin. Right."

“But it turned out that Bitcoin was a great way to make money simply because it was the only thing that worked on a Saturday in the middle of the night. That was the way we were able to send money to Ukraine and then convert it to the local currency and get it to the local currency.”

He also nodded to another of Bitcoin's slogans: "You don't need Bitcoin until you need it." In this case, people who didn't understand or care about Bitcoin suddenly got help from Bitcoin when they needed it most. And as a result, his level of freedom improved thanks to Bitcoin.

Warmke shared that while Bitcoin has excellent money properties, its low penetration in modern society and the fact that it is "not easy to use privately" means that Bitcoin sometimes falls short in real-world situations. take the Canadian trucker protests, in which the money was successfully raised using Bitcoin, but not all was delivered:

“Some of it was confiscated. And part of the reason is that even if you wanted to blame the people who are giving you Bitcoin or who had Bitcoin, then you blame the user.”

It can be extrapolated that for Bitcoin to serve as an absolute tool for economic freedom, it must be used privately. And besides that, it must be used with care and due attention.

In addition, there are “There are not many circular economies yet. So if you really want to spin the bitcoin you receive, it's quite difficult." Bitcoin circular economies describe areas like El Zonte or Bitcoin Beach, El Salvador in which Bitcoin is used almost exclusively, and there is no need to charge in fiat money. Diversions to fiat money could undermine economic freedom, as they expose a weakness for state capture.

Literature

The Three Notable Bitcoin Defenders Bitcoin use case in emerging markets, where Bitcoin adoption is skyrocketing at a possibly faster rate than in the developed world. However, emerging markets are plagued by low levels of literacy and unreliable internet connections. These are significant hurdles to overcome in order to adopt freedom money, as Bitcoin requires the internet and a rudimentary understanding of math and usually English.

Gladstein agreed, explaining: "Bitcoin builds, as you've seen for yourself, on the other internet literacy and access journeys." The Human Rights Foundation CSO explained that the road to literacy and internet access is on a positive growth trend:

“But the good news is that it looks like by the end of this decade, even in countries like Sudan and Senegal, more than half of all people in those countries will be literate and have access to the Internet. access. So I think the potential is quite large to make a difference."

Also, technical advances in Bitcoin Targeted at those living in the developing world they are bringing more and more users online, without using the Internet. For the illiterate, the solution lies with the wallet developers to ensure that users can still use Bitcoin.

But what about the price? The the price per Bitcoin has dropped 70% from their heights. A loss of such extravagant amounts is crippling, not liberating. The philosopher Warmke invited the audience to reduce their time preference and avoid focusing on short-term gains.

"In the long run this [Bitcoin] It's a very, very freedom-enabled thing because it actually gives people that option to have something of their own."

Finally, Warmke also joked that his level of personal freedom has decreased since he became a Bitcoin proponent because he checks the price too much.

Gladstein and Prtizker ended the panel on a sobering note. Gladstein explained that for some people living in authoritarian regimes, Bitcoin “literally means life and death. In some cases, it's literally the only way they can do what they can do." In this context, Pritzker suggested “Spend more time looking at other countries and what is happening there. And I think you will see that Bitcoin is enabling freedom in a big way.”