Hi everyone, I'm new to steemit, but I wanted to be apart of this community. I've loved and learned so much from what I've read on this site. The one question I had before I entered the crypto space was, what makes bitcoin a legitimate currency? And what makes it better than a physical wealth such as gold or silver?
Henry Ford once said, "It is well that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning."
The revolution has started. Our current monetary system is broken due to lack of real backup. We have been living without a gold standard, gold and silver backed certificates. Therefore, money becomes an illusion or an idea. It's just green pieces of paper that all of us agree is worth something.
Is gold not worth as much as we thought?
Why is gold so valuable? Not because it is the most used. The most used in fact are copper, iron, titanium, aluminum and zinc.
One thing central banks try to do with gold is inflate the price by saying it is a rare commodity. This however proves to be somewhat false with the case involving Deutsche Bank. They conspired with 5 other large scale banks including Bank of Nova Scotia, Barclays Bank plc, HSBC Bank plc, Société Générale SA, and The London Gold Market Fixing Limited. HSBC and Nova Scotia were along with Deutsche bank as well on the manipulating of the Silver prices. If banks have to manipulate a metal, that has to mean it is much less valuable and less rare than it seems. It also means it is not as safe for us to hold it if it is so manipulated. Less of a supply would mean more value as we can easily see with bitcoin. With gold, this is not the case.
Another problem I see with only holding gold and not moving into the crypto space is what we've seen from the past. In the Great Depression, FDR made gold ownership illegal and told everybody to turn in their gold for a government set price. If they did not, they were forced to pay a fine of up to $10,000 and/or go to prison for up to 10 years. Despite this, it is still surprising that so many complied. He did so to fund his program to print more money and pour more wealth into the economy. His plan failed. If gold confiscation were to happen again, for whatever reason, what would we as a people be able to do with our gold?
I am not trying to bash on gold. I'm actually a huge gold enthusiast. The problem is, some people try to push gold and other precious metals saying they are the only type currency of real value and that none else should be owned. This argument could be true, except for the fact that we are now moving into a new age of technology. Currency in fact, is what we perceive to be valuable. Cigarettes are used as a currency in prison. Hershey bars were often used as a currency in WWII. Bafia potato mashers were a form of ancient currency used where the country of Cameroon is today. Bitcoin is not a traditional currency, but behind the blockchain, it has real value and innovation behind it.
Big banks and governments try to warn everyone against bitcoin and other altcoins saying how they are only used for evil or how they are too volatile. Bitcoin threatens the industry of banking and this is why they dismiss everything bitcoin brings to the table, which is inherently good. Sounds a lot like how Edison dismissed Tesla's A/C electricity saying how volatile and dangerous it was to use. Today it is used everywhere along with D/C.
The truth is, bitcoin will continue to grow in value. Nothing can stop it. Currency is seeing a change and adoption is growing. As people start to understand for themselves Henry Ford's words, more and more people will flood the space seeking refuge from the dying dollar. Eventually, through pure curiosity or possibly necessity, more will come to the crypto world and learn how great bitcoin is and what the blockchain is all about. They will start to realize how much good it can do for them and the world, just as I did. Bitcoin will meet challenges the same as anything new, but no matter what the governments or central banks will say, this currency will maintain the steady growth it has had since it's start.