“Is Bitcoin going to replace money itself? Does it want to be the world’s one unit of currency?”
I respond to people who ask me this by saying, “Did Credit Cards take over fiat (paper) currency?” The answer is always, “No, but…”
There’s a “but,” and that word draws significant implications. It does not replace or out-date currency nor make it obsolete. BUT it appends to it as a form of functionality improvement.
Bitcoin was not created by Satoshi Nakamoto to be a replacement; it was made to be a vehicle of value. Not only is it a method of transfer; it can be used as a currency itself. Not only can it be used, it can be transferred nearly instantly. Not only that, it is significantly cheaper to transfer than the commonly used methods today.
Bitcoin, and other major cryptocurrencies, are a sort of evolutionary add-on to currency as we know it. Nothing will replace the dollar, or the fabled, “Gold Standard,” or the British Pound. But things might absorb its value and express it in unique and unheard of ways.
Bitcoin is a future-like expression of currency. It’s decentralized; this means no single person nor organization has full control over it. It’s anonymous; this means that Big Brother can’t easily track your transfers (unless of course you make it easy for them). It’s fungible; this means that you can break it down into smaller parts (down to 1/100,000,00). You can own 0.00000001 Bitcoin and say you own Bitcoin. (Well, technically, a satoshi – the smallest unit of measuring this digital coin.)
It was created to meet many demands whose solutions are not so prevalent. The world of finance is as outdated as AOL Internet On CD (Only 90’s Kids Remember). It needs upgrading. Bitcoin provides the very upgrades to currency that most didn’t even realize it needed. It’s like looking at a picture of yourself in High School wearing JNCO jeans. Yea, you get it. (To be honest, I still think they’re cool.)
If you choose to invest in Bitcoin, you choose to invest in an ideal of the future. By owning a portion of a Bitcoin you are casting a vote: “The future of currency begins with me.” You’re effectively saying NO to the starchy banking companies and credit card companies and the money transfer companies who are in it solely for profit, not progress.
When you invest in Bitcoin you’re practically increasing a demand for a form of instant & anonymous wealth transfer that most governments don’t want you to have access to. By purchasing just a little Bitcoin you’re putting fire under the asses of the suits who want the few to have control of the majority.
Bitcoin is literally this generation’s most sophisticated, respectable, well-coordinated, and technical way of shifting the control of financial power (when it comes to both purchase-power and money transfer) into the hands of those who use their brains not their bailouts.
But you don’t have to invest. You can sit aside and watch this happen with some popcorn. But, I guarantee you, you’ll be wondering, “What if?” Follow that question.
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