Bitcoin has the power to create a better tomorrow
Bitcoin is 13 years old this week. In this relatively short time period, the world’s largest cryptocurrency has become an increasingly mainstream part of the global financial system.
It continues to outperform stocks and gold, it is growing in popularity with both institutional and retail investors, an, last year it even became legal tender in one Central American country, with other nations set to follow suit in 2022, according to experts.
However, Bitcoin is not only proving to offer typically great returns on investments. It’s doing so much more than that.
It is, I believe, also a force for social good as it can offer a way out of both financial and political repression.
It is estimated that more than one billion people live in countries that are suffering from out-of-control inflation, where the money they earn depreciates fast against the goods and services they need to buy.
With their wages disappearing perhaps over a matter of months, many will be forced into poverty – something which they and their loved ones may never be able to escape.
But Bitcoin can offer a ‘get-out’ for those whose national currency is plummeting in value in this way.
A shield against hyperinflation
It’s a deflationary asset, which is why those in countries with depreciating currencies are increasingly using it as a store of value to shield against hyperinflation and soaring living costs.
Unlike traditional currencies, Bitcoin’s value cannot be manipulated by tweaking interest rates and ramping up the printing of money.
Also, critically, its supply can never exceed 21 million which makes it a very appealing, inflation-resistant store of value. In short, it’s almost devaluation-proof.
In addition to the financial freedom it can provide, Bitcoin can also serve those who face political suppression.
There are countless examples around the world where those who are dissenting against ruling authoritarian regimes have their accounts shuttered and/or funds stolen. This means they are then trapped, possibly forever
This is where Bitcoin can play a hugely beneficial role as they can receive and send it safely, securely, without censorship.
It is a revolutionary system – hugely different from the centralised one – as it permits anybody, anywhere, regardless of their political beliefs, nationality, ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexuality, the same level playing field. It can’t discriminate. All you need is internet access.
This is helping not only the politically repressed, but the 1.7 billion global ‘unbanked’ population. That’s almost two billion people worldwide who cannot access financial services because their data is not held on ‘traditional’ sources, largely due to legacy biases. Again, Bitcoin cannot discriminate on this.
Giving people the same access that many of us take for granted will only result in a better society for us all.
Bitcoin has the potential to make a real difference to billions of people around the world by giving them enhanced financial and political freedom.
It has the power to create a better tomorrow.