Hi Ginsberg, thanks for the reply.
Bitcoin is decentralized in the protocol, the network, and the governance. But this is also a free market and if those wealthy institutions choose to spend it in bitcoin so be it. The rich will always be rich but this doesn’t stop you or me from buying bitcoin now and maybe become wealthy in the process. What do you propose, limit the number of coins that can be bought to one per person so it can be more decentralized?
Despite this inequality, bitcoin remains the biggest redistribution of wealth in history. Don’t worry about how much Microstrategy gets, worry about how much you can stack.
Bitcoin is still in its early days, this is a long process that will take decades. So far, the biggest use has been as a store of value and that’s already pretty good. Just now is starting to be used as a medium of exchange (currency) and eventually it will be a unit of account.
How could it be used as a currency? By paying with it through the lighting network and a personal wallet. This is already happening in many places with El Salvador being the most noticeable. It is legal tender and it is a currency.
But a currency doesn’t have to have the backing of the government, this is what we got wrong with Fiat. It only takes two people willing to transact in bitcoin and for them, it is a valid currency. Cigarettes are a currency in prison for example.
Many countries like Nigeria, Vietnam, or Pakistan have started using BTC unofficially because it’s much better than their debasing currencies. Even if it’s banned, it can still be used. Everything is peer to peer and away from the hands of the government.
To become a reserve currency, it will take longer though. This has to be decided by the G7 and they are still desperately trying to hang on to fiat. But let’s face it, the dollar is not such a great asset so it won’t be long until some nations start trading among them in BTC. In 20 years, bitcoin could become the world’s de facto currency if nothing else due to the lack of valid competition.
As you said, nobody knows the future but we do know the past, and fiat currencies have not been very resilient so far.
All the best
