50 sats \ 0 replies \ @mallardshead 10 Sep 2023 \ on: Is Bitcoin a weapon? bitcoin
Debt traps, currency manipulation, sanctions, seizure, bribery, economic coercion...these I'd describe as actions that weaponize money, made possible by centralization, which bitcoin mostly does away with via decentralization that separates money from state, and what we traditionally view as a court is represented by the protocol which enforces the fixed rules without question, without permission, without impairment, and with transaction finality.
Obviating the conceptual stuff, bitcoin is:
open source software arranged to make a decentralized protocol, which uses a digital asset on a transparent payment network.
My personal view is that bitcoin is decentralized money, with fixed monetary properties, and fixed liberties. They're related, but not the same. It's how bitcoin (the protocol) manages their relationship that makes it so special.
Can it be weaponized? Sure, not your keys, not your coins. But a choice now exists. That's the important part.
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