0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Michelson_Morley 23 Oct 2023 \ on: Bitcoin bitcoin
Oh you'd be surprised.. And blockchain data is certainly far more tangible than fiat money. You can burn a dollar bill, delete a database entry for an account that you don't even own. But while you can burn bitcoin (making a transaction conditioned by a script that cannot be solved), you can only burn your own bitcoin.
You can't actually send btc peer to peer, either, you shout out your wished transaction and eventually it is included in a block, in enough blocks that it can be considered complete. Cash can be given peer to peer. Same for transaction times, crypto necessarily is slower than centralized currency.
Anonymity is controversial as well. Even pseudonymity. All that is needed is a single point where you transacted btc from a doxxed address, and then you're in trouble. Cash can be given anonymously.
What you are right about is the true point of blockchain currency: Trustlessness. If you know the private key of an account with currency, then you truly own that currency. No one can take it, no one can print more of it (stealing from you by way of inflation).
Bitcoin is gold, that is less heavy to carry around. Gold is too heavy, so you need to give it to trusted people (who give you receipts), then you use the receipts instead of the gold. But then the "trusted" begin printing receipts for gold that doesn't exist.. Bitcoin solves this.
Its value comes from the same mechanism all things are valued: People pay great amounts to get it. Why do they do that? Who knows. But the stability and trustless nature of the currency is certainly a factor.