On the main stage of Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville, Donald Trump, former and presidential candidate, did what every politician does in a spectacular way: make promises that make us dream and give us assurances that we'd like to believe will favor our personal economy.
Those who have tried to distance themselves from politics by saying things like bitcoin is not a tool for politicians, bitcoin should not be mixed with politics among many other assertions, have forgotten the political nature of the internet, as Tim Berners-Lee once stated, which we need to regain control of.
We must not be indifferent to the wave of legal attacks on bitcoin which, if you ask me today, does not pose any threat as long as a block can be confirmed on average every 10 minutes, we will be fine. Even so, those of us who wish for a healthy alternative to the financial system to be integrated into everyday life cannot simply run from this challenge and say: this does not concern us, bitcoin is a tool for everyone and politicians will not help us.
But they will not help us
Really, no. A politician with their legislation cannot stop the next block from being mined but can make your life a nightmare and discourage usage through a set of legal tools that disincentivize. Not everyone has the fortitude (yours and mine) to take political hits and keep using a tool for good. Also, consider that the needs of the South are not the same as those of the North, and economic realities dictate different measures for each.
But when a politician speaks openly about bitcoin, the greatest responsibility is to hold them accountable for their words.
What can I do?
First and foremost: run your own node, do small-scale mining (if you can), and accept bitcoin in your daily life. Optionally and additionally, keep the pressure on politicians, hold them accountable for their words, and talk to your representative even if you are not from the USA. In Paraguay, where I currently am, there is an illogical persecution of miners by the electrical administration. Don't like it? Well, if you do the first things, you're already in tune.
And if I want to do more?
Bitcoin needs to attract a lot. Today it already does but the hands are insufficient, not because there are no interested parties but because there is a lot to do. Above all, let's take these political events as a bullish scenario. Ten years ago, I got excited if Bill Gates or Branson uttered the word bitcoin, today we are already expectant and in another scenario where we are seeing the political consequences.
Bullish for bitcoin frens