The final difficulty adjustment of this epoch has just occurred. The time of #Bitcoin's #halving draweth nigh!
You can still get your hands on multiple copies of โ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ค๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐โ, though! Whether itโs hardcover, softcover, digital, or audiobook, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ.
We curated the top 21 questions that those new to Bitcoin tend to ask, then reached out to some of the most well-known Bitcoiners, like @Guy Swann, @CARLAโก๏ธ and @walker, @Samson Mow, and others, and we asked each of them to answer a few of those questions. Additionally, the Spirit of Satoshi language model offers its own answer to each question at the end of every chapter.
Weโre in a race against centralized and absolute control of our daily lives on a global scale, and ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ต-๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ต๐ค๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ถ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ. Preorder yours today through our @Geyser page, and ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ฌ% on the total price!
Well, we ๐ด๐ข๐บ that today is Satoshiโs birthday only because this is the date he gave for his birth when he created his profile on the P2P Foundation.
Is it ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ his birthday? Perhaps not, but the date does carry with it some fascinating significance.
If today is actually not his birthday, then Satoshi Nakamoto likely chose this date for a couple reasons. ๐ฑ ๐๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐น marks the anniversary of when the United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102, in 1933, which prohibited the hoarding of gold by U.S. citizens.
This action essentially ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ง๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ gold from the general population, and centralized monetary control with the federal government. This event is symbolic of the kind of government overreach and control over money that #Bitcoin seeks to replace by ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ-๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ญ๐ต๐ณ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ด๐ผ๐น๐ฑ. The ban on gold ownership was lifted on December 31, 1974, effectively allowing citizens to once again own and trade gold as of January 1, 1975. This moment symbolized a return to a ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ of financial freedom and control over one's assets.
Satoshi Nakamoto's choice of this particular date for his pseudonymous birthday, therefore, can be seen as a profound statement on ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ต๐บ and ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ช๐ต๐ค๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ.
If Satoshi was actually born that day, then ๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐. So let us all wish Satoshi a very happy birthday, wherever he is, whoever he is, and regardless of whether or not today is really his birthday.๐
You are sadly mistaken.
#Bitcoin is not a number on a postit or on anything else; ๐ถ๐'๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฟ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ป. These rules involve a type of mathematical function known as ๐ค๐ณ๐บ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฉ๐บ, which is easy to solve in one direction, but impossible to solve in the other direction without a brute force guess-and-check. This brute force requires ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น-๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐ ๐ฒ๐
๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ, in much the same way that mining gold does, which is why Bitcoin's hashing process has been likened to actual mining.
In this way, Bitcoin relies on 3 things to function: ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ of its users abiding by its rules, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐ of cryptography, and ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐ต๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ in its use of energy. Bitcoin cannot break or neglect these 3 pillars, and ๐ข๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ 3 ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ด๐ต, ๐๐ช๐ต๐ค๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ.
You said that "๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐บ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ." This was also the case with gold, when it was first monetizing thousands of years ago, and is an example of the game theory mentioned above. Like Bitcoin, gold is also built on the 3 pillars of game theory, math (on a quantum level), and physics in order to continue to exist. However, ๐๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ด๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐.
It's often said that gold has "intrinsic value", but in reality, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ด ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ถ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ช๐ต๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง. Value, by definition, ๐บ๐๐๐ come from a beholder who wants something, and sees a means to achieve their desires in the thing they're beholding. Gold's apparent scarcity, durability, beauty and other attributes led to it being valued by anyone who wanted their money to not be easily debased or destroyed, and wanted it to look nice, too.
Gold's beauty may be one of its only advantages over Bitcoin's invisibility (though that invisibility is often an advantage over gold's confiscatability). Bitcoin's many attributes include being:
- ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ (unlike gold, which exists in unknown quantities on Earth, practically infinite quantities throughout the universe, and increases in supply when it increases in price)
- ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ (Bitcoin is made of information, so every additional copy of its code make it more durable)
- ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐น๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ (infinitely divisible, if needed, unlike gold, which is very difficult to divide, and can only be divided down to the atomic level)
- ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ over ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ communications medium (unlike gold, which is very difficult to transport)
- ๐ฒ๐
๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ ๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ (unlike gold, which often has minor impurities)
- easily ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ and ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ (unlike gold, which has often been faked and is difficult to verify)
- as ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ and ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป as writing down or memorizing 12 words (unlike gold, which is difficult to store and easy to confiscate)
- ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ (as good as Bitcoin's qualities are today, it will always be improvable, unlike gold, which will forever be merely a metal with an atomic number of 79)
๐๐ป๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป, and see why it's superior to all other forms of money, including gold. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ may see more value in a substance that has an ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ and ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ supply, that ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ when it rises in price, that is ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต, that is often ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ, that is ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ฆ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ and ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ง๐บ, and that is difficult to store and ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ง๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ฆ.
If so, then you will value gold more than bitcoin, and that is your right. But ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐น๐๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ด๐ผ๐น๐ฑ, for the tangible advantages it brings to the ways they save and exchange the fruits of their labors. But like the Chinese who, over a century ago, valued silver more than gold, and were left behind by a world that valued gold more than silver, ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐น๐ฒ๐ณ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐น๐ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ด๐ผ๐น๐ฑ or anything else that can be used as money.
