1/ The birth of Bitcoin: A rebellion against centralized finance
The 2008 financial crisis, with banks issuing loans indiscriminately, and the government printing money madly, led to the depreciation of ordinary people's assets, while Wall Street continued to celebrate. During this time, a white paper (Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System) was quietly published, signed by Satoshi Nakamoto.
2/ The true mission of Bitcoin
🔹 Decentralized finance: Not controlled by the government, anyone can freely store and transfer.
🔹 Anti-inflation: Fixed supply of 21 million coins to avoid the evils of fiat overproduction.
🔹 Freedom and privacy: Anyone can trade globally without the constraints of nations and banks.
3/ Satoshi Nakamoto's signal: Why did he create Bitcoin?
**The Bitcoin Genesis Block** has a line written:
📜 'The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.'
(The Times, January 3, 2009: Chancellor on the brink of second bailout for banks.)
👉 This is the message Satoshi left for the world— the instability of the traditional banking system and the problem of government overprinting currency, which Bitcoin aims to solve, rather than becoming another speculative tool.
4/ Bitcoin vs. the modern crypto market: Have we gone astray?
🔺 2009-2012: Bitcoin was an experiment for geeks, libertarians, and cryptographers.
🔺 2013-2017: Bitcoin was regarded as 'digital gold', and institutions began to take notice.
🔺 2017-2021: Bitcoin became a barometer of the crypto market, but the market was overwhelmed by the frenzy of ICOs, NFTs, DeFi, and Memecoins.
🔺 2024: Bitcoin ETF approved, traditional financial giants enter the market, and what was originally a decentralized asset begins to be influenced by Wall Street.
5/ Historical warnings: Speculative bubbles will eventually burst
📉 1637 Tulip Mania: A single tulip could buy a mansion, but when the bubble burst, countless people lost everything.
📉 1929 U.S. Stock Market Crash: People borrowed crazily to speculate on stocks, ultimately leading to market collapse and the Great Depression.
📉 2000 Internet Bubble: A large number of companies had inflated valuations, ultimately 90% of tech stocks crashed, with only a few survivors like Amazon and Google achieving greatness.
📉 2022 Crypto Market Crash: Giants like LUNA, FTX, 3AC, Celsius fell, tens of billions evaporated, leaving a mess behind.
6/ Bitcoin is not a casino, but a long-term store of value
The true value of Bitcoin is not achieved through 'all-in during bull markets and cutting losses during bear markets', but through:
✅ Long-term holding (HODL) against fiat inflation
✅ Serving as a safe-haven asset during global economic instability
✅ Empower individuals to control their own wealth, rather than handing it over to banks or governments.
7/ Returning to the original intention of Bitcoin
Bitcoin is neither 'the next hundredfold coin' nor 'a short-term speculative tool'. Its birth is a revolutionary asset to counter the traditional financial system, a tool that grants individuals financial freedom. Just like @cz_binance often said in Townhall, freedom of money. Salute ~