This is an editorial by Mickey Coss, a graduate of West Point University with a degree in Economics. In the infantry he spent four years before transferring to the Treasury Corps.
While discussing Bitcoin’s blind spots with another Bitcoin Magazine contributor, the lack of boundaries between Bitcoin’s assets, protocol, and network is one of the most prominent problems hindering greater adoption. Agreed that it could be
The blind spot I want to address has to do with the 21 million hard cap meme which is actually a rounding error. I get it; it’s catchy and useful, as most memes are, but in a way I think it’s actually holding Bitcoin back.
The Bitcoin network applies the Bitcoin standard to Bitcoin assets.Hardcap is actually 20,999,999.9769 21 million is the upper limit of the formula, not the maximum value itself. Note all decimal points. As most people know, satoshi (sat) is the smallest unit of Bitcoin, 0.00000001 BTC.
Come to think of it, if bitcoin is divisible and satoshi is not, why isn’t the bitcoin network enforcing a hard cap on satoshi? The bitcoin protocol only deals with whole satoshi units, not fractions. Seen through that divisible lens, it’s always been Satoshi.
There are two effects of this particular blind spot that I see. First, it allows sitcoiners to take advantage of unit bias, discouraging potential adopters from even trying to jump on a life raft. Second, as the Bitcoin network slowly moves toward becoming the world’s reserve currency, it prolongs the transition from a speculative store of value to a unit of account.
Bias in Bitcoin units fuels shitcoin mania
20,999,999.9769 BTC or 2,099,999,997,690,000 Satoshi. The 21 million hard cap is good for memes and advertising. Concise and mostly accurate.
But the hard truth is that Bitcoin isn’t enough to circulate. That’s more than that. Plus, the 5-figure USD price turns off quickly for the novice but curious. We’ve all heard it before:
Bitcoin is too expensive.
“I can’t afford a full bitcoin.”
Why buy bitcoin when you can buy 1000 x shitcoins for the same price?
Unit bias is a big problem. I love how altcoin marketers use it to lure newbies into forking their hard-earned life energy.
If bitcoin exchanges such as River, Swan, and Strike start pricing BTC on Satoshi’s terms as a standard instead of an option, it could possibly help pressure other exchanges to change their standards as well. there is. Bitcoin maximalists could start to take power away from hated altcoin grifters.
Know your enemies and fight them with unique tricks.
Why would you want to buy shitcoin X when you can get 4,300 sats for $1!
there. That’s better.
Satoshis are units of account
That will be .00001250 BTC.
It doesn’t make much sense intuitively. A decimal point with many zeros doesn’t really roll off the tongue. It also drives him, Fractional Stock, one of the worst phrases a beginner can utter.
People don’t understand Bitcoin as a currency story. Because he only sees big 5 digits in the overall price of bitcoin. How the hell are you going to pay for that big $20,000 old hunk?
People see it as a nugget of gold. An unattainable goal they missed the boat. I realize we don’t have a marketing department, but I think we can do better than this.
Bitcoin is a meter. satoshi is micrometers. The satoshi standard transitions Bitcoin to a monetary metric system and standardizes value measurement into a simpler and easier to understand system. Even better, it’s a more stable system than fiat money because no one is arbitrarily manipulating the dollar supply.
By moving to the Satoshi standard, we are able to strengthen the Bitcoin-based idea of account accounts by moving Bitcoin to a currency metric system. Slowly but surely they will begin to see the value of having a hard-capped currency supply that no one can mess with. Businesses start demanding it.
There are only 2,099,999,997,690,000 satoshis on this planet, about 8 billion, so only 262,000 satoshis per person. We recommend starting stacking.
Bitcoin The Monetary Network, Satoshi The Monetary Asset
Bitcoin is not an investment. Bitcoin is not a stock. There are no earnings expectations based on the business strategy of the CEO and Board of Directors. Bitcoin is basically a savings technology. Permissionless peer-to-peer network of value. Bitcoin is a currency network.
A monetary asset, Satoshi is a way of preserving your wealth, your life energy, so that over the years the value does not slowly drain into a hidden inflation tax.
With the current pricing structure, 1 BTC is an ambitious but currently unattainable goal for most people. At best, the Bitcoin standard is allowing shitcoiners to take advantage of newbies as it is a deceptively cheap option. At worst, it prolongs the transition to a globally recognized unit of account.
We need to make Bitcoin easy for the average person to understand. To facilitate its use as a unit of account, Bitcoin must be assembled in a different way. Through reframing and rebranding to Satoshi’s standards, the currency network Bitcoin does what it does best: it becomes more pervasive, denying lies and shining the light of truth on the world.
Life rafts cannot save everyone and many continue to vilify the Bitcoin network as a Ponzi scheme and fraudulent activity. But by making Bitcoin easier to understand, and making satoshi easier to understand, countless people can save themselves from something so obvious to us.
Thanks to Mark Mariah for his help.
This is a guest post by Mickey Koss. Opinions expressed are entirely his own and do not necessarily reflect those of his BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.