Why you should care about bitcoin

Bitcoin is a fascinating new invention. People either love it or dismiss it as a fad. Some people get caught up in the technical wizardry of the blockchain or 51% attacks. While others talk about how it's a super asset being both a store of value and a currency.

Trade and exchange lies as a cornerstone of modern society. Without trade, we would literally be living in caves, we have been trading in the same way for hundreds of years using stones and shells. Bitcoin is an important re-imaging of money for the digital age it's money 2.0. However reinventing money is actually not why it’s so important, the picture is much broader.

Viva revolution!
Understanding what's really significant about bitcoin should be framed from a historical perspective. Many of the great revolutions, French, Spanish and others were in effect a shift in power from the ruling few to the masses. Over history there has been a gradual ongoing erosion of central control, giving people ever more freedom; of expression, of movement and ownership.

If we agree a significant tool in wielding global power is held by governments through controlling money supply. Bitcoin provides an interesting alternative where the power that central governments hold is released into a very wide spectrum of society. Literally every person in the world could have a vote in how the world is run rather than a few policy makers behind closed doors.

Devolution of power
This global devolution of power is fascinating. It has no precedent. How will large economies enforce competitive trade restrictions, how will central banks enforce exchange controls? How will organisations like the IMF and others exert influence and shape government policy?

One thing is certain like social media and the Internet before it, bitcoin is changing the world we live in for better or for worse. Global trade and exchange is changing and pulling everyone along with it.

This key shift of power explains why Governments are struggling with legislation to deal with bitcoin because it's changing the entire paradigm of money and supply and no one knows exactly how it’s going to change the world. Perhaps the entire notion of central monetary supply and control is already obsolete; we just don't realise it yet.

Inspiring fanaticism
We are in the beginnings of an unstoppable global revolution that will touch every person on the planet. This shift in power is why bitcoin believers are so fanatical, because they believe in a cause far beyond themselves, far more important than personal gain. They believe in a new world where people have more freedom and ever increasing self-determination and Bitcoin will form the cornerstone of this brave new world.