What You Don't Understand About the Bitcoin Explosion

By now your feed is absolutely filled with Bitcoin. All of a sudden the “experts” are coming out of the woodwork. A bunch of people are offering courses. And there’s talk about the “bubble.”

I’m going to attempt to explain what is happening from a layman’s point-of-view. I don’t know much, but I know the future when I see it. I’ve built my entire career on being first or early to the game. So forgive me if I get it somewhat wrong, but this is what I believe is taking place.

The first thing you need to understand is that what’s happening is NOT about the price of Bitcoin. Sure, Bitcoin $10,000 is all over the news. There are scammy-sounding network marketing organizations capitalizing on people’s FOMO and greed. There are pumping and dumping operations and some coin offerings that are pure scams.

But this is all noise. Here’s what you really need to understand.

The world’s financial systems are broken. The US dollar goes down in value every year. The centralized banking systems put people at the mercy of their high fees and antiquated processes. Trust in the systems of the world, be they political or financial, is at an all-time low.

When Satoshi Nakomoto released the now infamous Bitcoin whitepaper in October 2008, he proposed a new form of currency that be decentralized, meaning no one had control over it. It would be peer-to-peer, meaning anyone could send money quickly and easily without incurring ridiculous fees. It would be anonymous, meaning no one could stick their nose into your personal business. And it would be trustworthy, meaning the ledger created by the blockchain technology that Bitcoin was built on would be without error.

Without explaining exactly how Bitcoin works, I want to focus on the real key word in the above paragraph.

It’s not Bitcoin. It’s not money. It’s not currency.

The word is BLOCKCHAIN. And it is the reason that Bitcoin is soaring, and that the cryptocurrency market cap currently exceeds $315 BILLION dollars (more than the value of Disney, Wal-Mart and VISA).

In 1993, a web browser was created that changed how we would access information… forever.

In 1997, a company dared take on Blockbuster Video by creating an easier way to rent movies, and eventually pivoted to the leading streaming service they are today.

In 2007, a smartphone was created that seized the market from Nokia and transformed the way we consume information.

And in 2008, an idea was proposed that would forever alter not only how we make purchases, but how we manage contracts of every kind.

You see, regardless of what happens to Bitcoin (bubble be damned), Blockchain is a revolutionary technology that is here to stay. And it is getting ready to disrupt just about every industry you can name. Yes, even your industry.

Is Bitcoin like the tulip craze? Could there be a more asinine question? Flowers vs. revolutionary technology. Hmmm… can you spot the difference?

Has Bitcoin risen ridiculous fast? Yes, there’s no question.

Will there be a pullback? There HAS to be. Gravity says so.

But here’s what’s different about Bitcoin. There are only 21 million of them… ever. Period.

17 million of them are currently in circulation. The other 4 million will slowly come into circulation over the next 120 years. (Yes, you read that right.)

Of the 17 million in circulation, it is estimated that at least 4 million are lost forever. It’s also believed that the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto owns up to a million of them.

That means only 12 million Bitcoin are actually in circulation.

How much printed money is out there? It’s a seemingly endless supply. It’s not hard to come by. It’s not scarce, and the government prints more whenever they feel like it.

Huh. How about that.

Even so, it’s NOT about Bitcoin. It’s about Blockchain, the technology which makes Bitcoin possible.

I’m not a financial analyst or a financial advisor, but I am a futurist. And I can clearly see that there is a revolution taking place right before our eyes.

Blockbuster didn’t see Netflix coming.

Nokia didn’t see Apple coming.

Sears didn’t see Amazon coming.

The world doesn’t see blockchain coming. But it’s here, and it’s not going away.

Bitcoin is now all over the news. Thursday night it hits the mainstream as an episode of The Big Bang Theory will introduce the concept to millions more people. (I'm sure the episode will be stupid because it's a stupid show.)

But the fact is we are at the beginning of the technology adoption curve and over the next ten years we are going to see a transformation of tech that is going to make the smartphone revolution look like a hop from writing with pens to using a typewriter.

Buy Bitcoin or don’t buy Bitcoin. It doesn’t matter. What DOES matter is Blockchain.

Pay attention, whatever your industry may be. If you can’t see how Blockchain WILL disrupt your industry, allow me to introduce you to the executive team at Blockbuster, Nokia and Sears. You’ll be in good company.

Blockchain, my friends. Blockchain.

(Please share this post wherever you like if it would be helpful for your friends and family to read!)

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The cryptocurrency show I host with Travis Wright is called The Bad Crypto Podcast. We are around #30 in all business shows on iTunes, and also available on Stitcher Radio, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Google Play and other places. I invite you to listen and go down the rabbit hole with us!