Welcome to The Bitcoin Curve
“Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive.” – Andy Grove
Success is a funny thing. It builds our confidence to continue down the path that we are on, but at the same time, it relieves the pressure that pushed us to success in the first place. This pressure release can lead to complacency, and in the face of new and more innovative challenges, we get preverbally punched in the face.
Bitcoin is at risk of the same thing, but not in the way most may think of it. At its core, Bitcoin has been successful as a form of money because of the principles that underpin it and how they were turned into the technical solution we all know. The technology was just the enabler to bring those principles to life that didn’t previously exist (as we know, given the numerous attempts before Bitcoin). We are still beginning this global Bitcoin adoption journey, and plenty of people are actively using it to push against a complacent fiat system to disrupt and eventually replace it.
But is having Bitcoin become the world’s reserve asset and primary form of money the end goal?
That would be a logical conclusion if you consider Bitcoin a blockchain-based technology. But is it just the blockchain? I would argue that it isn’t, and the more critical element of Bitcoin is the hard-coded principles that have made it successful. Otherwise, the broader crypto ecosystem (Ethereum, XRP, Cardano, Solana and others) would be booming. In contrast, we see abundant scams, project collapses, and failures. The next logical question is why?
My thesis and a critical pillar of the intent of this publication is that the principles that underpin Bitcoin have made it successful, not the technology itself. If this thesis holds, then the end goal for Bitcoin is becoming the world’s reserve asset, and our new money is just step one along a much longer path. If it's about Bitcoin’s principles, then this extends to all other facets of our civilisation, such as Education, Healthcare, Engineering, and Government, to name a few.
Complacency in this paradigm is slowing down and stopping at money.
To that end
The Bitcoin Curve’s vision is a global civilisation underpinned by fair and transparent principles.
Our mission is to provide research and insights on how to scale bitcoins principles beyond money.
This publication will define this thesis over the next three months and then apply this framework to other aspects of our civilisation and news. We want to be able to offer an innovative lens on the world through Bitcoin’s eyes and help inspire and inform the next generation of entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs to make this potential future a reality.
The approach will look at the nexus of 3 key concepts being
Bitcoin Principles, Technology Adoption & Public Interest Technologies (PIT).
It will draw from academic principles to ensure that what is produced is well-researched and validated. However, it will balance this with a practical application to ensure that what is written isn’t purely academic but asks how this could be made a reality. The best analogy is that it will be a bridge from the theoretical to the practical.
As a preview of what is to come
April
I will focus on defining Bitcoin's principles. I’ll also contrast this against the rest of the cryptocurrency ecosystem to show how differences in principles leveraging the same fundamental technology can lead to significant variation in outcomes.
May
This month, I will discuss technology adoption. I will examine not just information technologies (IT) but also a much broader view of technologies across human civilisation. I will highlight lessons from history on why and how humans adopted technologies so we understand why some have been successful, and others have not.
June
The final element is Public Interest Technologies (PIT). Some of those who know me know I was undertaking my PhD for about a year. While I had to stop this due to the time pressures of working a full-time job, there was a lot of work I did that opened my eyes to different and valuable concepts. The main one is Public Interest Technologies, which I believe will be a crucial element of my equation.
July Onward
This is where we start to apply this theory to reality. Knowing the details of the above topics is crucial for ensuring that my readers have a firm foundational knowledge. Even if you don’t read all of it upfront, throughout this publication, I will link back to these pieces where we dive into more complex situations that need this detail.
If you have made it to this point, there is a good chance that you are intrigued. If so, you can use the below link to sign up and follow me on this journey
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Thanks in advance, and see you in the following article.