🧘 So what is bitcoin? Reflections from our editorial team
When you once again hear that bitcoin is “changing the financial world”, you can’t help but want to grab a magnifying glass, slide your glasses lower on your nose and ask: and what exactly is it from an economic point of view? Because there is so much noise around it that common sense often gets lost behind the crypto fireworks.
Let’s start with the main point. Bitcoin is not money in the classical sense. It is impossible to use it normally for everyday payments: try buying coffee, bread and utilities with it, and you’ll quickly realize that you’re pushed back to regular currency much faster than your crypto fantasy is satisfied.
It is also not a full-fledged asset that generates cash flow. No dividends, no coupons, no rental payments. It is not a stock, not a bond and not real estate. It is an asset with no internal income, whose price rests entirely on belief.
And finally, bitcoin does not work as a risk-hedging tool. In recent years, its dynamics have been moving almost hand in hand with the shares of companies tied to artificial intelligence, which are currently pulling the market upward. Only bitcoin’s volatility is higher, and its declines are deeper. Not exactly a great umbrella against financial storms.
As for its price, it can swing from almost zero to cosmic millions. And not because of any fundamental factors, but often at the will of a very narrow group of major players. The top 4% of holders control about 97-98% of the entire bitcoin supply. Simply put, this is a market where small players sit at the edge of the table while the grown-up uncles shuffle the deck.
Where is bitcoin actually popular?
If you look at who uses BTC most often, the picture becomes quite clear. It is ideal for hiding financial traces. Anonymous transactions, no paper trail, no link to identity. And yes, transactions don’t have to be illegal, but very many are exactly that.
And anonymity hits both ways. It not only enables committing crimes, but also makes crimes against holders easier. If you have the private key – this magic access code – then the bitcoin is yours. It doesn’t matter whether you got it legally or not. A private key is a digital bag stuffed with hundred-dollar bills. Come, take, leave. Reporting to the police is pointless.
A tool for theft and disappointment
Another unpleasant aspect: bitcoin is increasingly turning into a tool of fraud and bait trapping. Especially when paired with companies that buy crypto with borrowed money and, with burning eyes, talk about their “vision of the future”. Naive investors are sold a dream, with no mention that when the market falls, everything is lost – and quickly.
When the price rises, everyone earns. But when it falls – the drop is not just strong, it collapses like a wardrobe that suddenly lost one of its legs.
Bitcoin as a cult
If bitcoin survived all catastrophes, it certainly wasn’t due to its economic properties. It survived thanks to its cult status. It is not an asset – it is faith.
Every crisis unfolds the same way: the price drops, newcomers panic and flee, while bitcoin “old believers” do the opposite – they buy more. They have done this for many years, and honestly, largely thanks to them, the price keeps recovering again and again. Maybe this time will be the same. But a cult is not an economic strategy, it is a psychological phenomenon.
Bitcoin as a paradise for schemers
The crypto market has become an ideal platform for all sorts of schemes. If you manage to bring a couple of celebrities into such a project – it’s a holiday for everyone except the investors.
A recent example: the “Trump coin” TRUMP. Riding on the wave of a few phrases by the politician, it cost up to 106 dollars, and now hovers around 7. A classic of the genre: during the surge it is bought by “crypto hamsters”, as they are called in professional circles – people from whom commissions and margins are earned.
Bitcoin in this sense has become a sort of Tower of Babel – beautiful, loud, but built on the loose foundation of human hopes.
And finally: is the technology itself bad?
No. Blockchain as an idea is excellent. Tokenization of real assets, digital property registration, supply-chain transparency – these are genuinely useful and promising directions.
But between rational application of the technology and turning bitcoin into an icon of economic alchemy lies a chasm as deep as the Grand Canyon.
To sum up, bitcoin is a mixture of ideology, speculation, anonymity and human psychology. Too many emotions, too little fundamental economics. And in this turbulent mix, everyone sees their own thing: some see a path to freedom, others see a tool for criminals, others see an opportunity to earn, and others see a machine for grinding naive investors.
🔍 And the truth, as always, lies closer to the ground than to the clouds.
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