TD₿: What are the Key Properties of Bitcoin? by Jameson Lopp
TL;DR Of all the fundamental properties of Bitcoin, its trustlessness may be the most important.
Hey Bitcoiners,
As I look at the traditional financial system faltering before our eyes, I’m reminded of all the trust that’s required to make it work.
What we’re really witnessing of late is the breakdown of trust between countries, between institutions, and between individuals and institutions.
The US and Europe both trusted Russia for its commodity exports, and Russia trusted that the US would not weaponize the US dollar and seize its FX reserves. Both countries broke these unwritten rules and have acted out of self-interest at the detriment of the entire system.
Like Satoshi said long ago, the fundamental root problem with the traditional financial is the trust that’s required to make it all work. Trust is fragile, trust is fleeting.
Bitcoin is a new system that minimizes the amount of trust that’s required to make it work creating a much more resilient monetary system.
Jameson Lopp wrote a good overview of Bitcoin’s trustlessness and the various properties it enables in this article (01/03/2020).
In Bitcoin — we do not trust, we verify.
Tick tock next block,
Cory Klippsten
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Quote of the Day
“Bitcoin seeks to address the root problem with conventional currency: all the trust that’s required to make it work . Not that justified trust is a bad thing, but trust makes systems brittle, opaque, and costly to operate. Trust failures result in systemic collapses.” - Gregory Maxwell, Bitcoin Core Developer
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