time to think
slow down
maybe you've heard that it's important to know why things are the way they are. specifically, why was bitcoin created? to avoid the chicken and egg paradox and move forward, let's allow time to think. there's a good chance that the "why" about bitcoin that is settled on today will look very different from the "why" that future generations elucidate.
today's focus is on "how bitcoin interacts" and "why it doesn't it matter why it was created."
you may want to use bitcoin to transfer value because it eliminates the need for middlemen. what do middlemen do? historically, counterparty risk and double-spending attempts have required that third parties act as middlemen for transactions. these middlemen are likely familiar to you: visa, mastercard, wells fargo, deutsche bank, and many more. with middlemen managing the transaction economy, the risk of default and double-spending is distributed and insured against to protect the middlemen who enable people to communicate fiscally (colloquially known as spending money).
middlemen are paid for managing transactions with a fee. this fee is paid by you and the merchant. sometimes you will pay a fee even when you are sending money to yourself! with bitcoin, the same transactions can be sent without middlemen. bitcoin treats every transaction equally, and every payment is peer-to-peer. there are no shortcuts, nor are there extra steps. the costs of sending value over the bitcoin network are balanced with the usage of the network.
today, we ask you to take this time to think about how all of this strikes you so far. most of us have exchanged goods or services for cash, without depending on visa, your bank, or a payment processor. maybe you've assumed that this type of cash transaction cannot happen digitally.
the 450 unique and unaffiliated programmers who joined satoshi nakamoto, the anonymous creator of bitcoin, engineered it to enable users to send secure peer-to-peer communications. it is also auditable in full by any individual. this is one reason why it doesn't matter why bitcoin was created. one can see bitcoin in its entirety and reliably know how it will behave. bitcoin was created such that its creator has no privileges or abilities that you do not have yourself. there are no administrators. you are sovereign.
remember that bitcoin is a combination of technologies, just like a car or a washing machine. this constellation of technologies and human communications (remember that code is language) provides a permissionless, decentralized communications network globally that has garnered quite a bit of value.
bitcoin's code is like a book, and like any implementation of a book, it takes the cooperation of everyone in the network to make the project work. self-help books may only need you and your spouse to cooperate. a clear and informative manual is at the core of most successful businesses. these require the cooperation of business leaders and employees. nations like the united states of america are born on the back of documents like the declaration of independence.
bitcoin is a simple book about decentralized fiscal independence. the knowledge is easy to apply, clearly correct, and sometimes difficult to explain.
the bitcoin book has been 'checked out' and 'saved' by over 100 million people who use the knowledge enclosed to communicate with each other reliably. it's also one of the first books available globally 24/7 via satellite. this enables people without reliable cable internet connections to use bitcoin.
the next step for entrenched members of the bitcoin community is to move your bitcoin value off strike and into a wallet. tomorrow's email will guide you through that process. currently, strike holds your bitcoin in a digital wallet and gives you access to that wallet. once you have your own wallet, you can take your bitcoin out of strike and into your own custody. you can think of strike as a 'checking account' and your own wallet as a 'savings account'.
a 'seed phrase' or 'recovery seed phrase' is created first. the 'seed phrase' is a series of words that can be used to recover your bitcoin value held in your personal wallet. you could forget everything you know about bitcoin, go off the grid for a decade, and return to use this seed phrase to recover all of the bitcoin in your wallet. this reliability depends on good practices in wallet creation. the most important thing to do is ensure that the 'seed phrase' is created and stored safely and securely.
this phrase can be stored on a steel plate and passed down for generations or written on a piece of paper and lost in a tragic boating accident. please think about how to securely record and store your first seed phrase. a physical copy is highly recommended. a private notebook will suffice. should you decide to store a significant amount of your savings with bitcoin, you should consider a steel plate from coinkite or a copper sheet from copperseedsafe to store your seed phrase.
