Many people don't fully understand why cryptocurrency is important. Sure, it provides lower transaction fees, doesn't require paying the fees associated with financial institutions, and decentralization is a nice concept.. but is it really enough to convince people to invest their hard earned money into buying a new currency that requires learning to use? Yes, but only once they truly understand why cryptocurrency is important.
While cryptocurrency started out as a movement, the message has since become muddled. Only when we can return to the original message and adopt a cryptocurrency that can make it real, can we truly change the world.
Satoshi Nakamoto's Goals
Let's start with the goal Satoshi Nakamoto had in mind when he launched Bitcoin. The first sentence of the Bitcoin whitepaper is:
"A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution."
Peer-to-Peer: Power to the People
The first part of the cryptocurrency movement is to give people the power to control the currency themselves. The people must be able to choose the rules the currency follows, such as the distribution, transaction fees, amount of inflation, etc. Someday people will see this very much like the movement of going from Kings and Dictators to Democracy.
The way cryptocurrency intends to accomplish this is to decentralize the currency, taking the power out of the hands of the financial institutions and other centralized sources of power and giving it to the people. The problem is that no cryptocurrency has managed to truly and provably decentralize themselves they've just shifted to essentially using different bankers. This is the biggest problem our own cryptocurrency, Frink, is focused on solving.
By putting this in the hands of the people, cryptocurrency ensures that the rules of the currency are aligned with the best interests of the people. Not the best interests of the biggest financial institutions that make roughly $1000 per year off of their average customer.
Electronic Cash: Free, Private, and Convenient to spend
Many people use cash either because transaction fees are free or because their transactions are private. But cash isn't nearly as convenient as digital payments or credit cards. Cryptocurrencies can achieve all of these simultaneously.
Send Directly Between Two Parties: True Financial Freedom
Did you know the government has the power to freeze your bank account? Imagine the next Hitler gets into power and decides that he want to target people of your nationality, race, religion, or sexual orientation. What is an awfully convenient way to weaken your efforts to fight back? Freeze your bank account. Think about it, cryptocurrencies could literally prevent the next Hitler.
And if you want further proof this is an issue, there are many examples of occasions where the party in power freezes bank accounts for political purposes:
Argentina government froze the accounts of millions of citizens ( source )
Greece froze the bank accounts of its citizens during the financial crisis even taking money from those accounts, as a convenient way to pay their debt! ( source )
Zimbabwe added a strict, tiny bank account withdrawal limit during hyperinflation ( source )
BBVA, a the 2nd largest bank in Spain, froze the accounts of many Chinese ( source )
Israel froze the accounts of all Palestinians ( source )
JPMorgan Chase accused of freezing accounts of activists they don't support ( source )
More example exist.. are you next?
Spread the word
Understand why cryptocurrency is important? Please like and share this post with others.
Also, please be sure you check out our own cryptocurrency, Frink. Most cryptocurrencies have ended up being centralized into the hands of a few individuals preventing them from truly delivering on these promises. Frink is building the first cryptocurrency that gives every user the ability to have their equal say, guaranteeing the people remain in control of the financial system.