People Ask Me What’s Happening with Bitcoin. Here’s Why I’m Dreaming Bigger.

Recently, my family and I went to an IMAX theater and my older daughter got to select the movie. She chose Dream Big, which turned out to be an amazing choice. If you are a parent and have not seen the movie yet, it is one of the best documentary films you will ever see. Civil engineers are the heroes and heroines who will give your kids fresh inspiration as they think ahead to future careers.

The movie profiles several engineers as they dream and design structures that save lives and solve real human problems. These include earthquake-safe buildings, bridges that span rivers, and underwater robots. The movie encourages children to think big and aim high, all the while appreciating the basic building blocks that education provides.

Here is the trailer (narrated by The Dude - can't beat that):

And it works. My kids left the movie realizing why they study so much math and science. For several days afterwards, they were building more patiently with LEGOs than I’d seen them do before. Without any help from me, they also made a functioning model car from a kit. And the two of them were working on these projects together as a team for hours at a time, which is far better than the fighting that often occurs. Given the timing, I attribute a lot of this to the movie.

I had a different reaction to Dream Big. I went home and sold all my Bitcoin.

Now you’re wondering two things. (1) What do I know about Bitcoin that you don’t? And (2) What did I put that money in, if not Bitcoin? But if you’re looking for technical analysis or inside information for short term gain, then you can close this post right now, because that isn’t me. I have much deeper reasons and I tend to think longer term than many people who invest in cryptocurrencies. I don’t care about next week; I’m thinking about next year.

I have been inspired to think bigger than Bitcoin. The bottom line is that Bitcoin is stuck in 2013 and the recent updates do nothing to improve its long term outlook. With all due respect to Satoshi and the great innovation that he created, it was a first generation prototype technology. Bitcoin was never designed for large-scale use.

If you need a good primer on why Bitcoin’s recent changes/updates/forks/bandages/whocaresanymore do nothing to make it any better, then look no further than this great post from @modprobe , who understands the technology better than I ever will. https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@modprobe/i-looked-into-segwit-and-here-s-what-i-saw

@modprobe ’s conclusions from that post include:

1. Segwit, the main set of changes, addresses the malleability issue, which isn’t the main problem with Bitcoin.

2. Slow confirmation times and transaction fees are the bigger problems. Bitcoin does not seem to have a fix for these looming obstacles.

3. It remains to be seen how the changes in the fee structure will affect the Bitcoin economy.

4. Witness data with rules and spending instructions are moved out of the main block, leaving an “anyone can spend me, there are no rules and no proofs” instruction.

5. Therefore, the burden of honesty lies with miners to apply the rules from the witness data. As @modprobe explains, “miners could collude to steal everyone's segwit balances, but more likely, a government could force mining organizations to allow their transactions to steal bitcoins, reverse transactions, or whatever else…” With Bitcoin’s latest changes, “theft by miner collusion is a first class feature.”

Basically, my interpretation is that Bitcoin’s proponents (you could think of them the system’s “owners” or “controllers” at this point) are re-arranging deck chairs on its ship to nowhere. They are giving themselves handouts, jumping through hoops and creating crazy schemes to try and fix a prototype currency when those same problems have already been solved by later generation cryptocurrencies. And now they are splitting Bitcoin into multiple directions, diluting its strength and undermining any remaining confidence I would have in the power of its scale or dominance as a market leader.

Thinking Bigger

After seeing Dream Big, I don’t feel like settling for less, so I’m not going to hold and promote Bitcoin any longer. I wouldn’t settle for a job flipping burgers at McDonald’s either, so why should I bother to own a coin that often takes 40 minutes to confirm a transaction, which gets lost in perpetuity for two weeks if I forget to pay the miners’ fee? Is that the coin that’s going to achieve mass adoption? I think not; it’s ripe for disruption. The faster people recognize this instead of clinging on to yesterday’s news, the faster we’ll be able to build mass adoption for something better.

Speaking of miners, does anyone who cares about freedom and liberty still believe that Bitcoin is any less centralized than a central bank-controlled currency? Bitcoin has become controlled by a handful of huge miners, exchanges, and big money gateways. Segwit may buy the blockchain a little more time (mainly because that notion has been sold to us), but ultimately it makes the centralization problem worse and does nothing to prevent Bitcoin from hitting two big walls in the very near future: transaction fees and confirmation times. In contrast, Steem offers instant transactions and is free for most people to use, which it has accomplished with superior technology, not with smoke and mirrors.

Other crypto projects still rely on Bitcoin because we all need it as a layer to get in and out of an economy like Steem, which lacks its own gateways and ramps. But those will come along with mass adoption. I’m no longer going to hold and promote and help to prop up Bitcoin in an effort to receive some short-term gain. I’m squarely focused on building something better.

STEEM provides instant transactions, security, the ability to process tens of thousands of transactions per second and an ability to scale up much more. It is completely free for most people to use.

Steem is on track to have millions of users in the coming months. It is backed by a growing community centered around Steemit.com, a hub site that allows people to mine digital currency simply through their posting and social activity on this Reddit-style site. With all of those people building a growing use case for STEEM and Steem Dollars (SBD), the world will start to take notice of this cryptocurrency that is far better built than Bitcoin. We have already seen Steem’s growth begin to spiral virally in places like Korea, Indonesia, Nigeria, and in some urban and rural pockets of the United States and Europe. With some merchants in each of these places beginning to accept Steem or SBD, we will see the beginnings of a real economy in the coming months.

Let’s dream big and put our best foot forward. With all due respect to Bitcoin, it was a first generation prototype and I no longer feel the need to explain it to new people. I’ll be explaining only Steem along with some of the great sites and apps that use its blockchain, including Steemit, eSteem, Busy, and ChainBB, which are the first among many. Steem is the disruptive technology that will not only replace Bitcoin, but will help millions of new people realize the benefits of the blockchain. Every one of them makes us stronger and that’s why I’m investing in the people. Let’s build this.

Note: As an ode to Satoshi and his brilliant creation, I have an original physical Bitcoin from Casascius Mint, which I will keep as a historical relic. So technically, I still hold one Bitcoin. But I have sold my other BTC and won’t look back. Where have I put my money instead? I’ll give you one guess and I’m all in. Of course, none of the above should be construed as investment advice. I don’t trade; I believe.

Image credits
Top: McGillivray Freeman Films.
Steem video, courtesy of @the-alien
Other images not subject to copyright.