Understanding how bitcoin adoption could be stopped is critical to becoming a better Bitcoiner and there are numerous possible attack vectors that exist.
This is an opinion editorial by Interstellar Bitcoin, a bitcoin pleb.
In a hypothetical world, imagine we are trying to stop Bitcoin. Why might we do it? How would we do it? What actions would we need to take? Where would this get us? To answer these questions, we first must talk about Bitcoin in a little more depth.
“If you know both yourself and your enemy, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss.” — Sun Tzu
Bitcoin is
Taken to the extreme, some countries with the most effective propaganda could even start rounding up Bitcoiners — Stage Four. The government wouldn’t even need to do anything; citizens would do it for them out of fear.
To some extent, the labeling of Bitcoiners is happening already with overly burdensome know-your-customer (KYC) policies. Regulated financial institutions are required by law to keep a detailed list of personal and financial information (name, address, age, transaction volume, bitcoin addresses, etc.). This list would make it trivial for the state to find everyone who has ever traded, owned or used bitcoin via a centralized exchange.
Finally, the absolute worst option: government-sanctioned killing (aka democide). This, and the lesser extreme of forced imprisonment, can and does happen in history. A hypothetical democide of Bitcoiners would cause irrevocable damage to humanity and ultimately bitcoin adoption.
Luckily, bitcoin is information, with no physical location. Everywhere and nowhere.
This poses a unique challenge for banning bitcoin: geographic arbitrage.
As countries crack down on bitcoin, the incentive for other countries to adopt bitcoin as legal tender grows.
“The plan is simple: as the world falls into tyranny, we’ll create a haven for freedom.” — Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador
This is a perfect example of game theory.
Two countries banning bitcoin causes significant harm to both.
Two countries letting bitcoin exist causes both economies to thrive.
One country defecting and banning bitcoin while the other does nothing, harms only one country.
The unique Nash equilibrium in pure strategies is down, right (No ban, No ban).
What does this mean? Bitcoiners have an obligation to resist immoral and unjust laws. This will require civil disobedience and/or entering into politics to ensure we win. The next best alternative is retreating to bitcoin-friendly geographies like El Salvador.
The question people thinking about banning bitcoin need to ask themselves is: are they willing to permanently imprison and kill to do it? The only way to stop an idea is to physically stop the people who hold an idea. Imagine George Orwell’s 1984 concept of doublethink.
It is up to the people to decide which path they will choose: freedom or tyranny.
So, how do we defend against these attacks?
- Shill to as many people as possible; the more people that hold bitcoin, the better.
- Teach the importance of self-custody and running your own full node. There are great resources by Bitcoin Magazine and many others.
- Support bitcoin-only individuals, businesses and countries.
- Improve the underlying network and scaling technologies. For example, BIP324 (a bitcoin improvement proposal for P2P encryption) and Layer 2s such as the Lightning Network.
- Build resilient communities and circular bitcoin economies.
- Become a Bitcoiner who is a beacon of hope in an abyss of darkness.
In conclusion, it is possible to maim bitcoin adoption temporarily, but at a punishing cost: fascism on a massive scale, not seen since WW2.
The key word here is “adoption.” It is impossible to kill the Bitcoin network, an idea of unstoppable sound money.
This article was based on a Twitter thread.
This is a guest post by Interstellar Bitcoin. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.