While gold has been used for over 5,000 years, some crypto enthusiasts are quick to compare bitcoin’s potential for longevity to that of the precious metal. Could bitcoin really survive the passage of time? Let’s take out the crystal ball.
Will there be a bitcoin museum?
Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have a reputation for being solid, like the blockchain, a computer protocol that literally allows data (containing value) to be chained together, thanks to a common distributed ledger. From there to think that BTC will still exist in 100 years, the bet seems daring. Because what will we really keep from cryptos a century from now? Will the 22nd century look curiously at early cryptographic experiments? Will we just remember it? Will there be a museum of cryptocurrencies as we find today a museum of the steam engine?
It is of course very difficult to predict whether the current context will still be valid on such a time scale. Indeed, a lot of uncertainties hang over our future: pandemics, wars, climate change. On another side, many of the technologies currently in use are relatively new with regard to history: this is the case of the Internet. In barely 40 years of existence, the network has changed the face of the world, and the last 20 years have been the most significant in terms of change. Today, it is hard to imagine the disappearance of the Internet, so much has this technology become essential. However, Bitcoin and the Internet are often compared (rightly or wrongly).
Photo of Dan Dennis on Unsplash
Bitcoin, as eternal as gold?
Similarly, some bitcoiners are convinced that BTC has all the properties necessary to maintain a extraordinary longevity. This young community is convinced that it is at the very beginning of a technological and monetary adventure that could change the face of the world. It is therefore natural that they dare the comparison with a symbol of eternity: gold.
Gold is both currency, chemical element, and energy. In fact, gold is literally bar energy: it is created in the core of a star, then ejected everywhere at the beginning of our solar system. On Earth, it is found buried (more rarely on the surface), and the steps to extract it and make it usable are complex. However, gold has a truly extraordinary property: it is stainless, it does not deteriorate over time. that’s why yellow metal fascinates men for millennia. For many peoples, gold indeed has a strong symbolic dimension. Since it is eternal, having it allows you to get closer to the gods. So, Celtic warriors used to fight naked. As mere accessories, they wore gold jewelry, the aura of which was believed to make them immortal, impervious to wounds and blows.
Photo of Siren Com.
A digital gold that has everything to prove
Likewise, Bitcoin is currency, computer protocol and energy all in one. Its extraction, its “mining” guarantees it a certain value. In other words, Bitcoin contains Proof-of-Work (PoW). Much like gold, Bitcoin doesn’t really have any intrinsic utility. However, it is naturally adopted, recognized by a very large community, all over the world. Without consultation, it imposes itself as a spontaneous, profoundly political means of exchanging value. Insensitive to the mistrust of States and centralizing powers, he was chosen precisely to there trust that it inspires over time. It is approaching over the years a form of fungible digital store of value.
The boundless optimism of some bitcoiners traces a certain idea of the future. This community strives to develop an attractive narrative around this pioneer cryptocurrency. For this, what better than the GitHub Arctic Vault ? Among other software, this project shelters bitcoin code for 1000 years in Antarctica, in a bunker! An initiative reminiscent of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. This vegetable Noah’s ark brings together more than a million seed samples in order to preserve them for the future: a real common treasure.
Photo of Martin Sanchez on Unplash
Like seeds discovered in ancient silos, could bitcoin’s code be a heritage of humanity to be preserved ? Some think so. Semantic chance, the ” seed sentences” are of particular importance for the security and custody of cryptocurrencies. Just as seeds keep their vital potential, the code contains a power, a creative power. Thus, the words used are not insignificant, because they participate in the dream of an open source, sustainable computer protocol that serves the commons. An idea that can be found in the philosophy of bitcoiners through a simple emblematic slogan: code is law.
An antifragile network
Like gold, Bitcoin is also used as accounting system. Through the blockchain, it works like a vast distributed ledger system, where each block is linked to the previous one. If we ignore the threats (quantum computing, wars, energy shortages), Bitcoin could therefore have its chances as a technology. Its strength lies in its network. Decentralizedautonomous, it functions as a gigantic sprawling structure, without a head: acephalous.
Photo of Shubham’s Web3 on Unplash
And even though it is very likely that more efficient systems will emerge, Bitcoin could constitute a base for something bigger. After all, certain technologies dating from the beginning of the industrial era are still used today: photography, electrical network, radiophony. These technologies are part of our daily lives, to the point that we don’t even notice them anymore. However, we cannot do without it.
Bitcoin stronger than traditional currencies?
The history of money is made up of many twists and turns. Despite the tremendous longevity of the US dollar (created in 1785), who knows if the American currency will still be relevant in 100 years? Currency confidence fluctuates with the rises and falls of empires. It is this confidence that gives value – or not – to money. If you try to pay for your groceries in ancient Roman coins, you are unlikely to be taken for a fool. However, there was a time when this currency was recognized throughout the ancient world.
Bitcoin brings together several unique characteristics since the “invention” of money. Indeed, it is itself specially built for an IT infrastructure that is shaking humanity: the Internet. This time ahead could make it a very unique object. Because despite its flaws, the fact of being the first is an argument that pleads in favor of bitcoin longevity. By design, Bitcoin is therefore cut out for digital and remote exchanges, unlike traditional currencies, which have been forced to digitize, without necessarily being configured for it. If we are still a long way from real adoptionthere recognition of bitcoin as official currency in El Salvador in 2021 may be opening a gap.
Conclusion
Of course, it is unlikely that cryptocurrencies such as “Babydoge” or “Wownero” will still be around in 100 years. Although? The future always holds surprises for us. Perhaps Dogecoin will be the standard currency of the Martian government established by Elon Musk in 2056? In the meantime, it is indeed Bitcoin that remains the best candidate to win the title of digital gold, fungible and secure. On the condition of surviving the trials that await him…
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