On Halloween 2008, a month and a half after the Lehman Brothers’ spectacular collapse, Bitcoin started the monetary revolution we’re now seeing. Bitcoin showed that, with technology, different monetary arrangements are possible: Money doesn’t need to be controlled by a government or limited to a sovereign territory.
Thirteen years later, and after repeatedly renewing all-time highs despite bans and curses, Bitcoin is here to stay. Perhaps not exactly as the “peer-to-peer electronic cash system” envisioned by Satoshi Nakamoto but neither as a wasteful speculative asset with no social value. Bitcoin can instead be the settlement currency of the world.
The potential for Bitcoin to be used as an international payments system has always been there. It brings, in its core, an ironclad decentralized infrastructure that can process and record transactions happening all over the world, aka the Bitcoin blockchain.
In about a decade, and without a central authority coordinating efforts, channeling investments or establishing partnerships, Bitcoin created a global network that is always available for anyone with access to a smartphone or a computer. For perspective, it took Visa[1] several decades, countless business agreements, and a massive investment of money and talent to develop the amazing network used today by billions of cardholders.
The downside is that bitcoin, the network native money, is still volatile. Bitcoin may be attractive to investors looking for increased returns but can give pause for those who want to use their money to pay rent and buy groceries. Bitcoin’s volatility thus limits its general appeal and, in turn, its use as a largely accepted medium of exchange that can facilitate everyday transactions.
On the other hand, the very features that bring volatility to bitcoin — the absence of backing and of a managing issuer — also allow
