Bitcoin: The hero’s journey

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Bitcoin is an archetypal element. It is simultaneously a general purpose tool for the masses while it is also the proverbial Excalibur to be wielded by the new world economy. In many ways, Bitcoin can also be described as the hero of its own story arc, as well as the reward for the hero to obtain from the stone—is that a mining metaphor? 

But why is Bitcoin on a “hero’s journey?” The brief answer is that it is because it must be.

Humans react to great story-telling because we are programmed to respond to an elemental story arc. The Book of Jonah, The Odyssey, Rocky or Star Wars: the details don’t matter because although the contexts are different, the story is the same. They appeal to the masses because of our deep desire to progress from the mundane, fight through challenges and then achieve a great victory.

Despite popular memeing about the financial crisis of 2009, Bitcoin actually evolved from the mundane financial climate of 2008. A “peer-to-peer electronic cash system” was simply designed to fulfill the goal of reducing friction for “online payments” per the opening words of the Bitcoin whitepaper. The real journey began almost immediately as the crisis hit headlines, and people began to discover bitcoin; fresh to the world but brimming with potential. 

This signalled Bitcoin’s call to adventure: use by advocates of sound money and intrepid young businessmen looking to accumulate Bitcoin early, and also criminals seeking a new tool to give them an edge in illicit commerce. During Bitcoin’s first adventure, lessons were learned and proof of work had accumulated to be used later on in the journey. 

The next phase of Bitcoin’s journey was the establishment of the mentors and the hero’s choice to move toward the light or the darkness. The initially bad choices in the journey led to the disappearance of Satoshi and the emergence of the villains who brought on the great ordeal: The three long years of scaling debate. Bitcoin emerged bruised and battered, but also resolute and wise. Realizing that the foundational wisdom of Satoshi was better than the advice of the antagonists, Bitcoin emerged from the trials of fire with a renewed understanding of what made it great at the beginning.  

This is where we are today. Bitcoin has had many victories and taken some painful shots. It has the scars to prove that it battled the dragons until it was strong enough to fly among them. After stripping away the baggage of shoddy alliances, our hero is on the road back; guided by the members of the Bitcoin SV (BSV) economy. 

Enemies still exist, and there are more battles to be waged. But Bitcoin is nearing catharsis with the Genesis upgrade in February, when it will be ready to compete against its foes from a position of the limitless bounds that it earned during the trials of the journey. 

In conclusion, we are nearing that final showdown, and our opponents don’t think they can lose. They also have not been training nearly as hard as those of us adding value to BSV with the businesses being built on chain. Bitcoin SV is coming to this fight with more transaction growth than any other blockchain, more capacity, more great ideas and more hungry entrepreneurs than the “cryptosphere” has seen in years. 

Prepare to see an unbelievably grand finale!