As is often the case when everything around us seems to be spinning out of control, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine forces me to question the way our species lives. Nothing like a war on the horizon to change your mind about certain things; or rekindle the flame of personal convictions, including the idea that Bitcoin could play a determining role in the way power is distributed and evades forms of state control.
Said like this, it seems that I see in Bitcoin, like many, a kind of cybernetic messiah who comes to save our sinful souls. But the truth is that I am rather interested in the way in which Bitcoin inspires those who try to escape from the established forms of control. And what are these in light of the attacks that Russia inflicts on the population of Ukraine?
The banks, the centralized power of the State and the military institution, for example. Who would be affected by the control in the foreign exchange market that the Central Bank of Russia announced yesterday, after the Russian stock market fell 33% and the European Union sanctioned measures to block the purchase of sovereign debt through 27 banks? Traders who import products, small businessmen, people with little purchasing power.
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Let us not forget that among these measures we must count the blocking of funds from Russian billionaires in Great Britain and the disapproval of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline by Germany, in addition to the possible sanctions that could fall on more than 351 legislators of the Duma, 3 banks and 27 citizens and entities that finance the separatists.
Is it not possible to speculate that Russia could retaliate in the near future against foreign citizens, preventing them from free transit, the use of their money or property?
The worst part is on the side of the Ukrainians, it seems, who have fled their homes in the main cities for the last few hours, fearing the bombing that began on Thursday.
For them, the outlook is more discouraging, especially to the extent that international organizations remain idly by and after the nation’s central bank prohibited operations with electronic money. Is it not worth wondering how people who want to leave the country could take their savings with them, in case they have nothing left to carry in their arms or vehicles?
Reflecting and inventing paths are forms of resistance
It seems paradoxical, but it is precisely in moments of crisis -of apparent chaos- when the best ideas arise to get out of the drawer. In other words, a crisis like the one on the other side of the world between Russia and Ukraine has to be a reason for reflection, question and create strategies to face the controls of governments or state institutions such as banks.
This is where Bitcoin comes in. Whatever the situation, Bitcoin cannot be seized or seized by any power, any government. The forces of the State cannot force a growing international community to change the rules that support this electronic cash payment network that does not depend on a central server or the legislation of any side.
This is where Bitcoin miners rebel against the system. No matter the motivation of a particular miner, the sum of all the computers that validate and update the status of transactions represents the power of collaborative work. This force does not have to give in to pressure from the military, police, government. As long as the network is connected, people will be able to transfer money without depending on banks, without submitting to selfish legislation.
Concepts such as decentralization also come into play here, which undoubtedly has to do with an ideology that promotes awareness of the dangers of not confronting those who want to take over everything. Reflecting and inventing alternative paths are forms of resistance.
Nobody owns Bitcoin
No one owns Bitcoin and it is not possible to introduce a change in its operation so that it adopts the practices of already institutionalized payment systems. Not even a Bitcoin programmer could, because there isn’t one, there isn’t a single person who can claim authority over Bitcoin and almost every project that is developed in open source lies in that.
If someone, one day, managed to collect enough computers to censor some transaction or become a superpower, the rest of us I would only have to copy the bitcoin code, which is free to use, and create a new chain or resume it at the point where it was attacked.
Bitcoin has the power to isolate, in some way, an entity that intends to use its power to harm someone or to try to obtain a short-term benefit through a hack or an attempt to take control by force.
The war that Russia intends to promote, with the insane arguments that were used to attack the people of Ukraine, could not make a dent in the alternatives offered by Bitcoin in terms of security and privacy.
Beyond the fact that bitcoin is not considered a good asset for a store of value at this juncture, Bitcoin as a system remains a powerful tool for moving money across dangerous borders.
These days some Ukrainians they will have been able to foresee the possibility that banks will limit transactions and will have bought bitcoin, something that takes little time considering that buying shares or physical gold – which would be very difficult to transport across borders guarded by police and military – can be complex and It wouldn’t be available to just anyone.
Beyond the actual usefulness of bitcoin as money that cannot be censored by the stateBitcoin is an idea that allows us to face authoritarianism in our time with a power that is expressed in the fact that collaboration is necessary to execute a defense
And that is the value of Bitcoin to humanity. It allows individuals to have a share of power within a community, which is effective, in some way, beyond any border.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to its author and do not necessarily reflect those of CriptoNoticias.
