Popular wisdom says that opportunities arise from crises. It seems to be a law of life that after the storm comes calm, that there is no gain without sacrifice (no pain, no gain) and that from the darkest mud the purest flower is born.
All the past time was better? I do not believe it. Never before has humanity been in better conditions to live, but history always turns into moments of tension that the longer it has been retained, the more violence is released.
Is the myth of the wheel of history (and politics) true? How often does the cycle of peace and war, freedom and tyranny repeat itself? How to know? These are questions that the brightest minds have ever asked themselves.
Advertising
And here I am. I am a Venezuelan journalist and bitcoiner residing in El Salvador, part of Latin America, the only region on the planet that does not seem to be on the brink of war right now; thinking that the world will never be without conflict and that, although the Bitcoin standard may make war unaffordable, Bitcoin will not bring world peaceany other utopia to reality.
What I do know is that Bitcoin has represented an alternative for me as a professional, and I know that it can give individuals the opportunity to shield themselves against the chaos that may threaten them.
Bitcoin, money for enemies
If Bitcoin wasn’t money that your enemy could freely use, it wouldn’t be good money.
Financial sanctions against Russia are currently being discussed as a penalty for invading Ukraine. Even it is contemplated to expel the country from the SWIFT systemthe largest financial and monetary network in the world, where most of the international transactions between hundreds of entities take place.
As happened in Venezuela with the sanctions and financial blockades, these types of measures affect the government, but they affect the population much more, to the point of leading them to famine, shortages of basic products and raising the cost of living to hyperinflationary levels.
Ukraine is not subject to these sanctions, but Russia has crossed its borders, they are attacking and making the development of daily life practically unsustainable.
There are already thousands of displaced people, a shortage of products on the shelves, a shortage of cash, long lines at ATMs and hacks to banking platforms, although under Martial Law, the Ukrainian State itself has suspended electronic transactionsreported CriptoNoticias. In war there are no winners.
Bitcoin feeds on chaos?
I like to think of Bitcoin as a black hole. It remains unchanged traveling millions of light years through a chaotic and disordered universe, but it absorbs and disintegrates everything in its path and makes it part of itself.
With the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine, Bitcoin price decline in recent months has increased while the price of gold skyrocketed. But that was only for a moment as BTC rallied again and gold returned to the lows from where it took off.
Bitcoin thrives on chaos. On the Russian side, economic lockdowns will push citizens to learn how to use bitcoin, a type of confiscable and transferable money from person to person without intermediaries.
On the Ukrainian side, citizens have the opportunity to receive money from anywhere in the world and easily transport it wherever they need to go.
In fact, in 2021 we report that Ukraine’s civil servants are already holders of 46,000 BTC, and later that year a law regulating cryptocurrencies was passed.
Although in a war money does not buy everything, it is better to have it on hand in case it is needed and use it as an alternative to the collapsed local banking system.
I reiterate, although under a Bitcoin standard it would be impossible to pay for wars, as it is possible in the fiat standard through the issuance of credit and printing of currency, Bitcoin finds better use cases in difficult circumstances.
This poses a challenge to the ethics of the bitcoiner with serious dilemmas: can we see the positive side of the war in strengthening Bitcoin as a practical monetary tool? I think so.
I believe that war conflicts are beyond our control, and the best we can do is provide the tools to those affected so that they can resist in difficult times, even if the price of BTC fluctuates.
Bitcoin is hope, a light at the end of the tunnel, and knowing that wars will not end, it is better to have him on our side.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to its author and do not necessarily reflect those of CriptoNoticias.
