Fast forward 16 years and almost all Bitcoin transactions are run through third parties. To buy Bitcoin most people use exchanges which you must KYC on. To store Bitcoin most people use wallets that require the use of 3rd party nodes for transactions. This includes Hardware wallets. Most people use Bitcoin like an investment not an electronic cash system. Banks are buying up large quantities of Bitcoin to hold for customers buying their ETFs. Arguably developers are adding things like ordinals to the code which have slowed transactions and increased fees above what would be reasonable for small financial transactions.
I see the potential for Bitcoin and am working on projects to help with the original mission - financial freedom for individuals world wide.
I am not going to give up on the dream! Are you?
Nobody is giving up on bitcoin’s dream as a Bitcoin enthusiast. Since inception, we have seen how it has evolved and having a wide adoption and use today. Although, the main purpose of its creation must have been deviated from by many people but it still stands its ground as a means of financial freedom, free from the non-privacy of financial holdings. Exchanges came and are also serving their purposes even though it is not advisable to bank on them with your funds with them. Without them, we wouldn’t have had a lot of bitcoin holders today as the use of non-custodian wallets have become very difficult for some people to use and will always want to use the simplest way to acquire some bitcoin. Overtime, since you’re already in the space, there’s need to learn how to use and operate your non-custodian wallets for the safety of your funds in bitcoin.
Though I might be wrong on this but I think the main or the core reason of creating bitcoin was to use it to trade p2p which is to buy goods and services online but that part or function of bitcoin creation is not working perfectly yet and I don't know if it will work in the nearest future. Because everyone one is going into the investment aspect of it and not the goods and services function. As for me the most interesting part of bitcoin is the part you can use it to buy something like Laszlo Hanyecz who used bitcoin to buy Pizza.
The early adopters of bitcoin are the ones that have shown more concern to the use of bitcoin for the purpose it was created for, just like the man you set example to have bought some pizza with his bitcoin. People have now transgressed to explore other benefits of holding the cryptocurrency which is using it as a means of investment because of its volatility nature. I don’t have any issue but to support the all means people use the cryptocurrency for, since they all serve a purpose which has helped in the massive number of users that have embraced and are now using bitcoin for different purposes and to their own advantage.