Re: Bitcoin was created to reform money and provide financial freedom
That's all true, but it's important to not lose sight of the fact of Bitcoin's original purpose, which was to evade government oversight into transactions. That it has effectively failed in its original mission doesn't change the fact that it was designed solely to do that.
Today, Bitcoin's only viable purpose remaining is being a speculation instrument and a store of large-scale value (e.g. for holdings >$10k for instance). Monera et. al. have a niche for those trying to evade their government, but this isn't a problem most people have.
Today, Bitcoin's only viable purpose remaining is being a speculation instrument and a store of large-scale value (e.g. for holdings >$10k for instance). Monera et. al. have a niche for those trying to evade their government, but this isn't a problem most people have.
Some say Satoshi really wanted BTC to be transparent to help detect corruption, manipulation, and fraud on the Blockchain. It's rather a feature than a bug. Many misunderstood Bitcoin's capabilities, and took it for granted as a privacy coin. But as time went by, we've discovered that was not truly the case. We now have to use anonymization techniques (CoinJoin, new BTC address per transaction, round amounts, etc) or a separate cryptocurrency with enforced privacy (Monero, Grin) to hide our utmost sensitive info from prying eyes.
Privacy and freedom still exist in Bitcoin, despite the fact that most companies own most of the supply. Regulations become stricter each day with the goal of preventing as much people as possible from obtaining true financial freedom. The question is: Will you protect your right to privacy and freedom?
You don't have to go by "some say", you can just read the whitepaper.
Satoshi never meant for Bitcoin to be a mainstream means of transacting because most people don't need to evade their government's oversight in everyday transactions, and/or they wouldn't want to take the risk of being prosecuted. For most people, for 99.9% of transactions, using a means of transacting that could potentially be discovered through a legal action (e.g. a valid subpoena) is a perfectly fine.
And, as I wrote in the Anon Paradox, there are two kinds of "privacy" people talk about: "privacy" from the government, and "privacy" from everybody else.
If by "freedom" you mean being free from criminals trying to steal your identity, or marketers trying to make a buck from it, or careless people who will lose your personal information if you give it to them, or nosy neighbors who want to pry into your personal affairs, then that's one thing. Most people want and need this kind of "privacy".
But if you mean "freedom" from your government's laws, then that's an entirely different thing, and most people don't need this, or don't want to take a chance with going against their government.
The only way to truly protect your legal freedoms is to vote. Most people don't want to hear this because it's much harder than using some technical hack, but it's ultimately foolish to believe that you can successfully fight your government in the long term.
Fight for freedom at the ballot box, because code isn't going to help you in the long run.