Suppose that someone invented a crypto postal service. Or is short a crypto-post. Its purpose is to transfer envelopes and boxes quickly, safely, and decentrally. However, there is a catch. The envelopes and boxes are empty. They hold nothing. From the outside, the crypto-post would look similar to a traditional post. Because obviously, a traditional post transfers envelopes and boxes. And that crypto-post transfers them as well. But in reality, it would be the dumbest thing ever invented given that the very reason envelopes and boxes exist is to serve as a container for holding letters, documents, and products. Their purpose is not to be empty.

The so-called crypto-currencies, such as Bitcoin, are exactly like our hypothetical crypto-post. From the outside, Bitcoin looks similar to traditional currencies. It is a system that has units which are transferred between people. If you have a bank account or a banknote, what you have is some name such as USD, and a number that represents the quantity of units in a banking system. If you have a Bitcoin account you also have a name - BTC and a number that represents the quantity of units in the Bitcoin system. But the catch is that the units in the Bitcoin system are empty. They are just like envelopes and boxes in our crypto-post. They are containers that hold nothing.

On the other hand, units of traditional currencies are containers that hold something. They hold debt. Namely, these units are created as loans of commercial banks to individuals and companies or as purchases of government bonds by central banks. So if you have for example dollars you have something that the government and millions of people need for satisfying debt owed to the US banking system. If your neighbor has a $500K loan with a mortgage on his house, while you have $500K you have something that can save them from the mortgage. You have a product needed by them, just like letters, documents, and products transferred via postal service are needed by people.

Given that units in the Bitcoin system are not created as debt, they are empty. They are containers that hold nothing. Often, people say that Bitcoin is simple and thus better than a complex banking system that manages fiat currencies. But of course Bitcoin is simple given that it manages empty units. Fiat currency units hold debt and managing debt is complex. It includes contracts, credit assessments, collaterals, foreclosures, etc. And this requires resources, both material and human. With Bitcoin, the author just wrote a protocol that tells people: "You have 10 units", "you have 0.5 units", "you have 50 units", etc. But units of what? A company? Something tangible like a precious metal? Something intangible like a patent, copyright or software license? No, none of that. In the Bitcoin system, people buy and hold units of literally nothing. Units that are empty. That is why it is so simple. Managing empty units is simple. But extremely dumb. Just like it would be managing empty envelopes and boxes in our hypothetical crypto-post. With Bitcoin, such managing even requires the consumption of enormous amounts of electricity. That's why Bitcoin is the dumbest thing ever invented.