2/ In light of recent comments by legislators and politicians, we must not forget what Bitcoin does and how it does what it does. Bitcoin is text. Bitcoin is speech. Bitcoin is math. Bitcoin has no jurisdiction, just like 2+2=4 has no jurisdiction.
3/ A private key is a large number. You can create a private key by flipping a coin or rolling some dice.
There is a reason why Satoshi chose to stay pseudonymous. He knew what he was getting into. He knew he had to disappear if his project would be moderately successful. It is impossible to disappear if everyone has your real identity.
#Bitcoin was designed with pseudonymity in mind. You don't need a government ID to use it. You don't need a face. You don't need a name. All you need is the ability to produce a valid signature. This is a feature, not a bug.
@jordanbpeterson@Breedlove22 A lot of people already answered, but I want to reply anyway. In short: it's misguided at best and disingenuous at worst. The premises are flawed, and the data cited is questionable.
People have been screaming "tulips!" since the very first days of bitcoin's monetization process. They will still be screaming when a fraction of a bitcoin will consistently buy you a nice house. They are misinformed.
"What happens if you lose your gold coins at the bottom of the sea?"
It's a bearer asset. This is a feature, not a bug. Bitcoin emphasizes the sovereignty of the individual in principle and practice.
A failure to understand proof of work is a failure to understand #Bitcoin.
A thread. 🧵👇
Decentralized systems, by definition, do not have a single source of truth.
Satoshi's breakthrough was to build a system that allows all participants to zero in on the same truth independently. Proof of work is what allows this to happen.
The point of proof of work is to create an irrefutable history. If two histories compete, the one with the most work embedded in it wins.
The chain with the most work is the truth, by definition. This is what we call Nakamoto consensus.