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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nBitcoin<\/a> is a technology. It is not some force of the universe, some natural element or mineral that was \u201cdiscovered\u201d floating out in the ether. It is a technology. Technologies are created by human beings, not discovered. They are designed. That design has intent, elements of it are made specifically in a way to facilitate that intent. The tolerances of what a technology can or cannot handle are a result of those design decisions, which are in turn a result of the intent.\u00a0<\/p>\n New Bitcoiners are being brought into the world of Bitcoin through a lens that obscures and distorts the realities of Bitcoin as a technology and what that entails, and tries to pack it into the box of \u201cdigital gold.\u201d<\/p>\n Bitcoiners are becoming goldbugs.\u00a0People who think Bitcoin<\/a> is some magic thing that is decentralized \u201cjust cause,\u201d whose future success is preordained and an absolute certainty.<\/p>\n This is a disastrous way for people to conceptualize Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a decentralized computer network. The conditions of a network are not a static thing. Environments change, network loads change, behavior of network users change. All of these things can have impacts on the viability and functioning of the network itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gold doesn\u2019t need patches for vulnerabilities. Gold doesn\u2019t have to overhaul major subsystems because a change in user behavior overloaded them to the point of not functioning correctly or efficiently. Gold doesn\u2019t need to worry about Denial of Service attack vectors that could disrupt, or worst case bring down, the entire \u201cgold network.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Bitcoin does. Bitcoin is not \u201cdigital gold,\u201d it is a decentralized network made of software individuals actually have to run and maintain. The Bitcoin goldbugs have completely lost connection with this reality, at least when it comes to rationally assessing risks to Bitcoin, or ways it genuinely could fail or be co-opted.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bitcoin is going to have problems it needs to solve, at a fundamental technical level. It already does, and it will have more. This is how technology works, it is an inherent part of it. Bitcoin\u2019s value stems from its use as a censorship resistant network, a freedom money no one can stop you from using. That is its core valuable characteristic.\u00a0<\/p>\n That characteristic hinges entirely on its decentralized nature.\u00a0<\/p>\n If people do not work to defend that decentralized nature, to interact with Bitcoin in a decentralized fashion, to improve and fix it as needed to counteract limitations or pressures encouraging centralization, then it will not remain decentralized.\u00a0<\/p>\n We are going to very soon regret the consequences of focusing so much outreach the last few cycles purely on spreading this \u201cdigital gold\u201d narrative. This entire generation of Bitcoiners does not fundamentally understand that decentralization isn\u2019t a static unchanging characteristic set in stone forever.\u00a0<\/p>\n It needs to be maintained.\u00a0<\/p>\n This article is a\u00a0Take<\/a>. Opinions expressed are entirely the author\u2019s and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n