Amid generally depressed market conditions in the broader cryptocurrency space, Bitcoin’s (BTC) value proposition remains a source of confidence for investors and supporters.
This is the key takeaway from in-depth interviews with Bitcoin developers, advocates, analysts and influencers held during the Bitcoin Amsterdam conference in Westergas in October 2023.
Jameson Lopp, CEO of Bitcoin custodian company Casa, raised some food for thought with less than a year until Bitcoin’s next mining reward halving. In a conversation with Cointelegraph, the Bitcoin advocate and software engineer said that Bitcoin’s value proposition has been a proverbial bastion amid months of difficult market conditions:
“During the bear market, a lot of people lost money on all these other coins. Bitcoin became a safer asset again.”
Dylan LeClair is another big name in the Bitcoin space who continues to advocate for the asset’s fundamentals amid the unprecedented economic situation in the United States. The Bitcoin analyst told Cointelegraph that ordinary investors continue to “passively invest” in a basket of government bonds and U.S. companies in hopes of making money in the long term.
Related: Bitcoin Amsterdam: Edward Snowden Says Focus on Bitcoin Fundamentals
Leclerc admitted that while no analyst can guarantee investment returns for any one asset or instrument, there is a growing debate over Bitcoin’s long-term potential:
“Nothing is guaranteed, but the fundamentals suggest that over a long period of time, you’re going to have a very good store of value. Just like how people used to buy property or buy gold, but it’s digital. “
The analyst added that Bitcoin remains a means for citizens of countries facing hyperinflation to protect and control their wealth:
“People using Bitcoin, the real adopters, are more confident than ever and more widespread than ever. People in third world countries are not using Bitcoin because it’s trendy or hyped. It’s Because they use it to avoid losing everything.”
Meanwhile, Bitcoin developer and educator Jimmy Song told Cointelegraph that altcoins are “blurring the lines between centralization and decentralization,” undermining Bitcoin’s transformative potential:
“We’re seeing a lot of people think that Sam Bankman-Fried is somehow the CEO of Bitcoin – it’s just tarnishing Bitcoin’s good name.”
Song also said that various cryptocurrency projects have exploited Bitcoin’s reputation for their own benefit, making unsuspecting investors the ultimate losers:
“People get confused, they get screwed, and then they swear off cryptocurrencies forever or something like that and don’t know anything about it.”
Serbian Prince Filip Karađorđević spoke to Cointelegraph ahead of his one-on-one meeting with Madeira President Miguel Albuquerque. The autonomous Portuguese archipelago is set to launch a Bitcoin Business Center as a means to boost cryptocurrency adoption.
Karađorđević has become a Bitcoin advocate in recent years and now works for Jan3, a Bitcoin company founded by Samson Mow that aims to promote the use of BTC by nation-states. Conversations around Bitcoin’s potential have highlighted the digital asset’s different value propositions for developed, developing and first world economies.
“In developing countries, you’ll see more adoption. The countries where real inflation is in double and triple digits are Lebanon, Nigeria, Argentina.”
Meanwhile, developed countries such as the US, UK, France and Switzerland will have varying levels of adoption depending on regulation and education.
National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden also emphasized the importance of Bitcoin in combating tyranny and government overreach, as well as providing sovereignty over personal wealth, during a virtual speech during the 2023 Amsterdam conference.
Magazine: Elegant and Left Behind: Jameson Lopp’s First Impressions of Bitcoin
Svlook
