This is an opinion editorial by Obi Nwosu, CEO of Fedi and a board member for ₿trust.
In 2020, I predicted that Bitcoin would face attacks during the 2018 to 2023 period but would ultimately emerge successful by the end of it. Although I am not a prophet, it was clear to me that this would be a critical time for Bitcoin. When the bear market hit this year, we saw a “cleansing” of the Bitcoin ecosystem and an opportunity to refocus on its main mission of monetary freedom.
The snowball started in the heat of July with the Celsius bankruptcy, which was the first sign that the ecosystem we were building was not healthy. The fact that we were using a decentralized currency to mirror the centralized financial system did not match the vision for Bitcoin.
This once again highlighted the existence of two alternate and diverging realities for Bitcoin: “real” Bitcoin, which is rising from the bottom up and focuses on the value Bitcoin can bring to the world, and “regulated” Bitcoin, which is focused on price and committed to regulatory systems and adoption through speculation.
I sold Coinfloor in 2021 because I realized that exchanges like ours were too often dedicated to keeping their users trapped in regulated Bitcoin land. As we near the end of 2022, the negative effects of this have been painfully demonstrated by the collapse of FTX, the regulatory fallout and the losses incurred by so many innocent people.
On the other hand, real Bitcoin is flourishing in the Global South and post-Soviet regions, where innovation is addressing the narrative that Bitcoin has no good use cases. For instance, a new version of frontier towns is emerging, combining renewable energy, Bitcoin mining, internet connectivity and community custody. As I have long suspected, real Bitcoin adoption can only come from the people, and Fedimint and Fedi seek to be key in achieving hyperbitcoinization. The world will experience the most primitive form of protection — humans united — translated and turbocharged through the highest technology.
In the coming years, communities will play a crucial role in defining the path for Bitcoin. Bitcoiners are already empowering communities around the globe, but it is vital that our global community also stays united to win this battle. As I predicted in my 2020 post, we will certainly succeed in this endeavor and so I am more convinced than ever that Bitcoin will win in 2023.
This is a guest post by Obi Nwosu. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
