The death of cryptocurrencies has long been prognosticated and it is proving even harder to bring down this drive.
As expected, every new invention despite receiving a warm reception by those it seeks to deliver faces opposition from the forces that be as they fight to retain control and maintain the status quo.
“Bitcoin has been banned many times in many geographies, and yet today, adoption is outpacing internet adoption” – Alyse Killeen.
Succinctly put, cryptocurrencies are a force to reckon with and any ban has only served in strengthening their popularity and use around the world.
This has prompted governments to reconsider their previous positions on their utility as some decide to adopt and regulate them as opposed to blindly opposing their use.
Owing to the continued strength and adoption of Bitcoin despite being banned in some major countries such as China some lessons can be learned as to why these bans keep failing.
You cannot ban the blockchain, its code
Unlike music or other physical files which can be destroyed physically and production or use restricted, cryptocurrencies are built on a blockchain which is a set of codes. Code cannot be banned since it resides in this technology that allows people to exchange cryptocurrency directly on a P2P level.
In actual fact, if governments were to totally ban the use of crypto, they would have to handpick every individual in their country and confiscate their smart gadget, which is illogical and impossible.
Crypto is more than just about money, it’s fostering other technological innovations
Apart from the fears of financial impropriety expressed by anti-crypto quarters and governments, crypto has proved to be solving problems beyond finance.
For example, through Bitcoin mining, the use of renewable clean energy is set to expand leaving behind the use of fossil fuels which causes environmental destruction and global warming.
Its solving real financial problems where other systems have failed
Cryptocurrencies are offering solutions to financial problems that traditional financial systems were unable or reluctant to solve.
In particular, transacting using crypto is far cheaper and faster than traditional bank methods. People are thus able to exchange their pay for exact value crypto without parting with exorbitant cuts to middlemen.
Crypto has also increased privacy in financial transactions as it expels third parties from spying on sensitive data.
Crypto increases in value as more people keep adopting it. Hence, one will have a grasp of their own wealth and control it personally.
The world is changing and so is crypto
The world is changing and people have realized that the financial system needs improvements too.
People need a more decentralized and permissionless system that gives them more control over their financial decisions and wealth. This freedom has been proved possible through crypto.
No real reasons/fears to warrant ban
While some anti-crypto segments and governments are calling for the ban on crypto, none of them seems to be giving cogent reasons for the same. They keep blaming crypto for the same problems that traditional financial systems and governments have failed to remedy, even before trying it.
Financial fraud, inflation, energy problems, and liquidation of financial institutions that have sunk people’s money are some of the problems that governments have been unable to solve, and it only gets worse by the day.
It is naïve to blame crypto for these problems, which in effect, it is, with great success, helping solve.
Final thoughts
Banning crypto is ill-advised. Instead, governments should seek to consider a crypto economy as the early beginnings of a new open financial system. Just like the Philippines, the goal should be to adopt and regulate.
Trade-offs in any system are inevitable, thus the focus should be on debunking the myths and narratives around cryptocurrencies and clarifying them with facts.
