"A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution"

Here's what Satoshi wrote on the famous Bitcoin whitepaper.

My view on bitcoin is that it was the first iteration of (hopefully) many more, but it's now dead.

I've been working, studying, and passionate about the blockchain industry and crypto-"currencies" for five years. I think most people would call me a "Bitcoin Maximalist" (I also loved Ethereum). But I also think it's time to be honest. Here's some of my brain juice about some problems crypto and Bitcoin are facing.

1. Decentralization

One of bitcoin purposes is to be decentralized. I'll keep it short but it's not. More than 50% of mining power is controlled by entity under surveillance. If you want to buy bitcoin today, you will certainly have to go through some KYC. With ETF being approved, TradFi being involved etc., Bitcoin is now a magic internet token controlled by huge companies (hedge fund, bank, VC, GAFAM) with stupid people (including me) betting on believing in it.

2. Privacy

I don't think I need to elaborate this point.

3. NOBODY WANT CRYPTOCURRENCIES

(I'll speak about ether because it's the ecosystem I know the best. ) The hard truth about this whole system is that nobody gives a damn about having ether. I've never met (and I've worked with some BIG names in ethereum) A SINGLE PERSON wanting ether for the sake of having ether.

It's simple : People want ether (and cryptocurrencies) to either convert it to USD when they need it, or to bet on it (and to sell it for USD later).

This point is in my humble opinion why cryptocurrencies, as-is, is a failure as a "currency".

All of these ideas are still very fresh in my mind so I hope that you'll understand my points. Of course, almost every single crypto-related project bringed some cool ideas (from a philosophical and technical point of view), but let's face it : it was a good try but we need a lot better.

Also, the fact that early adopters were a lot favored and awarded for their trust, shows a real lack of thinking. I do think Satoshi made something incredible, but didn't expect this whole speculation and adoption (which killed the project). If he indeed expected it, then it never was about creating a new currency.

Feel free to criticize my writing and give your opinion, I'd love to hear about it. Also, I'm from Portugal so pardon some mistakes I may have made.

Submissions

Bitcoin is dead, but it was a good try