Objectively speaking, Bitcoin is already a massive success. In just 12 years, Satoshi Nakamoto’s idea has grown from being a conceptual PDF file in 2008 to storing around 1 trillion USD in 2021. This and any number from other metrics are testament to a form of mass adoption that only compares to the phenomenon of the internet in its early years. Still, despite this track record, the negative news and dystopian scenarios continue.

Whenever bullish Bitcoin price movements send ripples through the financial world, traditional banks and institutions put up their warning signs. While boomer-generation investors also like to point at the lack of “intrinsic value”, the biggest perceived risk is a blunt government ban. What if nation-states really ban Bitcoin? What if they decide to shut down the Bitcoin network forever? They can’t stop it – and here are 9 reasons why.

It is commonly believed that disruptive technologies turn entire industries upside down virtually overnight through completely unexpected innovations. But change on that scale doesn't just happen at once. It's rather a kind of natural progression and an evolutionary process that seems almost inevitable in hindsight.

There was some disagreement about the use of metaphors among the OG philosophers of the 17th century. British thinkers such as Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes or John Locke hated them. They deemed metaphors too artificial and misleading because they wanted to be as precise as possible. Of course, we live in the 21st century now – and we have Bitcoin.

Over the last two decades we‘ve witnessed several technological innovations that have changed our lives. They’ve restructured industries or created new ones –and destroyed long-established companies. It happened to retail, media, TV, music and many other industries. We call the innovators „disruptors“, a term popularized by Clayton M. Christensen. While the term has been overused in recent years, Bitcoin is its ultimate definition.

Why should you trust Bitcoin? The short answer is: You shouldn‘t. In the same way you shouldn‘t trust your government. You should rather put trust aside and verify yourself. With your government, in case it‘s a constitutional democracy, you can refer to your constitutional rights. In Bitcoin, there‘s an immutable code and a transparent blockchain. The comparison is interesting because both Bitcoin and constitutions share a common root – a distrust in human nature. The roots of this line of thinking go back to the days of the Enlightenment.

One of the most popular fallacies with Bitcoin is questioning its “intrinsic value”. While the argument seems to follow a superficial logic, it's flawed on two accounts. Not only is the money in our bank accounts entirely digital but different denominations of paper bills also share the same intrinsic value, which is zero – unless you want to light a fire.