By Bitcoin Magazine - 6 months ago - Reading Time: 6 minutes
Bitcoin Se Fizik: Bits ak Bytes dwe viv yon kote
Son lajan se lajan ki pa gen tandans pou avilisman toudenkou. Konvèsasyon ki antoure lajan son an te rive nan yon pwen kritik, bay ensètitid prezan nan peyizaj finansye mondyal la.
The spiraling debt of sovereign nations have heightened concerns about currency debasement. In contrast to fiat, which can be created out of thin air, sound money is linked to tangibility: it is something you can touch, weigh, and stow away. There's a growing chorus of people convinced that gold is the sole antidote to the hyperinflationary threat to fiat money.
Kesyon an si wi ou non Bitcoin is sound money has long provoked debates among economists, investors, and financial pundits. Bitcoin, being an intangible digital asset, is often dismissed by sound money advocates because it doesn't offer the same physical assurances that gold does. You can’t hold bitcoin in your hand, so how could it be sound money?
Advocates for Bitcoin as sound money often respond that, although bitcoin is not physical, it is “backed by mathematics.” But this misses the mark. Although it is true, this argument often fails to persuade the skeptics because mathematics lack a physical basis.
An reyalite, Bitcoin is literally physical, just like gold is. Being able to explain this to sound money advocates who are Bitcoin skeptics is a key challenge for Bitcoin educators today. Let’s explore some of the ways Bitcoin is physical so that we might make a stronger case to gold enthusiasts as to why Bitcoin is sound money.
Blockchain a se fizik
To explain the ways in which Bitcoin is physical, we need to delve into technical territory, starting with how flash memory works.
Flash memory, a type of non-volatile storage medium for data, is the most common way that the Bitcoin ledger is recorded in each Bitcoin node. Flash memory is “non-volatile,” which means that the data stored inside it will remain intact, even without a supply of electricity.
At the microscopic level, flash memory is made up of an array of memory cells, each constructed from a MOSFETs (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor). These transistors are tiny switches that have a floating gate that traps or releases electrons. The presence or absence of electrons on this floating gate translates into binary code, which in turn represents data.
Lè ou kenbe Bitcoin, your ownership record is literally a configuration of physical gates in a MOSFET inside a flash memory chip. Every Bitcoin transaction that ever happened is recorded in the physical states of transistors inside Bitcoin nodes scattered around the globe.
Now, flash memory might not weigh as much as a gold bar, but it is undeniably physical. With a powerful microscope, you could even take a look and see the states of those gates inside flash memory chips with your own eyes.
Kle prive yo fizik
Let’s turn to private keys, which are alphanumeric codes that grant control over some amount of Bitcoin. Whether etched onto a metal plate or stored in a secure chip, your private key is as physically real as a chunk of gold.
Si ou sere kle prive ou a nan fòm yon fraz grenn ki swa ekri sou papye oswa grave nan plak metal, kòm anpil fè, Lè sa a, fizik li se evidan. Sepandan, pandan ke li ka tante asime ke yon fraz grenn ki estoke nan fason sa a se jis yon reprezantasyon fizik nan yon bagay ki pa fizik, sa a pa byen.
Hardware wallets are lajman konsidere the best way for individuals to ensure security of their private keys. A hardware wallet typically contains a secure element, a chip that securely stores a private key. The secure element heightens security because it is designed to withstand attempts at physical tampering and unauthorized access.
Eleman an sekirite andedan yon bous pyès ki nan konpitè fè tout bon estoke yon kle prive fizikman nan memwa flash nan fòm lan nan eta elektrik nan tranzistò. Sonje byen, chak tranzistò se yon switch ak eta ki ka swa sou oswa koupe. Kle prive a, se poutèt sa, se yon sekans espesifik nan eta sa yo.
Menm kle prive ki estoke nan yon bous cho sou yon telefòn dwe egziste fizikman nan memwa ki pa temèt telefòn nan.
Bitcoin’s physicality means that it can survive catastrophes
One of the arguments that people who believe gold to be a superior form of sound money to Bitcoin se ke Bitcoin relies on electricity and computers. They argue that, if a civilizational collapse were to occur that would disrupt electricity for an extended period of time, or even permanently, then Bitcoin would be useless. However, this view is mistaken. Bitcoin’s physicality allows it to survive almost any catastrophe. A famous moment from Hollywood will help illustrate the point.
Fim 1999 Fight Club famezman fini ak destriksyon tout dèt konsomatè yo. Nan sèn final la, nou gade anti-ewo yo gade deyò fenèt yo nan yon gratsyèl, gade sou bilding ki tonbe. Yo di nou ke bilding sa yo genyen tout dosye sou dèt konsomatè yo. Avèk bilding yo detwi, dèt la siye, epi "ekilib finansye" retabli.
Malgre ke li fè yon fen panse pwovoke, odyans ap gade fim nan te gen pwoblèm sispann enkredilite nan sèn sa a. Èske nou vrèman sipoze kwè ke tout dosye sou dèt konsomatè yo fèt nan kèk bilding? Menm plizyè douzèn bilding? Entwisyon, nou ta sipoze ke dwe gen kopi dosye sa yo gaye nan tout mond lan, nan divès vil, òdinatè, ak dosye. Menm si pi fò nan dosye sa yo te detwi, byenke rekiperasyon an ka ralanti, kopi yo ta evantyèlman jwenn epi eta pre-egziste nan kredi ak dèt yo ta retabli.
Jounal Bitcoin blockchain is much more robust even than records of consumer debt. The Bitcoin ledger doesn't exist in a single location or even a handful of locations; it's replicated across thousands of nodes worldwide, at almost every imaginable longitude and latitude. Each node holds a physical copy of the ledger in its flash memory, and collectively, all of the Bitcoin nodes serve as an absurdly redundant global backup system. They all talk to each other and confirm that their physical states are identical to each other.
In fact, planet Earth is continuously bathed in the Bitcoin blockchain by satellites that broadcast it 24 hours a day. Even if internet connectivity were disrupted for an extended period in some locations, those locations could stay in sync with the Bitcoin network using an inexpensive radio dish.
In the wake of any catastrophic event that might disrupt infrastructure, one of the primary objectives for recovery would be the restoration of power and communication networks. As history has shown, recovering societies prioritize reestablishing these utilities as a foundation for rebuilding. Once power and internet connectivity are restored, so too is the Bitcoin network. All the physical copies of the ledger, stored in flash memory across decentralized nodes worldwide, and even in space, would be there to ensure the continuity and integrity of the system.
Desantralizasyon sa a fè li trè fasil pou nenpòt katastwòf - kit se yon batman elektwomayetik (EMP), deksplozyon nikleyè, oswa menm yon grèv meteor - ta ka siye tout kopi fizik yo nan Ledger la.
Of course, there is always the possibility of a catastrophe so intense as to trigger a planet-wide extinction-level event. In that case, the human species will have bigger problems to contend with than which form of money to use, and will be no better off with gold than with Bitcoin.
If more people knew bitcoin is physical, more people would adopt it
Why is it vital to spread understanding about Bitcoin being physical?
In an age where financial systems are becoming increasingly abstract and detached from the tangible, people crave the security of something concrete. That's why many resort to gold, real estate, and other physical assets.
Agiman sa Bitcoin can't serve as sound money because it lacks the tangibility of gold is a misunderstanding of how Bitcoin technology works. Bitcoin is not an abstract, ephemeral digital construct. It is a form of sound money that has physical existence.
Konprann Bitcoin’s physicality can remove a significant mental block for many potential users. This would allow them to benefit from including Bitcoin in their own financial arsenal, as well as improving the resilience of the Bitcoin network itself through the introduction of a sizable cohort of committed sound money proponents.
Sa a se yon pòs envite pa Dave Birnbaum. Opinyon yo eksprime yo se antyèman pwòp yo epi yo pa nesesèman reflete sa yo ki nan BTC Inc oswa Bitcoin Magazin.
Sous orijinal: Bitcoin Magazine