I highly recommend everyone to check out this article about Bitcoin written by Mai Gang in 2014, which is very exciting. In particular, the end of the article mentions Bitcoin as a tool for the great power game, essentially predicting what the United States is doing in 2025. Mai Gang: You need to understand Bitcoin The most essential thing in economics is money. I read a book before the financial crisis about a famous physicist. He said that we science and engineering people, for example, study the length, width, weight, and time of physics, which are all constant quantities. For those of you who are engaged in economics, the units of research are all variables. For example: "How much is a McDonald's worth?" ” - You have to ask whether it is the dollar, the yuan, or the yen? - You have to ask whether it was the dollar in 1958 or the dollar in 1985? After reading it, I suddenly realized that the economics department is studying some things that change. I studied economics as an undergraduate, so I should go back and look at the most essential thing that has been changing in this discipline - money. Later, some books, such as "Currency Wars", attracted the attention of the whole people to money. I basically have a relatively comprehensive understanding of money, so when Bitcoin came along, I only had one word: "Wow!" ” Bitcoin captures the essence of money What is Bitcoin? Make it clear in two sentences. 1. Bitcoin is a distributed algorithm used by mathematicians, geeks, and network scientists to simulate the properties of perfect money; Second, this attribute is maintained with the computing power of a distributed and powerful computer. Bitcoin is just that. All the discussions, skepticisms, doubts, and innovations about Bitcoin are coming back to this framework. Therefore, Bitcoin is not a conspiracy, but a conspiracy, and it is clear what Bitcoin does. All the data on Bitcoin can be found online by anyone at any time. Bitcoin captures the essence of money, and what it does is hope to emulate the perfect currency. Why Bitcoin emulates the perfect currency (1) The monetary characteristics of Bitcoin surpass those of precious metals With a history of 5,000 years and a country of 3,000 years, money is a concept that predates the emergence of the state far before. So, China's currency went through a variety of choices, from feathers, shells, stones, livestock, and even women as the currency of some countries at that time, until the emergence of precious metal currencies. Precious metals cannot be forged, or the cost of counterfeiting is extremely high, the transaction cost is low, the storage is relatively convenient, can be divided, and the texture is relatively soft, these things are the attributes reflected in the precious metal. As a result, precious metals are used as currency. There is still a cost to gold trading, and there is a risk of delivery and redemption from one place to another. This is something that many people don't realize. The total amount of bitcoin is limited, scattered and distributed, as long as there is a computer, anyone can do it, anyone can participate, and it is very equal. Bitcoin is a mathematically simulated commodity, with all the properties of precious metals, and surpasses all the properties of precious metals in the past. Moreover, the Bitcoin network can continue to be upgraded, so there will not be a problem that gold has withdrawn from the stage of history and gold is no longer enough. When it comes to digital currencies, there is no such thing as not being enough. (2) It is unlikely that Bitcoin will be counterfeited in terms of probability First, computing power is huge, and it is grasped by all kinds of people in the world, and it is difficult for one person to master so many manpower and so much computing power at the same time. Second, even if someone has the opportunity to master these computing powers, from an economic point of view, from a logical point of view, he should control the network and not attack the network, because his property is Bitcoin, and he will not destroy his own property. So, it's a matter of probability, it's a matter of logic. Third, Bitcoin has low transaction costs, which is a particularly important feature. The total number of bitcoins will be permanently limited to 21 million, which can now be split into 8 decimal places (0.00000001 BTC is the smallest unit at present), which is Bitcoin's existing computing system. (3) The Bitcoin network is an advanced clearing and payment system The Bitcoin network is a clearing and payment system that is completely automated and operated by no one manages, and Bitcoin is the circulating unit generated by this network. This network is an innate clearing and payment system, and this clearing and payment system does not need to be managed, and the use value of Bitcoin is reflected in the fact that it is a clearing network. Western Union International Money Transfer Company in the United States has a history of more than 50 years, and its annual profit is billions of dollars, especially in some relatively underdeveloped countries. It helps customers send money in one to two weeks, and the fee is 5 to 8 pips. What a lucrative and wonderful business it is. The payment of bitcoin basically arrives in a few minutes or ten minutes, and the handling fee is very, very low. Therefore, companies such as VISA represent the technical architecture and foundation used in our existing financial circulation system and commercial banking system in the past, and Bitcoin surpasses the previous system with a new technical architecture and foundation. Therefore, this is the advanced point of Bitcoin in the circulation network and the exchange function of commercial banks. Decentralization is a guarantee of Bitcoin's security and freedom There are three forms of money in human society, one is the monetary system represented by the precious metal gold, and the other is the credit currency supported by government credit. In the era of credit money, the problems we commonly see are inflation, over-issuance of currency, and currency wars. The monetary system we live in today is a system represented by the dollar, the dollar is hegemonic, and the dollar floods the world, and we people all over the world, especially the hard-working Chinese, are working for the United States. Why do American jeans cost 10 or 20 yuan for 100 yuan in China? All this because the dollar is the global currency, and the dollar has used its hegemony to reach this day. However, the advent of Bitcoin has ushered humanity into the third monetary era. When I say the third era, I don't mean to replace the first two. For example, the advent of the Internet did not mean that fax machines and telephones would coexist. This is decentralization, a virtual currency based on mathematical concepts, and decentralization is the guarantee of Bitcoin's security and freedom.