An ELI5 on #Bitcoin.

Think of Bitcoin as a startup founded in 2008, created by a guy named Satoshi Nakamoto, initially bootstrapped with his personal capital. No VC funding; just electricity.

His product? An unobtainium.

1/7 🧵

Bitcoin, an unobtainium, is an intangible, rare material, that allows you to store value across decades and generations. It's resistant to confiscation; censorship; theft by inflation; and attacks by corporations, governments, or even aliens - as in Avatar (2009 film).

2/7
In order to possess this rather unobtainable material, you must have a 78-digit random number, also commonly represented as a set of 24 words. Never reveal this to anyone. Ever. Write it down on a piece of paper or etch it on steel; then take it to the grave.

3/7
Bitcoin can be teleported across space (with on-chain transfers) and time (using timelocks); without the possibility of intercepting it in transit. It's either with you or with the counterparty — there's no intermediate state.

It's not magic; simply laws of thermodynamics.

4/7
Satoshi stepped down as the CEO of Bitcoin in 2011. Who runs it today? No one, and everyone, at the same time. It has no board of directors. It's just a set of mathematical equations, unfailingly enforced by very strong network effects. There's no known way of stopping math.

5/7
Today, it's a melting pot of bleeding-edge engineering and research, with hundreds of developers working on it for free. Each day, Bitcoin gets harder, smarter, and more secure; constantly evolving, and self-healing. True anti-fragility at work.

https://t.co/cI6MkklbZS

6/7
When you buy Bitcoin, you're using a product, but also buying equity in its success/failure. The price depends on how the market values its properties, and how difficult it is to produce more of it. It may be a passing fad or a very important feat of the human civilisation.

7/7
This is years of learnings marshalled in a few tweets. I learnt everything from:

@PrestonPysh @real_vijay @Breedlove22 @jimmysong @saifedean @michael_saylor @stephanlivera @100trillionUSD @pierre_rochard @RaoulGM @matt_odell

Go follow them!

For memes, follow @udiWertheimer.
Tagged the wrong Raoul. 🤦

The real one: @RaoulGMI

More from Crypto

You May Also Like

"I really want to break into Product Management"

make products.

"If only someone would tell me how I can get a startup to notice me."

Make Products.

"I guess it's impossible and I'll never break into the industry."

MAKE PRODUCTS.

Courtesy of @edbrisson's wonderful thread on breaking into comics –
https://t.co/TgNblNSCBj – here is why the same applies to Product Management, too.


There is no better way of learning the craft of product, or proving your potential to employers, than just doing it.

You do not need anybody's permission. We don't have diplomas, nor doctorates. We can barely agree on a single standard of what a Product Manager is supposed to do.

But – there is at least one blindingly obvious industry consensus – a Product Manager makes Products.

And they don't need to be kept at the exact right temperature, given endless resource, or carefully protected in order to do this.

They find their own way.