Bitcoin Will Never Fail! Here Is Why [Ultimate Guide]

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Since its inception, Bitcoin has been plagued by negativity from critics. From being labelled as nothing more than a “joke currency” to being labelled as a “tool for criminals”, there is no limit to the negativity thrown at Bitcoin.

However, one of the main critiques of the original cryptocurrency is that it will one day fail, and its value will plummet to zero. Amazingly, Bitcoin has been labelled as “dead” almost 400 times since 2009, despite its relentlessly moving forward regarding network size, growth, and market cap. 

Every day a wide range of investors continue to flock to Bitcoin, from engineers to finance CEOs and everybody in between. It’s impossible to ignore that mainstream adoption of the original cryptocurrency is growing.

However, every stage of Bitcoin’s growth brings with it different waves of critics who come up with new arguments as to why it will fail. So, to address these arguments and concerns, we have compiled a guide to the most common arguments against Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Will Be Halted or Censored

  • World governments have the power to bring an end to Bitcoin as we know it.
  • Government decisions can wipe out crypto exchanges.
  • Bitcoin needs to be faster and cheaper to be able to scale.
  • If the world internet goes down, that’s the end of Bitcoin.
  • When block rewards end, Bitcoin will lose a massive level of security.
  • If nodes are outlawed, then Bitcoin is finished.
  • If miners are cut off from energy supplies, all Bitcoin transactions will cease.

Bitcoin will be stolen or confiscated.

  • Governments will be able to make owning BTC illegal and have the power to seize it.
  • Advances in quantum computing will breach the Bitcoin security protocol.
  • You can’t insure crypto, unlike in a centralised, conventional bank.
  • If the Bitcoin protocol faces bugs or internal errors, hackers could take advantage and compromise the network.

Bitcoin cannot store value in the long run.

  • Compared to physical commodities like gold and silver, BTC lacks intrinsic value.
  • After the recent bull runs, the price of Bitcoin is way too high.
  • Bitcoin will fail as a store of value as it’s too volatile.
  • Bitcoin is nothing more than a Ponzi operation
  • Bitcoin is nothing more than a bubble
  • There is nothing backing Bitcoin, unlike conventional fiat currencies
  • There’s no limit to how many times BTC can be forked, which negatively affects the value
  • Bitcoin will not be able to compete with conventional centralised banks in the long run.
  • Newer, more advanced digital currencies on the blockchain will outperform Bitcoin.

Strawman arguments

  • Increased monitoring and regulatory activity through the likes of Know Your Customer (KYC) will make BTC’s use cases void.
  • Bitcoin is used for tax evasion.
  • Centralised currencies will not collapse, so it’s pointless to have Bitcoin.
  • The way BTC is distributed is unfair.
  • Widescale adoption of Bitcoin is impossible because it’s disinflationary, which can break an economy.
  • Bitcoin is set to fail because it has failed to achieve widespread merchant adoption.
  • Petty criminals, terrorists, and organised gangs use BTC to evade the law.
  • Bitcoin is not sustainable because of the energy it consumes.
  • Bitcoin is nothing more than a cult.

Counterarguments as to Why Bitcoin Will Succeed!

So, that’s the arguments against Bitcoin succeeding in its mission towards mainstream adoption covered. Next, we will reveal the counterarguments proving how Bitcoin will succeed. 

But before we start, here is a word of advice about investing in Bitcoin. These days, the crypto market is full of new investors flocking to it daily and seeking to take advantage of its numerous financial advantages. This also means an abundance of scammers looking to trick inexperienced traders by luring them to illicit platforms. So, always ensure you use a trusted and popular platform to avoid them and stay safe. 

Now, let’s go!

Governments will stop Bitcoin.

  • First of all, what government will stop Bitcoin? Unless you live in a totalitarian state like Turkmenistan, most people have the ability to cross borders in this day and age or at least use a VPN. Bitcoin is a digital currency that can flow across international borders far easier than people can. 
  • Bitcoin is an international network of decentralised software. For a government to even think about stopping it is like a horse stamping on ants. Regardless of the government’s power, Bitcoin is a formidable adversary to try and stop.
  • Multiple companies, celebrities, and organisations have already invested in BTC. For a government who have permitted them to do so only to make a U-turn and make ownership illegal will be making a powerful sector of their voter base very angry, not to mention create a severe economic fallout from the decision.
  • It’s no secret that nations worldwide constantly compete with one another. If one country bans Bitcoin, you can guarantee another would legalise it to draw in new investments.
  • If Bitcoin were made illegal, governments are fully aware that it would simply go underground to black market methods, destabilising any country.
  • Peer-to-peer exchanges negate the banning of crypto exchanges as peer-to-peer exchanges can leverage practically all current payment networks that exist.
  • Bitcoin transactions are notoriously easy to conceal in anything from SMS to emojis and picture files, making transactions nigh on impossible to detect and stop.

Banning nodes will stop BTC.

  • It’s simply impossible to ban nodes outright in every nation on earth. Provided that nodes are successfully up and running in some corners of the world, Bitcoin can continuously validate transactions.
  • It only takes little cyber security knowledge for someone to run nodes hidden through the Tor Network. Tor is legal in most countries, too.
  • Banning nodes would be a severe breach of freedom of speech laws as most countries with established laws on freedom of speech have laid out laws permitting people to share open-source software like BTC.

Downed internet because of governments or natural disasters will stop Bitcoin.

 

  • It’s not just Bitcoin that relies on the internet, but also global economies and governmental organisations. If the internet goes down, a global scramble will take place to restore it, as it’s in everybody’s best interests.
  • Currently, Bitcoin can function efficiently with only 1% of the number of nodes it’s using. So in the event of a disaster-driven internet collapse, the overall network will undoubtedly face disruption, but the Bitcoin network will still be able to operate.
  • Even when conventional internet providers cease to operate, such as cellular and fibre internet, Bitcoin can still rely on things like satellites, mesh networks, and radio transmitters to transfer Bitcoin blocks and transactions to different territories.
  • This can be dealt with if a country suffers a delay or breakdown in comms. Communication delays will mean more blocks are needed to validate the transaction successfully and may result in slower transaction speeds, but Bitcoin will continue operating. 

Bitcoin Is Unable To Scale Due To High Fees And Slow Speeds Associated With Transactions

  • Scaling is not a concept that is confined; it can take place countless times on secondary layers like Lightning and Liquid. Plus, it can also take advantage of applications like Square Cash to scale to sustain unlimited transactions with various trade-offs concerning overall security versus costs.
  • When it comes to speed and costs, it’s hard to rival Bitcoin. Overall, it’s seen as having the best ability to handle the biggest value, in the shortest amount of time, for the lowest possible cost out of any decentralised currency network. For example, BTC can execute multi-million-dollar transactions in the space of an hour, and the overall cost of doing so might be nothing more than a few cents.

 

If BTC Miners Are Outspent, Someone Can Censor Bitcoin And Interfere With Transactions 

 

  • For someone to get hold of the high-end mining equipment required to obtain enough BTC to initiate a 51% attack (when a bunch of miners hold more than 50% of a network’s mining hash rate) is possible. Aside from the immense level of computing power required, the attacks would need to get hold of so much computing hardware that it would be detected by producers involved in the supply chain and halted.
  • Even if a 51% attack was successful, it means that no Bitcoin can be stolen and used. Instead, it means that countless billions would be spent just to censor the network.
  • The Bitcoin network also can produce a new mining algorithm from a hard fork, thus making all of the multi-billion dollar efforts of the attackers worthless. 

When Miners Don’t Have Energy, All Transactions Will Stop

  • Bitcoin miners are based in countless countries worldwide and rely on an extensive range of energy types. Whether they want to plug into a national power grid or form partnerships with energy supplier companies, a national entity can’t cut off power to Bitcoin miners globally.
  • Even in the event that Bitcoin miners experience a global power shortage, Bitcoin will not cease to work. Still, its hash power would drop, which means those using it would face delays in transaction confirmations until energy levels are back to normal.
  • In a worst-case scenario, Bitcoin could assess the option of a fork that would see the network shift its mining algorithm to a less energy-consuming variant. This would not affect the BTC held on the original chain or the new fork chain.

In The Coming Years, Block Rewards Will Cease, Taking Away Bitcoin’s Security Element

  • In sync with the ever-rising price of BTC, Bitcoin transaction fees have also been rising.
  • There is a fixed supply of block space. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. As the demand to own BTC on the base layer increases and the block size remains consistent, the transaction fees will grow.
  • The Bitcoin network has the time to adapt to changes because block rewards are released every four years until the year 2140.

Governments Will Make Owning Bitcoin Illegal And Confiscate It From Those Who Don’t Comply

  • Around the world, governments are mostly treating Bitcoin the same as they would any other asset. It’s in their best interests to receive tax from it rather than force it underground or abroad.
  • Without the permission of a BTC holder, governments can’t seize Bitcoin without permission because it can easily be transferred out of your possession before the seizure.
  • Compared to conventional assets such as property, stocks, bonds, etc. Bitcoin is one of the most difficult assets to seize.
  • If there ever were a widescale order to ban and confiscate Bitcoin, it would be initiated state by state, country by country, thus giving most people time to prepare and batten down the hatches
  • Historically, the only asset that has ever been seized was gold in the United States. As a result, the asset’s price skyrocketed in every other country where it was legal to own. 
  • The confiscation of Bitcoin will be rolled out slowly, country by country, allowing people to adapt. The confiscation of gold only occurred in the US in 1933 (as a result of Executive Order 6102). Gold prices went up in other countries where you could own it.

You Can’t Insure Bitcoin, Unlike Deposits At a Conventional Bank

 

  • Insurance is widely used by many people who invest and trade with BTC, especially to protect their initial deposits.
  • Time and time again, we’ve been shown that in the event of an economic crisis, governments will print more money to deal with the situation, which will then devalue fiat currency.

Hackers Can Take Advantage of a Bug in The Bitcoin Network 

  • When it comes to high-value targets, few come close to Bitcoin. The network has been a priority place of attack for some of the world’s best hackers seeking a bug to take advantage of, but none have ever been found.
  • If a serious bug was found, Bitcoin could always take advantage of its ability to fork and fix it, despite suffering some disruption as a result.

The Developers of Bitcoin Can Alter Its Scarcity

  • When compared to other assets like fiat currencies which can be printed to unlimited amounts, and commodities like gold which can be mined, Bitcoin is one of the most difficult assets when it comes to altering its scarcity. 
  • There is no incentive to increase the supply of Bitcoin in the network, as that would significantly devalue the savings of those involved in it. 
  • In order to alter the fixed supply cap of BTC, a hard fork is needed. This would see two different chains where people will own Bitcoin on both, meaning the currency would lose no value. 

Bitcoin’s Too Expensive

  • The price of one Bitcoin has skyrocketed in recent months, but that doesn’t mean you need to buy an entire Bitcoin. Most people only buy a fraction of BTC, and even then, it still boasts far more function than conventional assets like gold, and it still has a much smaller market cap in comparison.
  • As time passes, Bitcoin’s supply is cut in half in a process known as “halving”. After each of these events, supply and demand mean that the price of Bitcoin increases as a result.
  • Over time, Bitcoin has become increasingly easier to use for a wider range of people. This means that new clients and business users will use it as a reliable store of value.

There’s No Limit To How Many Times Bitcoin Can Be Forked, Which Makes The Value Drop

  • If Bitcoin undergoes a hard fork, the value of Bitcoins held by users doesn’t decrease at all due to it remaining as it was, just on two different forks. 
  • Bitcoin has undergone numerous forks in the past, but the market largely favours the original Bitcoin core as the true store of value.

Compared To Gold, Bitcoin Doesn’t Have Any Intrinsic Value

  • Bitcoin has billions of dollars invested into mining networks and millions of person-hours invested in developing decentralised software, so it defines intrinsic value.
  • Industrially, Bitcoin doesn’t have many use cases. However, neither does the likes of 
  • Bitcoin has no industrial use, but neither do rubies, collectable banknotes, digital game tickets, or high-value artworks, yet they all hold a level of value. Gold’s industrial use cases are minuscule compared to its monetary role when it’s reserved as bullion or coins in lockboxes worldwide.

Bitcoin is a Ponzi Scheme

 

  • The foundation of a Ponzi scheme is the promise of revenue that rely heavily on the more people who are involved. However, just like gold and diamonds, there is no guaranteed income from owning Bitcoin. So the original cryptocurrency, just like gold and diamonds, cannot be a Ponzi scheme.

Bitcoin Doesn’t Have Value Because It’s Not a Yield Investment  

  • Like other assets such as diamonds, high-value artwork, gold, and silver have value based on the concept of supply and demand rather than their yield, and so does Bitcoin.
  • BTC is not a productive capital investment but rather a form of speculative savings.

 

Bitcoin is Far Too Volatile For Most Investment Portfolios

 

  • Bitcoin is volatile, but this is no issue for investors seeking a long-term asset and sees no problem with some volatility over the long term, especially when BTC has proven its ability to double in value annually based on its average past performance. 
  • When you compare the past performance of BTC to other less volatile assets such as stocks and shares, you’ll see that putting a small amount of investment into Bitcoin using cost-average methods would have netted larger gains.
  • Overall, the volatility of Bitcoin is shrinking as the market cap of BTC grows ever larger. This is because price movements require more liquidity.

Bitcoin Can’t Compete With Digital Assets Released by Central Banks 

  • Central bank-released assets cannot compete with Bitcoin as they’re two completely different assets. Firstly, BTC is a scarce asset that is impossible to censor, confiscate fully, and it can also be self-custodied. On the other hand, the currencies issued by central banks lack all of these aspects and don’t take any part in the store-of-value sphere that Bitcoin dominates.
  • When a central bank decides to move to digital currency, this doesn’t affect the foundations of the fiat currency issued by the bank. Instead, this is merely a tactic of adding another level of centralised surveillance and taking away the ability for people to use the physical currency.
  • When it comes to final settlements between rival individuals and groups, Bitcoin is a valuable commodity and thus provides a far superior reserve asset for countries than fiat currencies ever will.

More Modern Cryptocurrencies Will outdo Bitcoin

  • Regarding its role as a decentralised store of value, no other cryptocurrency comes close regarding security, scarcity, and liquidity.
  • Other cryptocurrencies, whether centralised or decentralised, are considered a far easier target than Bitcoin when it comes to the ability of cyber criminals to inflate, infiltrate, and steal.
  • Whilst Bitcoin is primarily used as a store of value as well as for its numerous utilities; most other cryptocurrencies are often used for nothing more than speculative trading.
  • When you compare various examples of other cryptocurrencies against BTC, the former have proven their ability to lose value over time rather than gain it. 

Know Your Customer (KYC) Regulations Will Majorly Damage Bitcoin

  • The effect of implementing KYC regulations varies drastically from country to country, but they have zero effect on the actual Bitcoin network. Keep in mind that addresses and the creation of transactions on the Bitcoin network are impossible to censor, so it’s difficult to determine who is in ownership of newly minted BTC and old BTC.
  • For many governments, there is a far bigger incentive to encourage Bitcoin instead of forcing it underground or into other more crypto-friendly countries.
  • KYC is a form of surveillance, but surveillance can’t expand into second layers, coin obfuscation methods, peer-to-peer exchanges, or across territories and countries that do not share data with each other.

Bitcoin is Used For Tax Evasion

  • In most countries around the world where Bitcoin is legally accepted, the governments generally regard it as a form of property and ensure it is susceptible to capital gains taxes in the same way as most other assets.
  • All legal exchanges are regulated by various governments in order for them to collect taxes. 
  • Compared to Bitcoin, which is based on a publicly accessible blockchain, conventional assets like Gold, fiat cash, and expensive artworks are easier to use as a way to dodge taxes.

Bitcoin is Useless Because Fiat Currencies Will Never Collapse

  • In times of high inflation, Bitcoin can be an incredible tool to ride it out. However, the collapse of fiat currencies isn’t a requirement for Bitcoin’s success as an innovative store of value.
  • History has shown us that fiat currencies can and have collapsed, and this is often due to poor financial policies made by the government, leading to debts that are impossible to pay back. 

 

Militaries And Taxes secure fiat Currencies, But Bitcoin is Backed By Nothing

 

  • Throughout human history, various countries have undergone extended periods of hyperinflation and seen their national currencies devalue, despite the size of their military and the percentage of taxes they take from their citizens.
  • Diamonds and gold are equally backed by nothing aside, yet they have been viewed as valuable assets throughout human history.
  • For the majority of central banks worldwide, gold is the go-to reserve asset of choice. Bitcoin, however, has the potential to fill a similar role by being a neutral reserve asset.
  • Bitcoin may not have a conventional military behind it. Still, the financial properties of the original cryptocurrency are reinforced by a massive computer network and a formidable army of developers, enthusiasts, and more.
  • In the past, militarised empires were the main method of creating a demand for a particular currency via taxation and tributes. These days, the economy of modern democratic countries relies heavily upon trade and financial policy.

Bitcoin is Distributed Unjustly

  • When you compare Bitcoin to other assets, such as property and conventional fiat currency, you’ll see that BTC comes out head and shoulders as a much more fairly distributed asset. After all, property, land, and fiat money can be monopolised through force, war, and violence, as well as withheld for the 1%, whereas anybody can access Bitcoin mining.
  • Bitcoin remains one of the first-ever assets that were available for everyday people to invest in before major institutional investors could get their hands on it.
  • Those who invest in Bitcoin in its early stage and take risks are rewarded in kind, the same as any other conventional investment. 

Disinflationary Currency Like Bitcoin Can Break The Economy 

  • These days, most modern debts are denominated in fiat currencies. Using Bitcoin as a reserve asset will not have a negative effect on that.
  • Most debt deflation incidents occur due to a build-up of significant interdependent debts inside a centralised banking network.

Merchants Aren’t Using Bitcoin

  • Bitcoin is shifting from a use case to a use case. For example, it has transformed itself from a collectable to a store of value and then to medium-of-exchange. When it becomes a unit-of-account, we will see far more merchants beginning to adopt it for everyday business.
  • It’s only natural that people would rather spend fiat currencies like the USD and GBP, depreciating in value the longer they hold them, than spend a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin that accumulates value the longer they hold it.
  • When a country doesn’t want to accept particular currencies due to political strife, such as USD in Venezuela, then many merchants will opt for Bitcoin.
  • The number of merchants using and accepting BTC has boomed in recent years thanks to revolutionary payment methods like Strike, making it exceptionally more straightforward to use BTC in everyday transactions. 

Bitcoin is Subjective

  • Market prices are decided by those who participate in said market, whether it’s gold, rubies, diamonds, or high-value artworks. The same is true for Bitcoin.
  • Billions of dollars and hours have been invested into the infrastructure of Bitcoin, and there is vested interest from an enormous range of people, from engineers and cryptographers to free thinkers and privacy advocates worldwide.

Bitcoin is a Cult

  • Whether it’s a major global company like Apple or an international government like Downing Street or the White House, all major human endeavours have a level of ideological contributions.
  • The range of people who are invested in Bitcoin and advocate for its mainstream usage can range from anarchists to human rights lawyers and wealthy economists to market traders in El Salvador; there is no concurrent theme that makes Bitcoin some kind of cult. 

The Energy Consumption of Bitcoin Damages The Environment

  • Smartphones, planes, and plastic packaging require immense power to make and lead to catastrophic levels of waste and environmental damage. Yet Bitcoin is unfairly targeted for its high energy consumption.
  • Because of the increasing amount of competition between Bitcoin miners, the mining process of Bitcoin often utilises power sources like overproduced hydroelectric, which is almost free or would otherwise be wasted. 

When Compared to Other Crypto Assets, Bitcoin is Nowhere Near as Useful Because it’s Not Programmable

  • The base design of Bitcoin makes it one of the most secure cryptocurrencies in existence. Many other cryptocurrencies allow general programming, which makes them inherently secure as it is a gateway to potential security breaches, such as the ability for people to decentralise nodes.

Criminals use Bitcoin

  • The vast majority of people who own and use BTC use the original currency in order to save for the future or speculate on its price.
  • Modern tools are only as pure as those who use them. Don’t forget that criminals can use things like mobile phones, bank accounts, laptops, cars, and planes, just like you and me.
  • It is significantly more difficult to hide evidence on the blockchain than it is to bribe a centralised bank.

In Conclusion, BTC is Going Nowhere, But Buying It Can Come With Risks. Here’s How To Avoid Them

 

To sum up, this article has counteracted the common arguments against Bitcoin and proven that the original cryptocurrency is going nowhere. However, if you want to buy BTC or another cryptocurrency after reading this article, there are a few things you should know first.

 

Bitcoin is still a relatively new concept since coming around in 2009. As a result, its price and the price of other digital assets on the crypto market are notoriously volatile and can surge and fall at a moment’s notice. So always research the market conditions and ensure you know what you’re doing prior to investing.