Bitcoin is many things to many people – digital gold, speculative investment, technological experiment, decentralized replacement for fiat money, etc.
But compared to central banks, of course, cryptocurrency creator Satoshi Nakamoto is expected to be compared. However, this is what Strike CEO Jack Mallers said in a recent Twitter thread. Is he right?
Jack Mallers Makes Striking Statement About BTC
Jack Mallers is the CEO of Chicago-based BTC payment provider Strike and played a key role in bringing Bitcoin widely to El Salvador. In a recent Twitter thread, he compared the top cryptocurrency to a central bank — more specifically, an “internet central banking system.”
The Bitcoin Network (often abbreviated as #Bitcoinor simply BTC) is the central banking system of the Internet (or internet).
– Jack Mallers (@jackmallers) February 21, 2023
Comparing Bitcoin With The Central Bank System
In the coin base of the first block in the Bitcoin chain, the so-called Genesis block contains text “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.”
The title of the newspaper refers to the efforts made by the government and the central bank to save small banks from collapse in the middle of the Great Financial Crisis of 2008. During the collapse, the British bank Northern Rock asked for emergency help, the first bank in the country in more than 150 years.
Central banks were introduced for various reasons – such as controlling the money supply, inflation, and interest rates. But most importantly, the central bank’s role as lender of last resort, designed to prevent the ongoing bank runs that occurred before the 1929 Wall Street Panic.
Although Bitcoin was created in protest for such a policy, which can have dangerous effects that citizens do not speak in, central banks are bailing out other banks exactly what they are supposed to do. And if it is the central bank’s goal, is it really accurate to call Bitcoin the “central banking system of the internet,” or compare it to a central bank?
BTC versus the stock market since the 2008 Great Financial Crisis | BTCUSD on TradingView.com
Do CEO Strikes Know?
The answer is “yes.” Bitcoin was designed to complement the internet as an emerging economy and free it from government control and freedom from the influence of traditional central bank monetary policy.
Maller’s Twitter thread said that the Bitcoin network was created to “alleviate the financial crisis”, as central banks are supposed to do. The big difference between Bitcoin and central banks is that the government’s “privilege” cannot increase the supply of BTC like the current fiat system.
It has been more than 14 years since the beginning of cryptocurrency and the world is preparing for another collapse of the financial system. Is Bitcoin ready to save the internet from the next major financial crisis? And you agree with Jack?