For crypto die-hards, the idea of Bitcoin collapsing is unthinkable. But what would happen if, for any reason, the Bitcoin network failed? Max Gagliardi, the co-founder of Ancova Energy, a U.S. Bitcoin mining and advisory outfit, laid out potential outcomes in the event that such a situation ever materialized.
“If bitcoin fails, privacy fails,” Gagliardi outlined in a long Twitter thread on Jan 23. “The ability for individuals to send and receive value peer-to-peer without the interference of government and the banking system will be lost. Bitcoin (BTC) allows for a future where anyone can have private access to their money.”
He spoke as crypto markets cratered in the past week, led by bitcoin, an asset dismissed by some investors and economists as a speculative bubble. BTC tumbled 20% in the two days since Jan 19, to a six-month low of about $33,400, as fear reached fever pitch. Bitcoin has since pared some of those losses but remains 45% off its all-time high of $69,000 on Nov 10.
Drawing on the foundational principles of Bitcoin, Gagliardi argued that bitcoin failing means victory for governmental oppression, censorship, and corruption. Conversely, if the top digital asset succeeds, freedom, transparency, and truth triumph.
“We are in an unprecedented age of censorship. Bitcoin is the most secure network that has ever been built. Resilient, antifragile, and permission-less. Open to anyone in the world. There is nothing else like it. Bitcoin can’t be censored,” he said, adding:
“The government can lose hundreds of billions annually but wants us to report every time we spend over $600. There is no government accountably or transparency in our system. Without Bitcoin we lose the only counterweight to that system.”
Gagliardi continued, “Unelected bureaucrats decide the value of your labor and time. Money is the way we store the value of our time on this earth. No one should have the power to inflate the value of your time away from you. Bitcoin’s set 21 million supply fixes this.”
If Bitcoin fails, capitalism, truth and freedom fail
Revered by the public, bitcoin is much loathed by governments because of its decentralized nature, which frowns upon central control while thriving on privacy. It has been targeted for attack for its use by some people in transactions considered by governments as “illegal,” price volatility as well as its carbon footprint.
Thus, there have been direct efforts from world governments to stifle bitcoin’s growth by introducing tough legislation. In the case of China, a complete ban seemed appropriate. There is risk also that rogue actors could hijack the network through what is known as a 51% attack and collapse the ecosystem.
However, in the rush for profit and gain, the ethos of BTC as a tool for both individual and societal liberty appears lost on many in the crypto sphere. On this account, Gagliardi emphasized that BTC was “too important to fail.” He described Bitcoin, and the technology behind it known as the blockchain, as objects of truth and free speech. If the crypto fails, both fail. He said:
“Bitcoin is code. Letters and numbers. A private key is all you need to be able to store, transport and transact value with. Never in human history has speech and language been this powerful. The freedom to speak is the most basic of human rights.”
Gagliardi, also the host of a podcast on energy and bitcoin mining, said BTC cannot be allowed to fail because doing that would result in the failure of capitalism as a concept, and the transition in energy. He said “we need Bitcoin, the energy buyer of first and last resort,” to move to a “new energy future.”
“Bitcoin monetizes energy waste and incentivizes new and efficient energy resources,” Gagliardi detailed, adding that the Bitcoin network “represented the spirit of capitalism harnessed in code [because it] gained [its] value organically from the bottom up.”
Too important to fail
In the event Bitcoin collapses, people will own nothing, he says. “We don’t own anything of value. Property and money are regulated and stored with custodians. You don’t own it; you just have a claim. With Bitcoin, the value of your life’s work can be stored in a few words. Free to take with you anywhere.”
Gagliardi concluded that BTC was “too important. We cannot let [it] fail.” Not everyone agreed with this line of thought though. Allen Drewe criticized bitcoin’s use as a conduit for criminal activity.
“Imagine thinking Bitcoin is about truth and transparency. It’s about money laundering and dark web shit before anything else,” he alleged.
Gagliardi retorted “The U.S. dollar is the most widely used currency for crime, drugs, and terrorism. What I mean by truth/transparency is the immutable nature of the network’s ledger. There is no cheating it. Once the proof of work is complete it becomes an objective record forever. No ambiguity”
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