I highly recommend everyone to check out this article about Bitcoin written by Mai Gang in 2014, it is very wonderful.

Especially at the end of the article, it mentioned Bitcoin as a tool for major power games, essentially predicting what the United States is doing in 2025.

Mike Gang: You need to understand Bitcoin

The most essential thing in economics is currency.

I read a book before the financial crisis about a famous physicist. He said that we scientists, such as those studying the length, width, weight, and time in physics, deal with constants. You economists, on the other hand, study variables.

For example: "How much is a McDonald's worth?"

——You have to ask whether it's US dollars, Chinese yuan, or Japanese yen?

——You have to ask if it's the dollar from 1958 or the dollar from 1985?

After finishing, I felt a sudden realization that economics studies some changing things. I majored in economics during my undergraduate studies and should revisit the most essential aspect that keeps changing in this discipline—currency.

Afterward, there were some books, such as "Currency Wars," that raised public awareness about currency. I gained a relatively comprehensive understanding of currency, so when Bitcoin appeared, I could only express one word: "Wow!"
Bitcoin captures the essence of currency.

What is Bitcoin? Explain it in two sentences.

1. Bitcoin is a perfect currency simulated by mathematicians, geeks, and network scientists using distributed algorithms; 2. This property is maintained by the computational power of distributed, incredibly powerful computers.

Bitcoin is this thing. All discussions, doubts, questioning, and innovations about Bitcoin return to this framework. Therefore, Bitcoin is not a conspiracy, but a bright ambition; what Bitcoin does is clear. All data about Bitcoin can be checked online by anyone at any time. Bitcoin captures the essence of currency; what it aims to do is simulate perfect currency.

Why can Bitcoin simulate perfect currency?

(1) The monetary characteristics of Bitcoin surpass precious metals.

The history of currency spans five thousand years, while the history of nations is three thousand years. Currency is a concept that predates the existence of nations by a long time. Therefore, China's currency has gone through various forms of choices, from feathers, shells, stones, livestock, and even women used as currency in some countries at the time, until the emergence of precious metal currency.

Precious metals cannot be forged, or the cost of forgery is extremely high. The transaction cost is low, storage is relatively convenient, and they can be divided. Their texture is relatively soft, and these attributes are reflected in precious metals. Therefore, precious metals are used as currency circulation. There are still costs associated with gold trading, as there are risks in delivery and redemption when exchanging from one place to another. This is something many people are not aware of.

The total supply of Bitcoin is limited and distributed in a decentralized manner. As long as there are computers, anyone can participate and engage, which is very equitable. Bitcoin is a commodity simulated using mathematical methods, possessing all the characteristics of precious metals, and surpassing the precious metals of the past in all these properties.

Moreover, the Bitcoin network can continue to upgrade, so there won't be a problem like gold exiting the historical stage, where gold is no longer sufficient. For digital currencies, there is no issue of insufficiency.

(2) It is highly unlikely that Bitcoin will be forged in probability.

First, the computing power is enormous and is controlled by various people around the world. It is very difficult for one person to grasp that many people and that much computing power at the same time.

Secondly, even if someone has the opportunity to control this computing power, from an economic and logical perspective, that person should control the network and not attack it, because their assets are Bitcoin, and they would not destroy their own property. Therefore, this is a probability problem and a logical problem.

Third, the transaction cost of Bitcoin is low, which is a particularly important feature. The total number of Bitcoins will be permanently limited to 21 million, and Bitcoins can currently be divided into units calculated up to 8 decimal places (0.00000001BTC is the current smallest unit), which is the existing calculation system of Bitcoin.
(Three ), the Bitcoin network is an advanced clearing payment system.

The Bitcoin network is a fully automated clearing and payment system that is not managed by anyone, and Bitcoin is the circulating unit produced by this network. This network is a naturally occurring clearing payment system, and this clearing payment system does not require management; the use value of Bitcoin is reflected in its role as a clearing network.

Western Union, based in the United States, has a history of over fifty years and earns billions of dollars in profits annually, especially widely used in relatively underdeveloped countries. It helps customers with remittances, with a delivery time of one to two weeks, and charges between 5 to 8 percent. What a lucrative and wonderful business this is.

The payment of Bitcoin is basically credited within a few minutes, around ten minutes, with very, very low transaction fees. Therefore, including companies like VISA, which represent the existing financial circulation system and the technical architecture of commercial banking, Bitcoin has surpassed the past systems with a new technological architecture and foundation. Thus, this is the advanced aspect of Bitcoin in terms of circulation networks and the exchange functions of commercial banks.

Decentralization is the guarantee of Bitcoin's security and freedom.

There are three forms of currency in human society: the first is a monetary system represented by precious metal gold, and the second is credit currency supported by government credit. In the era of credit currency, the common problems we see are inflation, excessive currency issuance, and currency wars. The monetary system we are currently in is one where the US dollar is dominant, with the dollar rampant globally. All of us around the world, especially the struggling Chinese, are working for the United States. Why do American jeans cost 10 or 20 dollars, but in China they sell for 100 yuan? All of this is because the US dollar is the universally accepted currency, and the dollar has achieved this through its hegemony.

However, the emergence of Bitcoin has ushered humanity into the third era of currency. When I say the third era, I do not mean to replace the previous two. It's like the emergence of the internet, which did not aim to replace fax machines and telephones; they coexist. This is decentralization, a virtual currency built on mathematical concepts, and decentralization is the guarantee of Bitcoin's security and freedom.