In defense of bitcoin

Last modified: August 20^th, 2023

Bitcoin believers and bitcoin MLM-like salespersons, use common tricks to defend bitcoin from criticism. In this article I will give some extra insight into these tricks, and try to explain why these are tricks instead of real arguments. I already mentioned some tricks in the previous articles, so please read them, here I will try to focus on some other tricks used and/or give some extra explanation on already mentioned tricks.

I already mentioned FUD, the Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. Although FUD can actually be a trick to get you to buy into something, it has become a trick to short circuit the brain so it will not process criticism of bitcoin. If something is FUD, you should be able to explain why it is so. FUD is originally used to sell you something, so first the FUD is created and then the solution is provided for you that will alleviate you from this FUD. Once you understand this, you can see that criticism of bitcoin often isn't FUD, because most of us who think bitcoin is a scam, don't want to sell you anything. I don't offer you something to alleviate any fear, uncertainty or doubt. Bitcoin however is offered as a solution to the FUD that is created about (central) banking, financial institutions, governments and fiat currencies.

Yeah, that's right, think about that for a minute. And does bitcoin actually help you? If you start to think about it, what are exchanges? Aren't these just unregulated financial institutions? And to receive your money when selling bitcoin, don't you do that using a bank, or when spending maybe using a credit card company? And isn't everything priced in fiat currency, even bitcoin? And if the bitcoin price keeps kind of stable, doesn't that make bitcoin undergo inflation, because the fiat currency it is priced in is subjected to inflation? Bitcoin isn't isolated and isn't used only peer to peer, without any interaction with the world of (central) banking, financial institutions, governments and fiat currencies.

Now let's talk a bit more about the "you don't understand it" phrase we critics of bitcoin hear a lot. As I have shown in PoW is insane I do have some understanding of bitcoin, and I think often better then most of the people I am discussing with. The "you don't understand it" seems to end the discussion, it is a get out of jail (or discussion) for free card, as people using this as an 'argument' don't have any real arguments themselves. They don't explain what you supposedly don't understand. I am willing to be enlightened, and if I do make mistakes, please point them out to me. This is the same with the DYOR (Do Your Own Research) statement, no explanation is given, and yes, I did my own research.

Then there is the "then x is also a y", this is a form of a Tu quoque logical fallacy, and specifically a form of Whataboutism and is also used as a distraction or a Red herring.

As an example, I often read things like 'then fiat currency is also a Ponzi'. This is used to distract from the discussion why bitcoin is a Ponzi, and often tricks people into discussing the newly proposed statement. Using this, no arguments are given why bitcoin isn't a Ponzi, only a counter-accusation is made. Whether or not fiat currency is also a Ponzi, does not invalidate bitcoin as a Ponzi, it is a totally different question.

Also as I mentioned in my main article, when saying that bitcoin is a Ponzi, what happens is that people start discussing the definition of a Ponzi. They start to say that the bitcoin Ponzi does not have a property that is usually associated with a Ponzi according to some definition. Please understand, these schemes evolve, and I don't really care if it is called a Ponzi or not, I claim it is a scam or a con. Discussing a definition whether it should be called a Ponzi or not, does not invalidate bitcoin as a scam.

So now I have discussed some of the common defense tricks for bitcoin. I think these will be very familiar to both the bitcoin enthusiasts as well as the bitcoin critics. For the bitcoin enthusiasts I would like to say, please think about why these tricks are used? Well some of you already know and will keep on using these, as these people want the sell their bitcoin for a higher price then what they paid for them. To do so, they need to create more believers in bitcoin. Don't be fooled, and don't be the greater fool.