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Bitcoin, a very well known cryptocurrency, has just reached a market capitalisation of an outstanding $1 trillion. When asked, most people know roughly what it is – that Bitcoin is just another form of money. But is that all that it is? Let’s dive in and find out.

Bitcoin is at face value, equal to fiat money – the many currencies we hold at hand at the moment. The main difference is that Bitcoin is a commodity that is not anchored to the performance nor the regulation of any country; it is based solely on speculation and trust in the asset by its own investors and believers. Arguably this is the freest form of what one can call money. 

How safe or volatile is Bitcoin? Currencies all over the world are backed by central banks and governments which will verify and act as an assurance of value; whereas in Bitcoin’s case, there are none. No central entity is backing Bitcoin up and nobody would single-handedly have the power to regulate Bitcoin in its entirety, so what does give it value? The answer would be the revolutionary technology in which Bitcoin rests on – the Blockchain technology. This crypto avant-garde allows verifiability where  the value that one accrues as they trade or mine Bitcoin is safely tucked into the blocks of a blockchain from which people can look into but cannot change.

Let us now inspect philosophically the idea of agency and sovereignty with regards to Bitcoin. Having a Bitcoin wallet allows its investors to practice self-sovereign identities by holding a wallet that transcends national boundaries. The financial worth of an individual could be determined by him or herself, rather than stringent policies or regulations that governments have on normal currencies. By extension, the financial agency of an individual can be preserved by Bitcoin, away from any political catastrophes that may afflict said individual’s country. Theoretically, this pocketbook should emerge relatively unscathed and stable, especially in international standards where it is unlikely to be affected by any national crises.  

This brings us to the political reverberations of Bitcoin where the prospects of financial self-sovereignty acquired through this manner would threaten the powers of a government. Say, if a government loses its ability to regulate the economics of its own country i.e. via fiscal and monetary policies, its economic-political arm of power would be lost. For instance, when Facebook attempted to introduce its own version of cryptocurrency Libra in 2020, the US government almost instantaneously quashed its launching as it was thought to pose a considerable threat to the state. However, Libra (which is now known as Diem) is planning and strategising a rebirth with regulation by the government in mind soon. Why then, haven’t governments across the world thwart the concept of Bitcoin? Justifications like the complexity and security of blockchain technology, the decentralisation of its value (unlike Facebook) as well as primarily the overwhelming support that Bitcoin currently has, are the many reasons of its constant popularity.

Be that as it may, one of the contemporary challenges faced by Bitcoin currently is its usability, especially when not a lot of retailers are prepared to readily accept Bitcoin as a legitimate form of payment. Bitcoin is rather illiquid as it acts like a financial asset to transfer value (a buyer must be present) for the value to be transferred to the ‘real’ world. Yet this setback could potentially be overcome when society realises the value it possesses and harbours i.e. financial self-sovereignty and agency transcending politics and national interests.

So, can Bitcoin’s concept be implemented in our very own identity? Imagine living in a world where your being is not backed by any decrypt government or corrupt politics but instead ultimately by you yourself. In this world, you are self-sovereign and have agency over your own assets, you are the bearer and cause of your own self-worth, free from the hands of political influence. 

Just imagine that.