{"id":29453,"date":"2022-11-09T14:24:19","date_gmt":"2022-11-09T22:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=29453"},"modified":"2022-11-09T14:24:19","modified_gmt":"2022-11-09T22:24:19","slug":"bitcoin-new-and-improved-means-of-exchange","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/bitcoin-new-and-improved-means-of-exchange\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin: New (and improved?) Means of Exchange"},"content":{"rendered":"

In The Bitcoin Standard<\/em>, author Saifedean Ammous states a bold premise. \u201cBitcoin represents the first truly digital solution to the problem of money, and in it we find a potential solution to the problems of salability, soundness, and sovereignty.\u201d[1]<\/a> Ammous argues for bitcoin as the world\u2019s first government-free, unchangeable, and sound currency. He refers to bitcoin as the solution \u201cto solve a problem that has persisted for all of humanity\u2019s existence: how to move economic value across time and space.\u201d He also draws from Nicholas Taleb when he declares bitcoin \u201cthe embodiment of antifragility, which is understood as gaining from adversity and disorder.\u201d[2]<\/a> His argument for bitcoin centers on its salability versus the failures of other forms of money. Salability refers to \u201cthe ease with which\u00a0 a good can be sold on the market whenever its holder desires, with the least loss in its price.\u201d[3]<\/a> In addition to bitcoin\u2019s store of value, transportability, and divisibility, its freedom from the government monopoly of centralized banking makes it a unique step in the history of the world.<\/p>\n

The book divides into three main sections. This book on economics first overviews the need for money as a means of exchange. The second section traces the history of money, including its failures due to various limitations. Finally, section three explains Bitcoin as a cryptocurrency, unpacks the benefits of bitcoin, and gives the author’s reasoning as to why it solves many of the failures of economic history. \u201cShould it achieve some sort of stability in value, bitcoin would be superior to using national currencies for global payment settlements.\u201d[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

Reading The Bitcoin Standard<\/em> caused me to return to Karl Polanyi\u2019s book The Great Transformation.\u00a0<\/em>He argued that capitalism is the product of a double movement. One movement takes place in self-regulating markets while the second movement refers to the imposed regulation to guard against the abuses of the markets. The markets cannot, and should not, exist apart from government regulation. The state can maintain needed economic and social order. As I compare Polanyi with Ammous, I see Ammous with little to no concern about the need to regulate bitcoin as a standard of currency. Instead, Ammous celebrates the freedom of centralized government control over bitcoin. Will there be a need for regulation of cryptocurrency in light of its many advantages? I believe so.<\/p>\n

I freely admit that I am out of my area of knowledge when it comes to economics, so I offer my opinion not based on what I know about economics but on what I believe about human nature. I agree with Augustine about the dark reality of human nature. Humanity is not as bad as it could be, but it is unable to escape its polluted nature. The comparison of Rousseau\u2019s and Augustine\u2019s understanding of human nature remains fresh from last week\u2019s reading. Any system with no accountability can become leveraged to advantage some and disadvantage others. To this uneducated economic student, Ammous\u2019 optimism about bitcoin\u2019s ability to overcome all the failures of money evokes the old saying, \u201cif it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Applying cryptocurrency to a ministry context took some thought. Economics is a part of pastoral ministry, but I have maintained a personal distance from direct involvement with the finances of the church for accountability reasons. In the bigger picture, I have seen the need to think about money in new and creative ways through the years. Early in my ministry timeframe, everyone gave cash or wrote a check. Over a decade ago, we offered an online giving option; today, eighty to ninety percent of weekly giving comes online. Five years ago, we did away with passing an offering plate, and some predicted a sharp downturn in giving as an expected result. Actually, our giving increased after that decision. It is always easier to stay with what brought one to the present, but church leadership requires discernment in multiple fields, including finances. At present, our church is not prepared to receive bitcoin or any other crypto-currency as giving. I do believe that step needs to happen sooner rather than later. The pandemic taught me the need for flexibility and an agile organization that can pivot quickly.<\/p>\n

With a looming recession on the horizon, our church expects next year\u2019s budget to be equal to or less than this year\u2019s. Anticipating more people struggling to make ends meet, we also seek to free up financial resources to assist those in need. When it comes to the church, its \u201cstandard\u201d must include practical compassion for those in need. The economic side of ministry must serve the mission of the church. Putting finances into the proper context in ministry requires a clear understanding of ecclesiology. One part of the church\u2019s purpose must include those in need. One example is I John 3:17-18 which says, \u201cBut if anyone has the world\u2019s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God\u2019s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.\u201d (ESV) Will that verse find fulfillment in the future through bitcoin given in Jesus\u2019 name? Yes, I think so. The mission remains the same, the means of exchange to get it done continue to change.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Saifedean Ammous, The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking <\/em>(Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2018), 167.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid., 230.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid., 4.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid., 216.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In The Bitcoin Standard, author Saifedean Ammous states a bold premise. \u201cBitcoin represents the first truly digital solution to the problem of money, and in it we find a potential solution to the problems of salability, soundness, and sovereignty.\u201d[1] Ammous argues for bitcoin as the world\u2019s first government-free, unchangeable, and sound currency. He refers to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":149,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2437],"class_list":["post-29453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ammous","cohort-lgp11"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/149"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29454,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29453\/revisions\/29454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}