This is part 2 of a 3 part series on Bitcoin in Vietnam. You can read part 1 here.
What is Bitcoin anyway and why does it matter?
Well, this is not the place to explain how Bitcoin works from a technical standpoint - there are many sources around the internet which can enlighten you. In addition, in-person meet ups, which aim to introduce people to the technology, are becoming more and more widespread around the globe.
Moreover I want to give you, my dear readers, in case you haven't done it yet, a recommendation: Take some time today to read more about Bitcoin. As soon as you are able to understand the basics of how Bitcoin works - start using it!
Even now, after many Bitcoin transactions, the awesomeness of this technology still strikes me. I can send 5$ worth of Bitcoin to my wife, over a distance of nearly 10,000km instantly - just by using Skype and our smartphones (and a QR-Code-Reader-app in this specific case) - this is something which has never been possible before.
The negative side effects of this enlightenment are also quite clear - every day we see how the global financial system works - technologically outdated, inefficient and cumbersome. Current mainstream payment systems are slow, expensive, insecure and headache-inducing. But the good news for you is: this all is gonna change!
There is clearly no way that the current inefficient, unsafe, and technologically stunted payment and financial system can compete with this new technology.
As I have previously discussed, Bitcoin and its inevitable successors will be the future of money & payment (and so much more) - and there is, at this point, no way to stop this rapid change.
Given this, what’s the point of outlawing Bitcoin and branding it as a currency used only by criminals, terrorists and gamblers, which will harm the economy, put people’s wealth at risk or cause an extensive decline in a society’s morals?
Well, the answer is easy when you truly understand the impact of the arising Bitcoin: there is no point.
Like I have mentioned above - I have met and talked to hundreds of Bitcoiners over the last year - and unless all my senses betrayed me, quite the opposite from the publicly ascribed characteristics of the typical Bitcoin user are true.
Personally, I have never met such a concentrated bunch of intelligent, critical thinking people like those at the Bitcoin conferences and meetups I have attended. People are sick of a financial system which rips them of their hard-earned wealth continuously by fraud, inflation and confiscation - and are eagerly working on building a better future for the majority of humanity. And hereby it is important to state, that the positive impact of Bitcoin will be that much stronger in emerging markets like Vietnam than in developed nations. Bitcoin will - like all important technological innovations before it - help to grow the average wealth of billions of people and enable an economic vitality that has never existed.
The next 2 years will reveal which countries will embrace this technological development - and which countries will reject it and lag behind.
Therefore it is important that governments and authorities resist premature bans and restrictions, which will cause the innovators to pursue their dreams and work elsewhere.
We are living in an era, where global demand for the smartest, best educated and innovative brains can easily result in “brain drain.” Every nation, in order to provide the best chance at retaining their most talented minds in the face of relentless global competition, must encourage innovation and new ideas.
In the final part of this series,“Why Bitcoin Matters in Vietnam”, will move past the generalities of the technology and examine how Vietnam can benefit from it directly.
Dominik Weil (29) is the Co-Founder of Bitcoin Frankfurt (www.bitcoin-frankfurt.de), Managing Director of Bits of Gold Germany (in formation) and freelance consultant at Bitcoin Vietnam Co. Ltd. (www.bitcoinvietnam.com.vn), Vietnam’s first registered Bitcoin exchange.
