The common Bitcoin debate is around whether it’s a viable currency or commodity and if the $1100 peak was just speculative insanity. (eg. an NYT editoral by Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman)

Then the technology experts chime in and say Bitcoin is so much more than a tradable commodity… it’s a “protocol” that solves the “Byzantine General’s Problem” with a “distributed general ledger” and THAT’S a big deal. (eg. an NYT editorial by Marc Andreessen)

Good luck digging in to that… I hope you’ve got some motivation, time and cryptography knowledge handy!

There’s an easier analogy if you’re vaguely familiar with the evolution of Linux and Windows since the late 90s. Remember when Linux was a polarizing new crazy idea and Windows had 95+% market share?

Let’s imagine for a second that Bitcoin today is like Linux in the late 90s, and the US Dollar is like Windows…

Microsoft Windows was the hegemonic end-all operating system like the US Dollar is the hegemonic end-all global currency.

Linux is free software built by a bunch of random people around the world, just like Bitcoin is free software with a mythical anonymous founder named Satoshi.

The analogy is relevant because:

Windows and Linux are operating systems. You need them to make computers do stuff. Linux is free, so companies could do more interesting things without being beholden to Microsoft. A lot of that stuff happened to be on the internet.

US Dollar and Bitcoin are trust networks. You need strong trust networks so people can confidently exchange stuff and do business. Bitcoin is free, so companies might be able to have more interesting exchanges and marketplaces without being beholden to banks and governments. A lot of that stuff will probably be on the internet.