Today, an article entitled Why I Bailed On Bitcoin appeared on Inc.com. It was written by Howard Tullman, the CEO of 1871, which claims to be "the number one university-affiliated incubator in the United States" and "the home of more than 500 early-stage, high-growth digital startups."

I'd encourage you to stop here and read the article if you haven't already.

Great. Now that you've read the article, let me explain to you how all three of Mr. Tullman's criticisms of Bitcoin are not only wrong, but they are completely ridiculous.

Mr. Tullman's first reason for bailing on Bitcoin is that he "forgot he owned a bunch". Apparently, Mr. Tullman is not aware that one of the main benefits of Bitcoin is that it is essentially "digital cash" that requires no middle-man to send, and it is up to the individual user to safeguard - just like actual cash.

What happens if you forget that you own a bunch of cash and lose track of it? It's gone.

What happens if you forget that you own a car and lose track of the keys? Someone takes the keys and drives away with it.

What happens if you forget that you own a bunch of Bitcoin and lose track of the private keys that give you access to it? It's gone. That's it. You'll never get it back.

What Mr. Tullman is calling a weakness of Bitcoin is actually it's greatest strength. For the first time ever, individuals have the power to have digital cash that they are fully and completely responsible for protecting. Because of this, banks are not required, but a higher amount of responsibility certainly is.

This is why Bitcoin users who invest any reasonable amount into the cryptocurrency understand that you must safeguard your private keys just the same as you would a pile of cash. Some users print them out and put them in a safe deposit box. Others, like myself, use a hardware wallet like Trezor to preserve our security and keep that device in a safe. Mr. Tullman clearly did none of these things, and he's blaming the currency for his lack of knowledge.

Mr. Tullman's second reason for bailing on Bitcoin is that "there's no there there". With this argument, Mr. Tullman recounts an anecdote where he withdrew US Dollars from his Coinbase account (where he purchased Bitcoin, then successfully sold it) into a bank account of his that was no longer active. Because he withdrew his US Dollars into a closed bank account, he had a delay in receiving his funds. He then went on to contact Coinbase's customer service department (which he tellingly refers to as Bitcoin's customer service department) and was disappointed with their slow response time.

It seems like Mr. Tullman is consistently confused as to what the difference is between Coinbase and Bitcoin. Let me explain. Bitcoin is a currency, just like the US Dollar. Coinbase is an exchange which can also hold your Bitcoin for you, if you don't mind not controlling your money. In that regard, Coinbase is like a bank.

Now, let me ask you this: if you were to make a mistake with your Chase Bank account and inadvertently withdraw money into a Wells Fargo account that you closed 5 years ago, would you blame the US Dollar and put all of your money into the Euro?

This may sound ludicrous, however it is exactly the argument that Mr. Tullman is making about Bitcoin. Let's move on.

Mr. Tullman's third reason for bailing on Bitcoin is "there's not enough coins to make a currency". Anyone who has done a small amount of research about Bitcoin knows that there will only ever be a maximum of 21,000,000 Bitcoins in the world. There will never be more than that. If you stop your information intake right here, you think that Mr. Tullman may have a point.

However, those of us who know better will read on. And yes, another fact that anyone who has done a small amount of research would know is that those 21,000,000 coins can be divided all the way down to .00000001 Bitcoin. That means that it is possible to divide 21,000,000 Bitcoins into 2,100,000,000,000,000 (quadrillion) units. Even if Bitcoin were to go up in value to $100,000, the smallest amount that you could purchase or send would be $.001 (one-tenth of one cent). There is more than enough Bitcoin for everyone on the planet.

Mr. Tullman's lack of understanding about the divisibility of Bitcoin is the third and final blow to his arguments against the viability of the world's leading cryptocurrency.

Before I get to my closing statement, it's worthwhile to quote Mr. Tullman's:

"Once the creation cap is reached and there are just a bunch of morons passing these digital chits around, it's hard to imagine why anyone would pay up for these things any longer. Looks to me like a race to the exits will shortly ensue. I'm already out; can't wait to watch the stampede."

And now for my closing statement:

Be careful where you get your information about this revolutionary new form of money. Ignorance abounds.

﻿Questions? Please leave them in the comments and I'll answer as many as I can.

My Bitcoin address: 33JyT6eooZ52WQadoX2NM79JmU8pQkrhXX