“Bitcoin is the fifth evolution of money in its most abstract form,” says Mastering Bitcoin author

Bitcoin [BTC], the largest and the first cryptocurrency in the market, has been the beacon for hope for several individuals across the globe. The most common notion surrounding Satoshi Nakamoto’s creation is financial freedom, independence from governments and centralized intermediaries. The coin has marked several milestones in terms of development and adoption since.

Andreas M Antonopoulos, a well-known Bitcoin proponent and the author of Mastering Bitcoin, spoke about the largest cryptocurrency, in an interview with Peter McCormack on whatbitcoindid. Discussing the definition of Bitcoin and its journey over the past ten years, he speculated on Bitcoin being hailed as a primary currency at some point in time in the future.

The author was asked what Bitcoin was according to him. He said,

“I would say Bitcoin is the fifth evolution of money in its most abstract form coupled to a new governance model that delivers the the purest form of network governance we’ve ever seen”

Andreas also spoke about Bitcoin’s journey over the past ten years, stating that the coin was making tremendous progress. He further added that technology proved to be “enormously resilient” several times, adding that this was highly beneficial when it was being attacked. He said,

“It’s been attacked both from the outside and the inside a number of times by different power structures and embedded interests both within and without the crypto space and it’s managed to repel these attacks and maintain the fundamental structure.”

This was followed by the author speaking about his perspective on the coin being declared as a primary currency for certain countries or all countries in the future, considering that the coin is already considered a global currency by many. To this, he stated,

“[…] that depends on many other factors, […] on what Fiat does across the globe. In the meantime I don’t think that’s necessarily a very good goal because in some cases. I think certain types of mainstreaming of this technology require compromises that I personally wouldn’t make”

He went on to say that he would rather prefer something that is less mainstream, but delivers maximum freedom and empowerment to people using it, rather than seeing it endorsed by governments or banks. He added that “mainstreamed to people who care less about privacy and monetary soundness and centralization of power.”