Bitcoin isn’t controlled by any government, institution, corporation, or any other centralised authority. And its supply is strictly limited to 21 million bitcoins – no more can ever be created.
This is completely different from fiat money, whose supply, price and distribution are constantly changed by government institutions (mostly central banks) and government-regulated companies (such as retail banks).
As a neutral, limited-supply money beyond anyone’s control, Bitcoin represents a grave threat to power. In a world dominated by Bitcoin, it would be much more difficult for governments to spend what they can’t afford, and then dodge the resulting debt using inflation. It would also choke off an ever-fiercer government money torrent which entire sectors of big business such as pharmaceuticals and defence have come to rely on.
Bitcoin also directly threatens the banking industry by rendering many of its services – from current accounts to wire transfers – obsolete. And by reducing the need for gargantuan markets such as foreign exchange (trillions of dollars per day) and investments such as shares and bonds (which many only buy to try to protect themselves from inflation), Bitcoin also threatens the wider finance industry.
Whether deliberate or through unconscious bias, attacks on Bitcoin are coloured by these threats to established power and vested interests.
Bitcoin is dangerous.