The Bitcoin Big Bang: How Alternative Currencies Are About to Change the World

Chapter 12 Everything You Know about Business Is Wrong

I have seen the future and it works.

—Lincoln Steffans

Everything you learned about business is wrong. This statement is shocking, true, and is meant to convey the stunning developments that the decentralized distributed Bitcoin network is spawning. The Bitcoin Big Bang is not anarchistic revolt toward a socialistic economic system; it is, in fact, a restorative for capitalism and democracy. Decentralization places the economic power into the hands of the citizens and removes many of the regulations that prevent capitalism from functioning efficiently. Bitcoin, alternative currencies, and the blockchain are the tools that can be used to extract the positive influences of capitalism. These tools can be used to build new businesses or replace broken currency regimes. Moreover, the blockchain concept can be used in applications beyond economics.

First-year business students learn that corporations exist to make a profit. What is missed is the implied “hope” that lies within the profit motive. Corporations were conceived to pool the risk of long overseas voyages and to protect the investors from personal loss beyond the original investment. While these entities are fueled by the profit motive, their continued existence is wholly dependent on whether society values its products. Value is derived from the function of the end product. In the end, any product that does not aid human survival is a luxury good. The implied hope ...