最近认识了不少币友，其中之一就是Strike的小老弟Jack Mallers，小了我足足四十岁。 Jack是个精力狂魔，跟他一起玩我觉得我真是老了，但是也打了不少鸡血。我错过了造手机，错过了互联网，亏大发了，最近我才搞了个软件公司。比特币这一波我不能再错过了。

Turning challenges to opportunities （有挑战才有机会）

It has been more than a decade since the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto published her/his/their paper, launching a new form of electronic money: bitcoin. I was skeptical of bitcoin for many years and my arguments were more or less consistent with everyone else’s: the network’s electricity consumption is wasteful, the network is not scalable, its ideals of anonymity play into the hands of criminals, and so on.

比特币也十岁了。我以前一直听人叨叨逼，说比特币浪费电，说比特币太慢，说人用它洗黑钱，所以傻逼了，没多花点心思在上面。

Money is a human invention, a social construct that only works since we collectively believe in it. In fact, the term “fiat money” is derived from the Latin word “fiat,” which means “an act of will that creates something without further effort.” It’s a decree. Of all the previous attempts at digital currencies—and there were many—bitcoin was the one that broke out. In the beginning, it was worth zero point zero with as many zeros as you would like. But the more people believe in it, the more valuable it becomes. It’s a classic network effect.

钱这个东西吧，其实也是个人造产物。大家伙都信它了，它才是钱。其实大家以前搞了很多数字货币，也就比特币一个脱颖而出了。一开始也就几个人玩，后来慢慢出圈了，现在比特币教已经开枝散叶，信徒遍布全世界，所以它值钱了。所以说共识才是钱。

Yes, Bitcoin consumes electricity. And pays for it at the locally prevailing market prices. But we believe Bitcoin will enable applications that can create tremendous value. If so, it will be engrained into the social fabric and can’t go to zero since it’s immune to the political forces that destroys a currency. If this scenario plays out, we might change our focus from the price of a bitcoin to that of a satoshi (one bitcoin is one hundred million satoshi). If our phones are full of Bitcoin applications in five years, the network’s value is a Stairway to Heaven.

比特币当然耗电，当地的电价就是它的成本，但这是毛毛雨啊，你想想它吹出的大泡泡，它有可能改变社会，有可能超脱于政治之外，潜力简直大到天上去了。别不信，到时候你可能连比特币的一个零头都买不起了。远的咱先不说，想想五年后，到时候你手机里一堆app都是关于比特币的，那个时候的价格都够你喝一壶的。

So, is it wasteful? （真的是在白白烧电吗？）

To achieve the ambitions in the Paris Agreement, we need to vastly increase electrification of society, which will drive higher demand for electrical power. But we need that electricity from renewable sources. Wind and solar are now cheap enough. But they are intermittent, meaning we can only produce when the wind blows and the sun shines. To transform it into baseload power that can be supplied at any given time, there is a tremendous need for batteries in all forms. (责任编辑：admin)