Let’s take a minute here to talk about the mighty redwood tree. The mighty redwood is native to the central California/ southern Oregon areas. It can grow to heights of more than 350 foot over the course of 1500 years. These trees are both the largest and longest living things currently in existence. Bitcoin is the mighty redwood.
The Bitcoin Redwood
Though by no means the largest financial ecosystem on the planet nor the longest established, it is slowly growing into something as incredible and long-lasting as the mighty redwood. Right now Bitcoin’s root system is being established. The root system being the bitcoin payment terminals at various businesses. The fiat on-ramps to various cryptocurrency exchanges. It’s the changing of social norms and social biases that we can have a currency controlled by a people and not a government. It’s having the right education and right minds entering the space. The mighty Bitcoin redwood is still young. It’s still small in comparison to other redwoods, but it’s growing quickly and is tapping into some of the most powerful resources in the world.
The Bitcoin Redwood Just Grows
The mighty bitcoin redwood doesn’t need anyones permission to grow into a giant, it simply just grows. Some redwoods won’t make it and some redwoods will die off. But some of them will survive and grow into the giant redwoods we see today. What people don’t realize is that the largest and most awe-inspiring of these trees have the most established root systems. Their roots extend for thousands of yards around them, tapping into the best soil and the best resources. Over time their root system even becomes intertwined with other redwoods forming one giant, living organism. A giant living and breathing network. The mightiest of redwoods get all the attention, but little do people know that the whole forest they see around them is part of that same tree. You can’t kill the redwood because when you do, another one in that same network takes its place. The whole system is decentralized, meaning that the failure of one tree doesn’t cause the failure of the whole ecosystem. The system is self-sufficient and self-sustaining with no single point of failure. Bitcoin is that mighty redwood ecosystem.
The Roots of the Mighty Bitcoin Redwood
As Bitcoin grows it establishes a more powerful root system. It begins to tap into financial resources previously reserved for the financial systems we’re accustomed to today and it taps into the brightest creative minds around the world. Bitcoin’s root system is global and growing at a relentless pace. The longer Bitcoin remains alive, and it’s been growing relentlessly with no downtime for over a decade, the more established it’s root system becomes. With each passing day, Bitcoin continues to grow into that mighty redwood ecosystem. Some would like to see it die. Others are actively trying to kill it. But the longer Bitcoin remains alive, the more intertwined it becomes in the global ecosystem. It grows and expands into the areas with the most fertile soil and the most sunlight. With each passing day that Bitcoin doesn’t die the more decentralized it becomes. The more powerful it’s ecosystem becomes. Much like no one person or party can control the Internet, no one person or group can control Bitcoin. It’s openly-sourced money that’s been unleashed upon the world. Accept it or don’t. You’re opinion doesn’t matter to the mighty Bitcoin redwood.
The Trunk of the Mighty Bitcoin Redwood
Now if the roots of the mighty redwood serve as the financial, intellectual and social resources of Bitcoin, then the trunk serves as the super highway to the crypto economy. The trunk of the redwood serves as the road to bring the resources gathered from the roots up to the branches and leaves up top. Bitcoin has established itself as the trunk of this redwood ecosystem. It has been tried and tested for years and thus has gained the most global adoption and acceptance. The trunk of the Bitcoin redwood is sturdy. It’s consistent. The branches of the tree may break off from time to time and leaves will die, but the tree trunk will remain intact. The trunk of the tree can be relied upon to hold the upper branches and leaves intact. The vast majority of all fiat money and resources will be funneled through the trunk of the Bitcoin redwood. Only once this happens will people begin to realize the incredible beauty and potential of the branches and leaves up top.
The Branches & Leaves of the Mighty Bitcoin Redwood
We finally get to the branches and foliage of the tree. Where the true beauty of the ecosystem lays. Now that Bitcoin has established a powerful root system spread all around the world, and important resources and nutrients are funneled from the roots, through to the trunk of the tree and up to the leaves and foliage at the top can the true beauty and power of the crypto economy be realized. The branches and leaves on top is all the innovation that grew out of Bitcoin. This is where all the thousands of companies dedicated to harnessing the potential of blockchain technology sit. The millions of people dedicated to making sure that this new digital ecosystem plays a key role in the future. The dreamers who see the potential of Bitcoin to rewrite social constructs and create a new global economy. Most of the new growth comes from this part of the tree. One could argue that decentralized protocols like Ethereum or EOS serve as the branches on the top of this redwood and that the companies building on top of these protocols serves as the twigs and leaves stemming from these branches. Most of the death also comes from here. One could also argue that all the scam companies and fraudulent ICO’s in the space serve as some of the branches and leaves stemming from the top of the Bitcoin redwood. Over time these will slowly die and fall off leaving a more vibrant and powerful tree in it’s wake. In fact, only when the trunk of the tree has gathered enough nutrients from the roots can the branches and leaves up top truly grow and thrive. Once this happens, the true power of the crypto economy can be realized. Entirely new business models will be made possible through the global network of the crypto economy and the strength of the mighty Bitcoin redwood. We can continue to give the Bitcoin redwood the right nutrients to help it thrive and grow quickly, but at the end of the day, it will continue to grow whether someone wants it to or not. After all, it’s pretty tough to kill a tree whose root system spans the entirety of the Internet-connected world.
