Bitcoin - Debunking Common Myths

Bitcoin has been on a tear for 16 straight years now. The network continues to grow, the tools continue to improve, and adoption shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Yet somehow, while Bitcoin and its ecosystem continues to evolve, the anti-Bitcoin rhetoric that detractors use to try and disparage it seems to be stuck in some sort of time-warp.

 For years we’ve heard the same tired old arguments from the establishment and mainstream media about Bitcoin. ‘It’s a scam’, ‘It’s only used by criminals’, ‘It’s killing the planet’. And one of our personal favourites…. ‘Bitcoin isn’t scarce!’ 

If you’ve been around for a little while you’ll have heard them all before. And despite
the tireless efforts of the Bitcoin community to debunk these false narratives, they persist to this day, hanging around like a bad smell or a shitcoiner at your local Bitcoin meetup.

It turns out it’s a lot easier to spread bullshit about Bitcoin than it is to clean it up.

These false narratives are more than just misconceptions made by well-meaning people who just misunderstood Bitcoin. They’re blatant propaganda. Deliberate distractions pushed by those who benefit from a broken financial system and are desperate to keep you from finding the exit to their rigged game.

So, not for the first time, let’s break down some of these common myths and provide concise but effective counter arguments against them. That way when you’re faced with these nonsensical tropes, you can quickly debunk them and move the conversation in a more meaningful direction. 

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Bitcoin is a Ponzi Scheme

You’ve probably heard this one from a smug Uncle at a family barbecue or some talking head on TV: “Bitcoin’s just a Ponzi scheme!” they cry from a position of total ignorance.

Making this statement doesn’t just reveal a complete misunderstanding of Bitcoin, it represents a fundamental understanding of what even constitutes a true ponzi scheme.

Ponzis are a fraudulent investment scheme based on a very simple premise. Instead of creating real profits by providing valuable goods or service, in a ponzi scheme early investors are simply paid with money from newer investors that they manage to recruit. They are often referred to as pyramid schemes because of how they are structured.

Ponzi schemes like this can balloon in size as they draw more and more suckers in with the promise of easy money, but eventually they always collapse when the influx of greater fools dries up.

Bitcoin doesn’t operate this way. It’s not a centralized scheme run by some shady operator promising guaranteed returns. Bitcoin is a decentralized network, secured by cryptography and energy, with no one at the ‘top’ skimming profits. Your Bitcoin isn’t someone else’s IOU, it isn’t a promise of future returns. It’s just money, owned by you and verifiable on the blockchain for anyone to see. Bitcoin doesn’t need “new money” entering the system to sustain itself; it runs on miners securing transactions and users holding their own keys.

This myth persists because people love simple narratives, and “Bitcoin is a Ponzi” is easier to swallow than learning how a trust-less, peer-to-peer network actually works. Critics conveniently ignore that Ponzi schemes rely on secrecy and control, while Bitcoin’s code is open-source, and every transaction is public.

If anything, the true Ponzi is the fiat system, where central banks print money to prop up debt bubbles, steal from savers and enrich those closest to the money printer at the expense of everyone else.

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Bitcoin Isn’t Backed by Anything

You’ll often hear that Bitcoin isn’t real. That you can’t touch it or see it and it isn’t even backed by anything!  This kind of argument is used to claim that Bitcoin, unlike assets such as gold, doesn't have any ‘intrinsic value’. Which is apparently some magical property bestowed only on assets that exist in the physical world.

But the reality is nothing has ‘intrinsic’ value. Value is subjective, contextual, and driven by what people are willing to trade for it. A bottle of water is worth a fortune to a man in a dessert, but worth nothing to a man that’s drowning. A trader in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar might take an interest in your gold bar, but to a starving man it’s worth less than a hot meal. And a dollar is just paper, unless you’re willing to trust the government backing it. Value is contextual.

Bitcoin’s value comes from its scarcity, security, and utility and it’s ‘backed’ by something very real. It’s backed by energy.

Bitcoin’s Proof of Work (PoW) mining process ties it to the physical world. Miners use physical hardware and consume real electricity to secure the network and process transactions. By doing so they allow anyone in the world to send payments without anyone being able to censor them or control and corrupt the network.

This very real process is what gives Bitcoin its value. It allows anyone anywhere the ability to be their own bank, send borderless payments that can’t be censored, and save money in a currency that can’t be debased.  There is no other technology on earth today that can fulfil these valuable use cases.

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Bitcoin Is Only for Criminals

The myth that Bitcoin is only for criminals is a recurring narrative spun by politicians and their lapdogs over at the mainstream media.

“Bitcoin is the currency of drug lords, hackers and terrorists!” they cry, clutching their pearls, while pretending they’re concerned for your wellbeing. All the while conveniently ignoring the giant elephant in the room: the fact that the vast majority of criminal transactions take place using fiat currency!

Cash, credit cards, and bank transfers dominate illegal transactions worldwide. In 2020, the UN estimated global money laundering at $1.6 trillion annually, with banks like HSBC and JPMorgan caught red-handed laundering billions for Mexican drug cartels. Bitcoin’s share of the action? A tiny fraction. Chainalysis reports pegged Bitcoin’s use in illicit transactions at just 0.34% of total global volume in 2020.

Giving such over-indexed attention to Bitcoin’s use in illicit activity is revealing of the true agenda. It’s not about stopping illicit transactions. It’s about trying to stop you transacting outside of their system.

Beyond this hypocrisy, even the argument itself that ‘Bitcoin is for criminals’ is fundamentally flawed. Bitcoin is just an open protocol, a tool that can be used by anyone. And like any tool, it can be used for good or bad. Just like law abiding citizens, criminals frequently use everyday tools like mobile phones, kitchen knives and transit vans to commit crime. Yet we don’t hear people calling for these things to be banned because that’s a ridiculous suggestion. So why would it be any different for Bitcoin?

It's an illogical position held by those with an agenda or with no understanding of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is open and transparent, and every transaction is traceable, making it a terrible choice for criminals who don’t want a permanent public record of their activities. Corrupt politicians, banksters and criminals much prefer the opacity of cash and offshore bank accounts.

Any attempt to smear Bitcoin as the currency of choice for criminals is simply deflection from the biggest financial crime in history; the endless money printing by the central banking cartel that for decades has been impoverishing billions of people worldwide.

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Bitcoin Is Bad for the Environment

Groups like Greenpeace and the shameless shills over at the Ethereum Foundation love to dunk on Bitcoin’s energy use. They make spurious claims about it ‘boiling the oceans’ while their Proof of Stake (PoS) alternatives offer a greener alternative.

This is of course total nonsense and once again is peddled by people with a clear and identifiable agenda. The Ethereum Foundation would very much like you to buy their bags, and no wonder, nobody else seems to want to.  

And Greenpeace are nothing more than environmental propagandists with no regard for facts or science, who will whore themselves out to the highest bidder in order to keep their ailing organisation afloat.

Incidentally, most of Greenpeace’s anti Bitcoin campaigns were funded by another shitcoiner called Brad Garlinghouse who would very much like you to buy his pre mined, centralised scam coin instead of buying Bitcoin as well.

The reality these people don’t want you to know is that Bitcoin’s energy consumption is a feature, not a bug. Bitcoin doesn’t waste energy; it uses it intentionally. By requiring miners to compete using real-world resources to process blocks and mine transactions, it prevents any centralised entities from co-opting and controlling the network. It creates a huge economic disincentive for anyone to try and cheat the system.

And of course, the groups who claim that Bitcoin is bad for the environment always conveniently fail to mention how green Bitcoin actually is.

In their quest to be profitable, miners always seek out the cheapest sources of energy. You will often find them tapping into stranded sources like flared natural gas or hydroelectric power that would otherwise go to waste, and stabilising energy grids by absorbing excess power during periods of low demand. Almost 60% of Bitcoin’s hash rate is powered by renewables making it greener than almost all other industries, yet the silence from environmental evangelists on this topic is deafening. 

The myth that Bitcoin is bad for the environment is pushed by groups with obvious agendas, be it clueless NGOs or PoS projects desperate to justify their inferior tech. Bitcoin’s energy is what gives us a monetary system that’s decentralised and secure, and that’s worth every watt.

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Bitcoin Can’t Be Used for Payments

One of the more pervasive arguments about Bitcoin is that it can’t easily be used for payments. Again, this is a complete myth. People, including businesses like ours, use Bitcoin for payments every day. In fact, our entire business runs entirely on a Bitcoin standard.

We use Bitcoin to make payments to developers, designers, lawyers, content creators and all manner of ancillary service providers, and we ONLY accept payment in Bitcoin for our services. Our very existence wouldn’t be possible if Bitcoin couldn’t be used for payments. Regardless of what anyone might tell you, payments in Bitcoin work like a charm. It has never been easier to send value globally without the typical friction you would experience in the legacy financial system and at a fraction of the cost.

Not to mention that Bitcoin’s Lightning Network now makes even small Bitcoin payments faster and cheaper than ever, settling transactions in seconds for just fractions of a penny. From coffee shops in El Salvador to online merchants worldwide, Bitcoin’s use as peer-to-peer cash is growing rapidly thanks to these layer 2 technologies.

If someone tells you they can’t make payments in Bitcoin then it’s not because the technology is lacking, it’s because they have a skill issue. If you learn the right tools you can transact in Bitcoin freely without ever needing to involve any third parties.

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Bitcoin Is Too Complicated for Regular People

One of the most infuriating claims about Bitcoin is that it’s too difficult for ‘regular people’ to understand and use.

It’s infuriating because it’s so condescending. Having trained hundreds of sovereign individuals to master self-custody and learn the tools needed to live on a Bitcoin standard, we know first-hand that this simply isn’t true. We have trained people from all walks of life, technical and non-technical alike, and have members of our community in their 80’s confidently signing air-gapped transactions on their hardware wallet before broadcasting them via their own node.

As our founder Tony often says, “Bitcoin isn’t rocket science, it’s just something new” and it’s a great way to frame things. Sure, some of the things you have to learn might feel unfamiliar, but that’s true of most things. Learning how to use Bitcoin properly is a lot like learning to drive a car. At first everything feels a little confusing and complex, but with a little concerted practice it soon becomes second nature.

The notion that Bitcoin is too complicated or difficult to use to achieve mass adoption is a total myth. Nothing but a scare tactic designed to keep you from learning one of the most important skill sets you will ever need.

People pushing this kind of narrative are not worth listening to. They are either trying to sell you some sort of custody solution that requires you to become wholly reliant on them, or they’re simply too lazy and drunk on convenience to put in the effort themselves. Either way, this messaging serves only one purpose; to hold you back and stop you from gaining the skills required to set yourself free.

You can master Bitcoin in a matter of weeks if you’re motivated enough, a trivial investment to make that allows you to unlock true financial sovereignty. Start small, take one step at a time, and you’ll be amazed how empowering it feels to learn new skills and take full control of your wealth.

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Pursue The Truth – The Bitcoin Way

These myths about Bitcoin aren’t just wrong, they’re barriers to understanding a technology that’s reshaping the world. Bitcoin isn’t a Ponzi scheme or a scam; it’s a trust-less monetary system backed by energy and math that anyone is free to use.

As for it being too complicated? We can assure you it’s not. In no time at all our experts can help you get to grips with Bitcoin making sure you’re secure, sovereign and confident you know how to manage your money.

Don’t let these myths about Bitcoin hold you back. They only persist because the old guard is terrified of Bitcoin, and they’re running out of new ways to try and attack it. Ignore them. Dive in, learn the truth, master the tools, and join the revolution. Your sovereignty is worth it.

Want to master Bitcoin and all the tools you need to become financially free? Just book a call with one of our experts to start your training today.