Bitcoin is a Pioneer Species with Brandon Quittem - WBD591

Brandon Quittem is a writer and Communications Director for Swan
Bitcoin. In this interview, we discuss his latest article:
‘Bitcoin is a Pioneer Species’, where he compares Bitcoin miners
to species that settle and populate barren landscapes triggering
the development of more advanced ecosystems.


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The acceptance of Bitcoin is an acceptance of the need for
continuous education and receptivity. This past year has shown
why: Bitcoin mining has been transformed from being a critical
but specific cog in the often misunderstood Proof of Work
protocol to a tool with the potential to transform the global
energy industry. Nobody foresaw this.


Going down the rabbit hole now involves gaining knowledge of
energy systems: production methods, grids, distribution networks,
batteries, energy economics etc. This knowledge is both a
blessing and a curse. A blessing in that the veil of ignorance is
lifted on this vital industry showing politicians are driving
blind with their policy decisions. A curse in that those
sceptical that Bitcoin can change finance, are now incredulous
when we state it can transform energy too.


But the logic is clear. Bitcoin can harness electrical energy
anywhere in the world. In doing so it can facilitate and thereby
fast-track the build-out of energy in isolated environments,
becoming a bridge for costly downstream investment needed to
connect such sources to a grid. All of this without any need for
a state subsidy, or international coordination.


Bitcoin can therefore revitalise existing populations: currently,
a billion people don’t have access to electricity. Imagine what
benefits could be brought by integrating these people into the
digital economy. Bitcoin mining can also be the pioneer species
for previously uninhabited areas of the planet. It can take
barren areas and provide the economic basis from which further
development can grow. Contemplating that should make it clear:
we’re still so very early!