Bitcoin is on the rise: Everything you need to know

After Bitcoin surpassed $50,000 for the first time since 2021, many people have refocused their attention on the world of digital currencies.

For this reason, I decided to speak with my brother Marcelo Fleischer, founder of elbitcoin.org - the world's first Bitcoin outreach site in Spanish - and podcast host "No Hay Almuerzo Gratis" (translated as "There is No Free Lunch"). He told Voz Media why the famous cryptocurrency is on the rise: "It is possible that in the case of Bitcoin, which is now an exchange-traded fund, buyers can expose themselves to the price increase through traditional channels without actually acquiring the currency."

The expert added that there are probably collectors who are “acquiring Bitcoins in response to people's demand, and that is why the price has increased.”

Fleischer emphasizes that it is possible that many people “see this as a good sign of approval from the authorities.”

However, the specialist is afraid that Bitcoin is being used as a speculative asset and not for what it was created, as “an alternative currency (...) a monetary system that would compete (...) with the one we know.” He says that according to the original idea, Bitcoin does not have a central authority. Instead, it has a predetermined and decreasing emission, and payments are made from person to person without intermediaries.

Fleischer's criticisms toward Bitcoin are directed at the Bitcoin BTC ecosystem. Bitcoin was created by the anonymous Satoshi Nakamoto. Based on what the expert stated, some divisions occurred through which other currencies were born, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) being the best known of them.

Likewise, Fleischer warns about the so-called 'stablecoins' (digital currencies tied to the price of the dollar): “They are completely centralized.” He says that they are even worse than state currencies since they depend on them “and at any time, for regulatory reasons, they can disappear.”

However, Fleischer is optimistic. He believes that Bitcoin will begin to be used for what it was created for when people need to use it.

Despite his thoughts on the original Bitcoin (BTC) project, this cryptocurrency, along with Ethereum (ETH), is the most popular. In this regard, Fleischer points out that “price is not necessarily, at a certain moment, associated with value.” He said, “Bitcoin (BTC) stopped many years ago reflecting the original intention of its creator and I believe that eventually the price will reflect it.”

Fleischer concluded the interview by asking people to think about “why Bitcoin has value.” He also recommends listening to the podcasts "No Hay Almuerzo Gratis" (translated as "There is No Free Lunch"), "La Economía P2P" (translated as "The P2P Economy") as well as watching the documentary "¿Quién Mató a Bitcoin?" (translated as "Who Killed Bitcoin?").