Money as a content type

Check the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mUcpsbnhGE

Bitcoin introduced a transformation in which money will be viewed independently of the underlying transport medium, turning it into a standalone content type.

For example, transaction of Bitcoin is a signed data structure that can be executed anywhere in the world. The transaction doesn't necessary needs to happen over Bitcoin network, but could be in any form of network through any form of communication medium.

The reason is, security isn't really needed in what is being transferred. If a hacker hacks that transaction, what he get is not the money, just the sender ID, receiver ID, and the transaction amount. To authorize the transaction, the hacker needs the private key, which is kept always in the receivers' computer. No sensitive information is transmitted out to the internet.

This is not similar to what we have today with bank authorization. You need to insert the bank account details, including sensitive information like CVV to authorize the transaction. These sensitive information are encrypted along the way to the destination. However, during transaction, there are points where the encrypted details are left, and these aren't removed to have a history of what transactions happened. This design is crazy, because no security can really protect a centralized structure from hackers: it either is already hacked, or it's on their way of being hacked.

With no need of sensitive information transferred, things become safer with cryptocurrencies. If the transaction is not signed, transaction fails, no money is transferred, they're still safe. What is required is just to initialize the transaction once again, or until it succeeded. As long as a signed receipt reaches the miner to validate it, the transaction will succeed.

And the signed receipt cannot be changed in any ways, as it would compromise the validity of the receipt. Thus, if say the receiver ID is changed, the receipt will be rendered useless, it cannot be validated by the miners, and hence transaction will not occur. This shows how safe it is. The only way to really steal a transaction is holding the private key, which you requires hacker to hack the receiver's computer to get that.

Even so, hackers need to hacks lots of computers to get lots of private keys to steal a considerable sum, assuming these people aren't aggregating a large sum in their account, but averaged out. This can be compared to hacking a central computer where all sensitive data is being stored, once, and all is done.

Bitcoin transaction is also very small, just 250 bytes. It cannot be censored by any parties: because if a party block the Bitcoin Network, they could be transact through any other means, as long as internet is available. Even if internet is not available, it could go through telephone lines for transaction, or even morse code, or whatever means. 250 bytes is very little amount of information. Unless all communication forms are isolated (banned) from the outside world, nothing else could stop such transaction.

What most people misunderstood is, if the medium is almost costless, the content is worthless. That's not true. Medium doesn't need to be grandiose.

Conglomerate thought controlling the medium was the source of quality. They thought, once quality disappears, they can only clung to more control, which is thought to provides more quality. Gatekeepers thought expensive medium is the only way for the message to be worth listening to. That's not true.

The widening access, opening up of availability, and broadening the range of expression of the medium is thought to lead to trivial, vulgar, and cheapening of the message. Not true. Perhaps there will be at first, but later it turn out not when a larger collective starts using it.

Gatekeepers currently constraint the medium to have a high level of entry. You cannot send a small sum (20 cents) to people via traditional banks, transnationally. It isn't enough to pay for "the value of their service". They cling to the medium and fail to see the message can now be transported over any medium at zero cost, instantaneously.

(Note: of course, gas fee congestion is another story. If you solves gas fee congestion, then this should be possible, although nowadays you still need to be sufficiently large amount to pay gas fee for transaction to authorize; and on NEAR, gas fee is about 0.02 USD).

(Here talks more about other stuffs, which requires you to watch the video to gather more information).

Conclusion: we have now separated the message from the medium. Money is now the content type, and we'll never go back.