Valuing Bitcoin Network Instead of Asset – Bitcoin Magazine
This is an opinion editorial and transcript by Will Schoellkopf, host of “It’s So Early!” Bitcoin podcast.
Bitcoin Magazine contributor Stephen Chow transcribed a Bitcoin podcast episode of “It’s So Early!” between host Will Schoellkopf and fellow Bitcoin Magazine contributor Mark Maraia. They are introducing their new Telegram group where they have created a market for Bitcoiners to include in their transactions with each other a satoshi value for not only the product/service they are buying, but also a satoshi value for each other recognizing the privilege of trading over the Bitcoin network. The following transcript has been edited for brevity.
Will Schoellkopf: Our group is called #250satsperdollar and Mark you have had the honor of providing the first messages in the Telegram group. If you could please read out loud what you have written in the group just so people can get a feel for the Telegram channel?
Mark Maraia: I would like. So it says, “Welcome to this group!” Everyone in this group agrees that the Bitcoin network and protocol is worth 250 bet per dollar – that’s sort of the intro. The other thing that I think you and I have talked about is that we’re all going to agree in this chat—it’s just you and me right now—that the unit of account is rate, not bitcoin. And everyone is welcome to post any transaction they have done where the parties have valued the Bitcoin network and protocol at an amount of 250 rate per dollar. You are also welcome to make an offer for either products or services for that valuation. And the reason sats is our unit of account, by the way: sats reduces the confusion between small-b bitcoin and capital-B Bitcoin, which is the network. It also allows you and I to unilaterally – because it is a permissionless network – value the Bitcoin network on what we agree is a meeting of the minds. I also think it allows the well-informed and the best-informed bitcoiners to actually establish a market where they all agree that the Bitcoin network equals or has a value of 250 rates per dollar. So we can do it, whether it’s just you and me for the next five years, or whether 50 people will join us this month, I don’t care. I think there is a market that is now sitting on our phone and we will see where it goes from there. I think it will be fun. I appreciate you helping me set it up.
Will Schoellkopf: So for example, you have an offer for a 2′ x 3′ copy of the Declaration of Monetary Independence (DoMI) for sale.
Mark Maraia: So that’s something that actually cost me $30 to print. I actually printed a bunch of them. They’re nice and thick, they’re high quality, they look like colonial type. They are exact replicas of the 9′ x 12′ version that was signed by thousands of Bitcoiners at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami, so I’m making one of them available at 7500 rate, so I’m willing to put my bet where my mouth is is letting go of – parting with – one of these exact copies for the set amount.
Will Schoellkopf: $30 times 250 (rate per dollar) is 7500 rate.
Mark Maraia: Correct.
Will Schoellkopf: So that’s where the price comes from. So the question I have is: let’s say five years from now we’re at the Bitcoin 2027 conference, you do the 2′ x 3′ foot DoMI poster again, but this time, because the print shop still doesn’t take satoshis , this time say the print shop that the same poster will cost forty dollars to print instead of thirty dollars to print. Five years from now, the price you would ask in this Telegram group is 10,000 satoshis instead of 7,500 satoshis?
Mark Maraia: Asking me what I will be doing in five years is difficult because the price of Bitcoin will have changed. I believe that at some point the market will value the Bitcoin network and protocol more fairly. The whole point of this chat is that you need a meeting of the minds. I was a practicing attorney for about seven years, and what you learn in law school is: you don’t have deals until there’s a meeting of the minds. Alright, so you and I made the first 250 stakes to value the Bitcoin network and protocol with your book, so you got nothing for the book, but you got paid for the network. We may do a transaction for your book tomorrow that may be different than that, or a year from now, or five years from now.
Mark Maraia: Again, any two parties can agree on the value of the network, and they can even start their own Telegram channel for that valuation. And the more every single currency in the world is in a race to zero, the more likely the asset is going to go up to bigger numbers.
Will Schoellkopf: It’s separate from valuing the network, right?
Mark Maraia: That is a separate matter entirely.
Will Schoellkopf: So the big thing that’s interesting to me is that people say “bear markets are for builders”, so even if satoshis (the asset) goes down in price, the network just gets bigger and stronger. I aspire to not only have a Bitcoin Core or a Bitcoin full node, but also a Lightning node, so it’s positive that the network is getting bigger, stronger and more decentralized, even if the asset goes down in price. So really associate a value to the network more than just the asset.
Mark Maraia: I don’t want the satoshi number to go up against the dollar – I want it to go down. It starts to burn people’s brains because we are used to thinking about investing. No! This is purchasing power! This is savings! I want a satoshi today to have more purchasing power in a year or 10 years or five years and I’m very confident – if I hold onto my satoshis for five or 10 years – I’m very confident that it’s going to last its value better than any other currency on the planet. I am very sure of that.
Will Schoellkopf: Very cool. So that’s why if someone wants a copy of your signed poster, they have to have a meeting of the minds, they have to value the network that you do if they want that poster.
Mark Maraia: Right, for that price.
Mark Maraia: I think – and I think you agree with me – that the best way to maintain and preserve purchasing power is through satoshis and the network it runs on which has run almost perfectly for 13 years with no downtime and has never been hacked, is Bitcoin- the network and protocol. Well, that includes the developers. What we say to these developers, what we say to every volunteer who runs a node, who does mining – there are some miners who probably don’t earn any block rewards, they’re literally not part of a pool, but they’re still securing the network . I want to send the message, to the World Economic Forum, to every central bank on the planet, to the Bank of International Settlements: Hey look, I value this network at this amount.
Will Schoellkopf: There is no company on earth that can do this. Even Western Union can’t move value like this – this quickly, easily, safely, securely and without permission – so of course it’s completely undervalued.
Will Schoellkopf: What would you say to anyone who thinks it’s too late to get started with Bitcoin?
Mark Maraia: It’s so early. Because no one understands – I wrote an article for Bitcoin Magazine and I quoted Jameson Lopp: “No one understands Bitcoin and that’s okay.” So right now is a beautiful arbitrage moment for anyone who has the guts to do their homework and get into Bitcoin. And if you do, and you have a willingness to hold it for at least five years against any currency – all of which go to zero – you will be well rewarded as long as you don’t have to live on it and you don’t spend leverage to get it.
Will Schoellkopf: Right, do you hear what Mark Maraia is saying? It’s so early! Thanks Mark for coming on the show.
Mark Maraia: You are more than welcome, it was a lot of fun. Hopefully we will do it again.
This is a guest post by Mark Maraia. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
