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In an era where financial freedom is increasingly under threat, Bitcoin emerges as a beacon of hope for millions worldwide. The digital currency offers an alternative financial system, designed to resist censorship and confiscation. At the heart of this revolutionary system lie Bitcoin miners, who play a crucial role in enabling censorship-resistant transactions.
Bitcoin: The Alternative Financial System
Unlike the traditional banking system, Bitcoin is a decentralized, peer-to-peer electronic cash network that allows for final settlement without state or bank involvement. Its structure including self-custody wallets, a free market for settling transactions and accessibility to everyone, everywhere, makes it resistant to interference, even in parts of the world where basic freedoms are denied.
The importance of this system becomes evident when we consider global freedom statistics. According to Freedomhouse[1], 60% of countries are classified as “not free.” This translates to approximately 6.2 billion people — 79% of the world’s population — living under regimes that do not guarantee fundamental liberties.
In such a landscape, Bitcoin serves as a powerful tool for financial emancipation. It provides a way for individuals to transact and store value freely outside of the reach of oppressive governments, as traditional financial systems are vulnerable to censorship and control by the state or institutions. Governments can, and have, frozen the bank accounts of individuals and organizations they deem undesirable, just as Canadian truckers experienced in 2022 when their standoff with the government led to the creation of a Freedom Convoy.
But with Bitcoin, there is no central point of control that can be exploited, and the miners are what keep this system secure and operational.
The Critical Role of Bitcoin Miners
Bitcoin miners are responsible for verifying and adding transactions to the blockchain, the distributed public ledger that underpins the network. They do this by using powerful computers to solve complex mathematical problems, a process known as “mining.” By contributing computing power to the network, miners are rewarded with newly created Bitcoin, which incentivizes them to maintain the integrity of the system.
In the past ten years, the Bitcoin network has processed more than 1 billion transactions[2], settling over $122 trillion in volume without a single instance of downtime. This resilience is a testament to the strength of the mining network, which has proven itself to be impervious to the whims of any single government or authority.
The Resilience of the Bitcoin Mining Network
The strength of the Bitcoin mining network lies in its distributed nature and immense energy consumption. To disrupt Bitcoin, an attacker would need to dedicate as much electricity to the attack as the combined use of all honest Bitcoin miners. This presents a formidable challenge, even for nation-states.
Our analysis reveals that only 31 countries[3] in the world produce enough total electricity to potentially disrupt the Bitcoin network[4]. However, this theoretical capability doesn’t translate to practical feasibility:
17 of these 31 countries are already classified as “free,” reducing the likelihood of state-sponsored attacks.
Several of the remaining 14 countries would need to dedicate more than half of their total electrical output to mount an attack, neglecting all other national power needs—an implausible scenario.
This resilience ensures that Bitcoin can continue to serve as a tool of financial freedom, even in the face of potential state-level opposition.
Conclusion
Bitcoin miners are safeguarding the ability of individuals around the world to transact without interference from the powers that be. As more people around the globe gain access to this alternative financial system, the power of authoritarian governments to control the financial flows will decrease.
By maintaining a secure and uncensorable network and verifying transactions, bitcoin miners enable individuals worldwide to access a truly free financial system. As an investor, it’s important to recognize the critical role these miners play in preserving your financial autonomy.
[1] Freedomhouse, Countries and Territories, https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-world/scores
[2] Brayden Lindrea, Cointelegraph, Bitcoin reaches one billion transactions, https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-reaches-one-billion-transactions
[3] Wikipedia, list of countries by electricity production,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_electricity_production
[4] Cambridge, Cambridge bitcoin electricity consumption index, https://ccaf.io/cbnsi/cbeci