Bitcoin is the Golden Standard for Financial Transactions

The digital currency landscape, with Bitcoin and XRP at its forefront, underwent significant shifts following a recent court ruling on July 13, 2023, involving XRP and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). And despite the lack of regulatory clarity, Bitcoin displays an uncanny resilience, strengthening its position as a potential frontrunner in the cryptocurrency market. The recent interest by BlackRock, filing for SEC approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF on June 15, further attests to Bitcoin’s relevance and potential.

The court’s decision resulted in sharp positive moves in the values of Bitcoin and XRP. Bitcoin’s price surged to an annual high of $31,657.51 a few days after BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF filing, but has since settled under $30,000, while XRP experienced a surge from a moderate 47 cents to 84 cents before correcting to 74 cents. What does seem to be a common denominator among all cryptocurrencies is that they all react to positive macroeconomics. 

The lawsuit brought by Ripple Labs (the creator of XRP) against the SEC has carved an important niche in the annals of cryptocurrency history. The court ruled that XRP doesn’t qualify as a security, except when used to raise funds from institutions.

Bitcoin Is A Fundamentally More Secure Network

While Bitcoin’s PoW is widely considered more secure, XRP’s mechanism has raised concerns over potential denial-of-service attacks and biased transaction verification. By leveraging energy-intensive computing, Bitcoin imposes a high cost on cyberattacks and exploitations, creating a secure environment for data transfer and control.

According to Jason Lowery’s SoftWar thesis, Bitcoin’s role is crucial in securing the non-physical realm of cyberspace, offering an indispensable tool for national cybersecurity.  Bitcoin’s decentralized network offers a robust, democratic, and secure way to validate transactions. Bitcoin’s PoW consensus mechanism represents an advanced form of non-lethal warfare, imposing physically prohibitive costs on cyber attacks, thereby securing the valuable data stored in its blockchain. Bitcoin’s decentralized network offers a robust, democratic, and secure way to validate transactions. 

Meanwhile, XRP transactions are confirmed by a network of about 100 validators (only 35 of these validators are prioritized and 6 of those validators are controlled by XRP. It’s centralized, to say the least.), The court ruled that the XRP token does not constitute a security per se, except when sold to institutions to raise funds. This, combined with XRP’s model of transaction verification through a group of bank-owned servers, has raised concerns over potential denial-of-service attacks and the possibility of biased transaction verification. 

The Arduous Journey Towards Bitcoin ETF Approval

The road to a Bitcoin ETF approval has been fraught with regulatory hurdles and setbacks. Over the past decade, multiple entities, including the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, VanEck, Bitwise Asset Management, and Wilshire Phoenix, have sought to launch a Bitcoin ETF. Their efforts have been consistently thwarted by the SEC, primarily due to concerns about market manipulation, fraud, and investor protection.

Gabor Gurbacs, an advisor at VanEck, however, remains hopeful. He suggests that a Bitcoin ETF would not only broaden Bitcoin’s investor base but also improve liquidity and price discovery. This could lead to increased institutional adoption, contributing to greater market stability and less price volatility.

Bitcoin, with its resilient technology and PoW consensus mechanism, positions itself as a pioneer in the digital transaction space, offering superior protection against increasing digitalization and cyber warfare threats. As the battle of cryptocurrencies rages on, Bitcoin is well-poised to lead the next bull market.