Author: Aaron Wood, CoinTelegraph; Translated by: Deng Tong, Golden Finance

Bitcoin is getting unprecedented adoption as the United States establishes its strategic Bitcoin reserves, but some well-known Bitcoin advocates believe the project is breaking away from its roots.

Earlier this year, Bitcoin supporter and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey said he thought the project would have failed if Bitcoin was just a “digital gold.” He said Bitcoin reserves may be “good for it, but I don’t necessarily know if it is good for Bitcoin”.

Doxi believes that if Bitcoin wants to succeed, it needs to return to the white paper and strive to become a form of peer-to-peer cash that can be traded globally.

Around the world, many "circulating Bitcoin economies" have been working to achieve this goal: to develop local economies that use Bitcoin as a currency, in an attempt to demonstrate the viability of Bitcoin and the future prospects of Bitcoin.

The Bitcoin white paper proposes a cash system. Source: Bitcoin.org

The Bitcoin Alliance calls Bitcoin circular economy a "local economic ecosystem where Bitcoin (BTC) is increasingly used as a medium of exchange, unit of account and a means of store of value"—that is, where Bitcoin performs the three roles of currency.

There are a variety of Bitcoin communities and circular economies around the world, but their goals are similar because they all believe that Bitcoin is a superior form of currency and should be used as a “mean of payment for goods and services and a means of settlement for other financial obligations.”

This practice of using Bitcoin as a currency runs contrary to the mainstream attitude in the United States, where cryptocurrency advocates believe Bitcoin is a reserve asset that can be hoarded—similar to digital gold. “Never sell your Bitcoin,” President Donald Trump said at the Nashville Bitcoin Conference in July 2024.

In a speech at the Bitcoin Institute on March 17, Strategy CEO and Bitcoin extremist Michael Saylor compared digital currency to investment assets. According to Saylor, a large number of shares will allow holders, such as the United States, to exert control over the digital economy in another “destiny.”

When asked whether a massive adoption of Bitcoin in the United States would deviate from its founding principles, Isa Santos, founder of the Bitcoin Island project in Mexico, said: "Yes, but that's the charm of Bitcoin. It's also for your enemies."

Stelios Rammos, founder of the Bitcoin crowdfund project Geyserfund, said that for better or worse, adoption of Bitcoin is “inevitably”.

"Bitcoin is for everyone, and its most authentic founding principle is a currency that requires no license. Adopting Bitcoin is inevitable, and if we can press a button and say ‘Bitcoin is forbidden’, then it is no longer Bitcoin,” he told Cointelegraph.

However, he believes that the Bitcoin community has a core set of values ​​that can promote the adoption of Bitcoin rather than welfare at the grassroots level, adding that Bitcoin is at a stage where Bitcoin users should be more concerned about how it is adopted rather than whether it is adopted. "The circular economy will play a huge role in realizing the future of Bitcoin being held and used by ordinary people, not just as a pure asset in large banks and digital vaults," Rammos said. "Both both said there are tangible benefits to adopting Bitcoin. Santos said adoption from big powers like the United States could still be a positive factor, as many view the United States as a leader in the financial world.

Rammos said the U.S. adoption of Bitcoin will raise awareness of this groundbreaking cryptocurrency, which will benefit the entire network and have a ripple effect on the global circular economy.

The Bitcoin circular economy is spread all over the world. They are particularly popular in developing economies, where the local currencies of these economies are not reliable as a means of store of value.

In Cuba, inflation is out of control and wages are unbearable, and Bitcoin and the circular economy allow locals to protect their savings.

In rural Peru, most people do not have a bank account—i.e., no bank account or access to financial services—Bitcoin provides locals with a way to save and pay for school and daily expenses.

However, there are challenges. Valentin Popescu, co-founder of Motiv, a Peruvian Bitcoin education and advocacy group, said Bitcoin’s infamous volatility makes it difficult to sell to rural communities as a savings tool.

The Bitcoin community also faces the challenge of growing outside the existing group of Bitcoin expats and enthusiasts. Bitcoin advocates flock to El Salvador, and Bitcoin Beach provides the first prototype for the Bitcoin circular economy. However, this does not mean that locals actually use Bitcoin.

The Bitcoin circular economy is booming around the world. Source: Geyser Fund

In addition to the victories and challenges faced by these communities, many of them offer financial education programs and community-building programs.

Santo"Each circular economy has its own unique characteristics. They have to meet the needs of the community," said s. A common factor between these communities is volunteering.

Bitcoin Circular Economy in South Africa Bitcoin Ekasi supports local Surfer Kids community projects by paying coaches with bitcoin while allowing local stores and vendors to accept Bitcoin payments.

Rammos said these communities could place little-known locations on the map to attract tourism through “bitcoin expatriates” who want to consume bitcoin and develop the local economy.

"Ultimately, local residents benefit from the Bitcoin circular economy, and the Bitcoin network benefits from it; it's a true symbiotic relationship," Rammos said.

Whether it is Wall Street or the ordinary people promoting the popularity of Bitcoin, the ultimate goal of the organizers who run these communities is to fully integrate Bitcoin into the financial world.

Ramos concluded: "Hopefully in the near future, we no longer need the word 'circular economy'; it will be just a bitcoin economy or just an economy."