Follow Aaron on <\/em>Nostr<\/a> or <\/em>X<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Perhaps the biggest cultural shift in my eleven years in Bitcoin has been the transition from tinkering techies emphasizing \u201cdon\u2019t invest more than you are willing to lose\u201d, to the Michael Saylors of this world telling everyone to sell their house, car and wife (and then go into debt) to buy more bitcoin.<\/p>\n Whenever I listen to the macroeconomic commentators in this space (who for the most part started popping up some five or six years ago), I usually feel there is one key point they keep missing. Sure, Bitcoin is no longer just the experimental new project it was over a decade ago\u2014 but it can<\/em> still fail.<\/p>\n The list of things that could go wrong is too long to include in this Take, but suffice to say they include everything from too much centralization to too much decentralization<\/em>. (If \u2014say\u2014 mining centralizes too much, Bitcoin can be regulated to death. While the project could literally and figuratively fall apart if people can\u2019t even settle on a single set of consensus rules; something we came uncomfortably close to during the block size wars.)<\/p>\n I do think Bitcoin can overcome these problems. The incentives for Bitcoin to succeed are strong, and \u2014perhaps more importantly\u2014 smart and motivated people from around the world can help figure out solutions for whatever challenges Bitcoin may face.<\/p>\n But in order to do that, the problems need to first be acknowledged, and then fixed. Selling your house, car and wife to simply buy and hold bitcoin is not going to do it.<\/p>\n