Show Notes

Here are links and resources mentioned in today's video. Enjoy!

• If you're ready to take the next steps into the world of bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain...and really wrap your head around all this stuff, then be sure to check out Understanding Bitcoin: Navigating The Divide To History's Next Great Era!

Transcription

Alright now to answer the question directly, yes bitcoin is incredibly safe and secure. In fact, the bitcoin blockchain network is the safest and most secure computer network on the planet. It cannot be hacked, it cannot be shut down, and it can never be taken control over by any centralized authority.

And that's because of the nature of the blockchain technology that bitcoin is built on top of. I've discussed this in other videos, but here's the gist:

The computers that uphold the bitcoin blockchain are dispersed across the entire globe. There are tens of thousands of them. So not only are they geographically dispersed -- just like the internet itself is -- but they all run the same protocol.

What this means is, they're all programmed to follow the same set of rules -- rules that they all have to adhere to. What this results in is what's called a "trustless" network.

In fact, the entire point of the bitcoin network is that it’s entirely trustless. There’s no counter party risk or centralized authority. No one controls it, and no one ever could control it.

Instead, trust in the network comes from the fact that it requires no individual trust at all. Trust in the network comes from the protocol itself, which can't be changed. Hence why the network itself is "trustless."

This "trustless" architecture makes bitcoin incredibly safe...and the bitcoin network incredibly secure.

That said, bitcoin does have one major vulnerability. And it might be surprising. Here it is:

User error. Yes, the biggest problem with bitcoin is mistakes made by regular bitcoin users like you and I.

One common mistake is a user losing or publicly sharing their wallet’s private key. Another mistake is sending bitcoin to an incorrect wallet public key when transferring funds.

If these sorts of things happen, there’s no recourse. There’s no one to phone. There’s no bitcoin customer service or anything like that. So be careful!

Keep your private key very safe. And when sending funds, always double-check the wallet address you’re sending to.

As for bitcoin itself, the network is arguably the largest and most secure computer project ever constructed. And it’s in every network node’s self-interest to maintain the security, integrity, and safety of the network.

And as we touched on earlier, there's no way to stop bitcoin or shut it down. The only way to shut down bitcoin would be to shut down the entire internet...permanently. And of course, doing that would shut down the entire global economy and send us all back to the dark ages of the 1970s...

...and no one wants that!