When World of Warcraft had its peak, somewhere around the time of its third expansion, gold farming was a thing. Even a real profession in some cases. Various documentary footage revealed entire floors in Chinese skyscrapers solely dedicated to hordes (and alliances) of professional WoW-gold farmers. Was this a glimpse of a future in which we inhabit virtual worlds and exchange tokens for virtual goods or a was it merely a reminder of what happens when you give the control of money supply to one single company or entity?
I remember reflecting on the enormous power Blizzard had at the time. Not only had they lured a population larger than that of my country into their fictitious realm, but they had created a whole economy, that very directly tied into the real world’s economy, out of thin air. Think about that for a second. Being able to conjure up something that in itself creates new jobs and ways for people to serve each other and ultimately serve you. Power overwhelming indeed. Then it dawned on me. What I saw was more than the creation of a virtual economy. What I saw was a reflection of reality — this is how all economies work.
All national currencies are issued by some centralized institution. This creates inflation which sucks the power out of the population and into the machine. It is because of this that you’re probably doing something you’d rather not be doing for a living, why you’re probably in debt and why you’re not really in the driver’s seat in your life. Someone’s always leeching on everyone else. Your gut feeling is true. The leeches are in control. Giving away the control of the money supply inevitably leads to this. Everyone seems to prefer to deny this. They want to stay in the Matrix. In La-la land. In Azeroth.
Enter peer-to-peer value transfer. Enter decentralized trust. The time has come to claim that driver’s seat, but not in the same old bus in which you used to be a passenger, but in the rocket that is Bitcoin. It might take you to the moon and if it does your bank can’t tag along. Neither can your government and neither can Blizzard.