The article discusses the inherent trust issues associated with conventional currencies that Bitcoin aims to resolve. While Bitcoin was designed to operate without trusted intermediaries, many institutions handling Bitcoin still rely on trust-based assumptions. This is particularly evident in Bitcoin treasury companies that lack verifiable Proof of Reserves (PoR), leaving investors unaware of actual BTC holdings. The author draws parallels to historical issues in the gold market regarding unverified holdings, emphasizing that without verification, Bitcoin in corporate balance sheets can act like a mere IOU.
The root problem with conventional currency is all the trust that's required to make it work. The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust.
Bitcoin was created to eliminate the need for trusted intermediaries. It replaced opaque, permissioned systems with transparency, auditability, and decentralized verification.
For Bitcoin treasury companies, this contradiction is especially glaring. These are firms that claim to operate on a Bitcoin standard-yet without verifiable Proof of Reserves (PoR), there's no way for shareholders to know whether the Bitcoin is actually there.
Bitcoin is designed to be verifiableâbut most corporate disclosures aren't. When companies report BTC holdings without public wallet visibility or on-chain proof, investors are left to trust balance sheets, auditors, and custodians.
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