Satoshi Nakamoto published his bitcoin White Paper on October 31, 2018 and created the first bitcoin block on January 3, 2009. Having been supplying to the market since 2009 Bitcoin volume today is around $184 billion. In financial markets, store of value is financial products that maintain their value over time and are therefore used for the purpose of value accumulation. Gold and money are at the top of them. For an investment instrument to maintain its value over time, its supply does not have to be under control without speculation. Gold is limited by the world’s reserves. Its supply increases as new reserves are found, but this supply is known to be limited unless imported from other planets and meteorites. For this, the most important store of value has been used for centuries. Money, on the other hand, is the financial asset produced to overcome the difficulties brought about by trade with gold, whose value is protected by the guarantee of the state. Its supply is controlled by central banks and it is tried to prevent it from creating inflation.
Bitcoin is a financial asset that has never been seen before in the financial markets with its blockchain infrastructure. Its supply is limited to 21 million and is decentralized. Similar to gold, it is not managed by any center, but its intrinsic value, such as money, is far below the traded price. We can compare the amount written on the paper in money with the cost of mining in bitcoin and its value in the market. This fiat value of Bitcoin provides the blockchain infrastructure. With the blockchain infrastructure, it is ensured that the transactions made without any decentralization are recorded. In other words, if you have 1 bitcoin in your wallet, it cannot be changed unless you make transactions thanks to this blockchain infrastructure. This allows bitcoin to qualify as a store of value thanks to its security.
The security of ownership is not sufficient to use a store of value. It is also important that it retains its value. This is also related to the limit of the supply of bitcoin. As the need for Bitcoin increases, it is certain that its supply will not increase. With its decentralization, no changes can be made to the blockchain without 51% of miners coming together. The increasing use of bitcoin as a store of value will also increase its value as it will reduce the amount of bitcoin circulating in the market. We will see together how bitcoin, which has value retention features, will follow a path with the halving of its supply in the coming period.
