Bitcoin is a marriage of certainty and chance.
! ! ! CERTAINTY ! ! !
The groom of Bitcoin is algorithmic certainty.
Deterministic hashes and elliptical curve cryptography mean UTXOs can be signed and verified. The timechain is immutable. The money supply policy is faithful, and thus predictable. Nothing is left to chance. The value is always there. No fiat flakiness.
The groom stands resolute. His reliable frame promises: “You can count on me!”
And we do.
? ? ? CHANCE ? ? ?
The bride of Bitcoin is entropic uncertainty.
No miner can be sure which ASIC will find the nonce that wins the block. Who will it be? Since we don’t know, we all want to play. Mining, like gambling, offers game theory’s sensual possibility: might I get lucky today?
The bride delights with mystery and surprise. She sways and dances and says, “Play some game theory with me and who knows what we can create together…”
And we do.