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I’m an old guy, and yes, I own some Bitcoin. I can say that I’ve never felt like an expert in it. It’s one of the more complex, evolving elements of the economic landscape.
So, I sat down with someone who actually does this stuff: “Bitcoin” Bob Burnett, a former tech executive who now runs a Bitcoin mining company and spends his time educating people on how this technology works.
You can listen to the full 20-minute interview here.
I wasn’t looking to become a crypto expert. I just wanted to ask better questions and maybe come away with a clearer mental model for what I already own. Here are a few of the things that stood out.
Bitcoin Is Designed to Be Trustless
Most of the financial system today is built on trust. You trust your bank. You trust the Fed. You trust your employer to send your paycheck and your payroll provider to deliver it. Bitcoin is designed to run without trusting any single party. Transactions are verified by a decentralized network of computers around the world. There’s no central authority deciding what goes through and what doesn’t.
Burnett described it as a “rules-based monetary system” rather than a people-based one. Whether that’s better or worse is up for debate, but it’s clear that this is core to the whole design.
The Supply Is Fixed
There will only ever be 21 million Bitcoin. That’s not a marketing line. It’s embedded in the software itself. Unlike fiat currencies, where new supply can be created at any time, Bitcoin’s total supply is capped.
This hard cap is part of what attracts people to it, especially those who are concerned about inflation or central bank policy. Whether or not you agree with the premise, it’s an important feature to understand.
It’s Not Issued or Controlled by Any One Group
Bitcoin is not a company. There’s no board. No CEO. No central server.
Because it’s decentralized, no single country or group can shut it down. Burnett compared it to the internet itself—resilient, distributed, and designed to keep running even when parts of the network go offline. That’s also why it continues operating through headlines, regulation, and price swings. There’s no off switch.
It’s Volatile But Transparent
No one’s pretending Bitcoin is stable. The price moves, sometimes dramatically, but it also operates 24/7. Transactions are public and ownership is visible (though anonymous). For some people, transparency and portability are the real value. For others, the volatility is still too high to be useful.
Final Thoughts
I didn’t walk away from the conversation with a dramatic shift in my view, but I do have a clearer sense of what Bitcoin is trying to solve: a financial system that runs on code, not human discretion.
That doesn’t mean it’s right for everyone. It doesn’t mean it replaces everything else, but it is helpful to understand what makes it different especially if, like me, you already own some and feel like you’re still catching up.
I’m not here to convince anyone. Just sharing what I learned from someone who’s been in the trenches a lot longer than I have.
