WHAT IF THE EURO WAS WORTH NOTHING?
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We don't dare ask the question. We even avoid thinking about it. As if the mere mention of it were enough to crack our bearings. Yet it hovers silently in the minds of those who observe inflation, rates spiraling out of control, central banks becoming agitated, and citizens who are slowly losing faith. What if the euro collapsed? What would a bitcoin be worth in a world where fiat currency no longer means anything? This hypothesis, long reserved for fringe circles, is gradually emerging as a prospect worth taking seriously. Not because of a spectacular collapse, not necessarily in flames or chaos. But because of a more insidious shift: that of a world where trust in state currencies gradually disintegrates, until it becomes nothing more than a memory. And in this shift, a new question emerges: if the euro collapses, how do we still measure value? What happens to Bitcoin? And above all, how do we think about exchange, commerce, wealth, in a world without reference points?
The thermometer is broken
Today, we say "Bitcoin is going up," or "Bitcoin is going down." But what are we really looking at? Not Bitcoin. We're observing fiat currency. We're measuring a constant with a variable. We're looking at a thermometer, without understanding that the temperature is elsewhere. Because Bitcoin doesn't move. It doesn't cheat. It doesn't dilute. It's the units of measurement around it that are vacillating.
And what happens when the thermometer breaks? When the euro or the dollar lose their primary function, that of being a stable unit of account? The question then ceases to be abstract. It becomes existential: if the official currency no longer reflects anything, how do we measure what has value? The answer is brutal, but clear: we will no longer convert Bitcoin into euros. We will measure things in Bitcoin. It will no longer be “Bitcoin is worth €100,000,” but “this house is worth 0.7 BTC.” A baguette costs 5,000 sats. A train ticket costs 15,000. A work week costs 200,000. The frame of reference is changing. The world is quietly shifting into a new way of thinking. A mental migration. A slow, but irreversible transition.
Permissionless currency
We often imagine the collapse of fiat as a big bang. A dark day. A sudden halt. But in reality, currencies don't always collapse overnight. They lose confidence. They fray. They gradually become unusable. Prices explode, wages stagnate, savings evaporate. And people, faced with this loss of meaning, turn to something else. To gold. To barter. Or to Bitcoin. But can you still buy Bitcoin in a world where the euro is no longer legal tender? This is where the true nature of Bitcoin is revealed. You won't buy it anymore. You'll exchange it. Not for political promises printed on paper. But for real value: a service, a resource, work. Bitcoin then becomes what it truly is: money. Not a speculative asset. Not a bet. A universal, neutral, inviolable unit of exchange. In this economy, there's no need for banks or authorization. You offer something useful, you receive sats. You offer your expertise, you're paid directly in the most resilient currency ever conceived. No more detours. No more bridge currencies. No more layers of bureaucracy. The economy is reconnecting with reality. Bitcoin is becoming the common language.
21 million is enough
But one concern often arises: is 21 million bitcoins enough for eight billion humans? The answer is yes. Because Bitcoin is divisible. Extremely divisible. Each BTC contains one hundred million satoshis. That makes 2,100,000,000,000,000 base units. Or 2.1 quadrillion sats. That's more than 262,000 satoshis per human being, if the distribution were perfectly equal. Which will obviously never happen. But the essential point is this: there is room. Room to trade. To evaluate. To establish prices. And if that's not enough, technology will allow us to go even further. Perhaps tomorrow we'll talk in terms of "millisats," fractions of fractions. Because scarcity isn't a hindrance. That's the promise. It guarantees that this currency won't be corrupted. Bitcoin doesn't limit exchanges. It structures them. It doesn't make things inaccessible. It makes them stable. It's not a wall. It's a foundation.
What remains when everything falters
In the world to come, we will no longer say "this product is worth €30," but "it is worth 3,000 satoshis." Salaries will no longer be calculated gross or net. We will speak in terms of real purchasing power. And little by little, fiat currencies will lose their standard status. They will become local currencies, subject to inflation, political manipulation, and stimulus plans. Bitcoin, on the other hand, will remain at the center. Without a leader. Without a printing press. Without accountability. And the people who understand before others will not live in a parallel world. They will live in the same one as everyone else. But with one thing more: an asset that resists. An asset that no one can confiscate. An asset that doesn't lie. They will no longer seek to convince. They will observe. They will accumulate. They will prepare. And when the switch occurs, their satoshis will speak for them. It won't necessarily be spectacular. No flash crash. No titans falling on the fly. Just a slow disaffection. A collective disillusionment. And in the silence, those who have kept their sats will discover that they have not only saved value. They have preserved time. Independence. The power to say no.
The end of a collective illusion
The euro won't disappear overnight. It will continue to be printed. It will circulate for a long time to come. But what it will no longer do is protect. It will no longer project anyone into the future. It will no longer inspire confidence. It will become a survival currency, a spare tire. Meanwhile, Bitcoin will be there. Not to replace, but to reveal. To remind us that money is not a question of symbolism, but of truth. Of mathematics. Of energy. So no, Bitcoin may not replace the euro in government order books. But it will replace what the euro once represented: a promise of stability. And that promise, today, is broken. Bitcoin then becomes the only asset that doesn't ask anyone's permission. It can't be printed. It doesn't wear out over time. It doesn't die with a government. It exists on its own. It is rare, portable, divisible, verifiable. And perhaps that's what makes him unstoppable.
The train won't whistle twice
Those who hoard today aren't doing it to buy a coffee tomorrow morning. They're doing it to resist the great washout that's coming. To convey something that won't melt in the central bank sun. To keep a shred of truth in a world where everything is becoming economic fiction. They're not trying to convince. They're not trying to sell. They're simply ready. One day, perhaps, those who didn't believe in it will come knocking. They'll want their share. They'll want in. But it will be too late. The price won't be unattainable because Bitcoin has exploded. It will be unattainable because those who have it no longer want to part with it. Because they'll have understood what they own. And in that future, people will no longer say "Bitcoin is rising." They'll say "Bitcoin is." And other things will fluctuate around it.
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