An argument has emerged that Bitcoin’s future depends not on 2036 but on what choices are made now. Jeff Booth (제프 부스), a Canadian entrepreneur and author of the bestseller "The Price of Tomorrow," stressed that real change is possible only if Bitcoin is understood as a "protocol," not simply as an investment asset.

According to Bitcoin Magazine on July 1 (local time), Booth said it is more important whether people invest time and energy in the Bitcoin ecosystem starting now than to explain Bitcoin’s success through distant price gains or scenarios in which it replaces fiat currency.

He divided perspectives on Bitcoin into three. One views it as an investment aimed at short-term price gains, another understands it only as a store of value, and the third sees it as a protocol that anyone can use like the internet. He argued that only the last approach can realise Bitcoin’s potential.

Booth said, "Only when you see Bitcoin as a protocol does the world change," adding, "Change can begin now, not in the future."

He voiced caution in particular about moves to use Bitcoin as an extension of the existing financial system. He said building debt-based finance on Bitcoin would ultimately concentrate assets in a small number of custodians and repeat major bankruptcy cases like Celsius and BlockFi. He argued, "Rebuilding the existing financial system on top of Bitcoin does not fit the spirit of decentralisation," and said, "Attempts to centralise Bitcoin are bound to fail."

Booth also stressed that Bitcoin’s security and decentralisation are not maintained automatically. He said the network can remain healthy only when community members verify information themselves, debate and participate. He added that people should think critically rather than blindly follow the views of particular individuals or celebrities.

On Bitcoin’s technical scalability, he offered a relatively optimistic outlook. He assessed that additional large-scale structures may not be necessary because payment layers such as Lightning, Liquid and Ark, a Fedimint-based privacy layer and a Nostr-based identity layer are already being built on top of the base layer.

By contrast, he was sceptical about tokenised assets and expanding Bitcoin-based capital markets. He described tokenisation as an extension of the existing fiat currency-centred financial system and predicted that if Bitcoin becomes established as a monetary protocol, the need for today’s huge capital markets would also shrink significantly.

He said he did not see Bitcoin’s success as inevitable. Instead, he predicted that the likelihood of success would rise as more people understand Bitcoin’s essence and participate directly in the ecosystem. Booth said, "Bitcoin’s future is made by countless participants, not a few leaders," adding, "Rather than waiting for 2036, we should think from today about how to use Bitcoin."