Bitcoin is immune to corruption

The argument

This argument grounds Bitcoin's claim on the future in a property of the technology beneath it rather than in its price or its adoption. The blockchain on which Bitcoin is based is open source, meaning that the code governing how the currency works is visible to everyone. Visibility is what does the work here. A system whose rules are published can be inspected by anyone who cares to look, so the rules cannot be quietly altered in the interest of whoever happens to administer them, and any attempt to alter them is apparent to every other participant. On this reasoning openness is not merely a virtue of transparency but the source of the currency's resistance to manipulation: there is no privileged position from which the terms can be changed unobserved. The significance of that property depends on who is asked. For a holder of a stable national currency, immunity to manipulation may look abstract. For people living in countries at risk of government corruption and currency fluctuations it is the central question, because the risk they face is precisely that the value of what they hold can be degraded by decisions taken by others and beyond their sight. A money whose rules cannot be rewritten by an authority offers them something their national currency does not: an asset whose terms do not depend on the good behaviour of whoever is in office. That is what makes Bitcoin a desirable alternative currency on this account. Its appeal is not speculative but structural, and it is strongest exactly where confidence in official institutions is weakest. Because it is immune to the corruption and arbitrary manipulation that afflict conventional currencies, proponents conclude, Bitcoin is the future.

Context

Currencies that are tied to central banks are susceptible to political influence and corruption.

Premises

Counter-arguments

Being immune to corruption is only desirable if it has a stable value. Bitcoin is even more prone to wild fluctuations in value than even the most unstable currencies. Therefore, it is not a viable currency alternative to those living in nations which have a high level of government corruption and currency fluctuations.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Central banks' backing of fiat currencies are what makes them stable. [Rejecting P4] Bitcoin may not be corruptable, but in its desire to remain incorruptible, it becomes unstable. [Rejecting P5] Therefore, Bitcoin is not the future.

Framing

Corruption is inherently a bad thing. The best currencies are those that are not susceptible to individual influence.