Christian on Nostr: The term "digital bearer asset" can be perplexing for those unfamiliar with Bitcoin, ...

The term "digital bearer asset" can be perplexing for those unfamiliar with Bitcoin, as it challenges the conventional concept of digitization.

Typically digitization entails replicating physical objects digitally, suggesting they can be easily copied and manipulated in the digital realm. However, Bitcoin's paradigm shift becomes evident when we examine its proof-of-work mechanism. Unlike traditional digitization, Bitcoin's process involves substantial real-world energy expenditure to create a block which starts life as an abstract digital object. This consumption of physical resources places tangible constraints on the digital asset, making it practically and economically infeasible to recreate from scratch.

Rather than the process of taking a physical object and digitising it where the digital version behaves as abstract representation of the physical. This process takes a digital item in the reverse direction and places physical constraints upon the once abstract object.

This suggests the need for a phrase as "materialized digital asset" (perhaps actualised or physicalized for example) to underline its departure from the loaded term of digitization, emphasizing its reliance on physical resources and its resemblance or behaviour to a physical asset or object.