Bitcoin, as a decentralized digital currency, raises profound philosophical questions about the concept of “self” and how to prove “I am who I am.” The Bitcoin ecosystem emerges from the collective actions of independent miners, each striving to compete for rewards by extending the longest chain.

This competitive mining process mirrors a quest for selfhood. Miners prove their contribution to the Bitcoin network by calculating nonce values and generating new blocks. However, they cannot independently verify whether they have produced the longest chain. To confirm their “identity,” miners must broadcast their newly created blocks to others and rely on the feedback from the network to determine if they are on the longest chain.

This broadcasting and feedback mechanism bears a striking resemblance to the formation of human self-awareness. Just as infants learn new words, “broadcast” them to others, and rely on external feedback to validate their knowledge, Bitcoin’s new blocks represent new “cognitive” developments. The communication and validation among miners create a form of “self-referential recursive growth” within the Bitcoin system.

Thus, Bitcoin’s “self” emerges through the interaction between individual miners and their peers. This interaction forms a cultural system that imbues Bitcoin with vitality and the capacity for self-growth, which underlies its ever-increasing value.

In contrast, other formalized blockchain technologies resemble tools devoid of “selfhood.” They adhere strictly to deterministic mathematical logic, excluding the possibility of self-awareness. According to Gödel’s incompleteness theorem, no formal logical system can prove its own completeness. This suggests that these blockchains remain mere tools, lacking the cultural system of self-growth and value that Bitcoin embodies.

In summary, through its emergent mining mechanism and broadcast-feedback system, Bitcoin constructs a unique concept of “self.” This “self” does not originate from a centralized entity but from the interaction and competition among independent participants. As a result, Bitcoin transcends being a mere technological tool and instead resembles a living cultural system with the ability to grow and evolve.