Any amount of Bitcoin is fuck-you money

“Fuck-you money” is a concept that I have heard several times, mainly linked to the startup scene. Looking for a definition I found this one from Urban Dictionary:

(fuck-you money): An amount of wealth that enables an individual to reject traditional social behavior and niceties of conduct without fear of consequences.

The main idea is to have money enough for you to say “fuck you” to anybody you think it deserves it, without fear of retaliation. While I mostly agree with this definition I definitely don’t agree with the use of the word amount. Let me explain it.

If you are a slave and you possess a large amount of “money” in form of tokens emitted by your master, no matter how much of this “money” you possess, it is definitely not “fuck-you money”. No matter how many things you can purchase with it, no financial choice can free you from the decisions of your master. Your destiny is tied to his. If he goes bankrupt, so will you.

And obviously, you won’t want to get your master angry because you would be in such an asymmetrical relationship that your financial future will depend on his will…. Let’s not even mention saying “fuck you” to him.

Modern slaves

Have you ever considered the following fact? It is not possible to own money outside some selected institutions called payment networks (VISA, PayPal, banks) or, in the physical world, central banks that emit papers called “banknotes”.

How is it possible that we can’t own money outside institutions where we can’t elect its leaders or participate in any way?

Going back to the slave analogy: nowadays every one of us is a slave that earns and spend money within institutions that ultimately control our financial destiny and, unsurprisingly, are constantly reminding us that this is better because they are protecting and keeping us safe. This despite we don’t elect the people who say this and whose financial goals are most of the time not aligned with ours.

Not convinced? Can you say “fuck you” to the banking system of your country by quitting it or to voluntarily stop using the banknotes emitted by the central bank of your country?

How does this fact influences the decisions that are made inside these institutions?

How does knowing this influences your decisions?

Fuck-you money

Bitcoin, on the other hand, is the first kind of money (after gold bars) that exist outside the domain and control of these institutions.

It can’t be seized, nobody can prevent you to transmit it or to take your savings to another country, and no political action can change the amount of Bitcoin you own.

For the first time in many, many generations, possessing Bitcoin, in any amount, is saying to those institutions:

“Fuck you. I don’t need you. You no longer control my financial destiny. Because no matter what you do, you can’t change what Bitcoin is, how many Bitcoins I possess or to whom I can send them.

I can control my financial destiny without you intervening, or needing you in any way.”

As no person or institution manages it, Bitcoin is a voluntary and uncontrollable system, making it a very special kind of money.

Money outside the traditional financial system.

Money without a master.

The real “fuck-you money”.

Don’t doubt that institutions that currently have control over “money” will do everything they can to prevent you to own Bitcoin.

For a master releasing a slave is always a bad idea.