Absolute Property Rights are Bitcoin’s True Innovation
Human’s need property to survive. Life becomes impossible without property — without tools, clothing, and a place to live.
Because of this, property rights are a fundamental human right. Free societies have a long tradition of supporting property rights. Society norms, customs, and laws recognize property rights and have strong provisions to protect them. In many places, property rights are recognized as so important and so central to our survival that individuals are allowed use lethal force to protect what is theirs.
Levels of Ownership
Direct Possession
There are several ways you can “own” property. The first is…
Centralized cryptocurrencies are the worst of both worlds.
Centralized Systems
Centralized systems have a central command and control. A single entity controls how the system works. A simple example of a centralized system is a company that is run by a CEO.
Centralized systems can be very efficient and responsive to change. The leader can make changes to the system quickly as all parts are tightly coupled and there is a clear command hierarchy. Decentralized systems are slower to change (this can be an advantage, see my article on decentralized systems).
Most money is centralized because it is controlled by the government…
Bitcoin isn’t just for techies
What is Bitcoin
Bitcoin is unstoppable electronic money with a limited supply. That is the simplest way to describe it. Once you break the definition down you will really begin to see its power.
Bitcoin is Money
Money can be used to store your wealth, buy/sell things, and keep track of profits. Today Bitcoin is primarily used to store wealth for the future and to a lesser degree to buy things. You can read more on why Bitcoin is money here.
Bitcoin is Electronic Money (Cash)
Cash can only be spent once. If you give it to someone you no longer own it. …
There are lots of currencies in the world, but they aren’t all equal. Some are strong and desirable and others are weak and near-worthless. The strength of a currency is how well it retains value over time. Strong currencies are retain value, weak ones do not.
Today the US Dollar (USD) is the strongest currency in the world. It is a global reserve currency, meaning business and accounts are often conducted in USD all over the world.
Here are just some stats as to how integral the USD is to the world’s economy:
- 60% of all governments world-wide holdings are…
How to implement recurring payments in Bitcoin
Traditional reoccurring / subscription payments should be familiar to most. Companies such as Netflix and your electric company bill you monthly for services. The money automatically gets charged to your credit card or pulled from your bank account. This service costs you nothing, though the seller pays transaction fees up to approximately 3% for credit card payments. People like subscription payments because its convenient. Sellers like them because it eliminates collection issues and people often forget to unsubscribe. …
Cryptocurrency uses boil down to one of these use cases. Not all are created equal.
Medium of Exchange
aka buying stuff. The currency allows one person to send value to another.
The transaction may be public, anonymous, or pseudo-anonymous.
Censorship Resistant Money
Third parties cannot confiscate or prevent spending. A cryptocurrency must be immutable and decentralized for this to be true.
Store of Value
The cryptocurrency must have a predictable supply to project value into the future.
Trade / Speculate
People buy the cryptocurrency either expecting it to appreciate or expecting other assets/currencies relative to it to become cheaper in the future.
Turn Electricity into Cash
Many cryptocurrencies use power-hungry computers to mine or create new…
Before currency like the US dollar, Euro, and Yen were invented, people bartered goods to do business. A historical example of this is during the 1700s, when Hudson’s Bay Company, now a large retail chain in Canada and the oldest company in North America, used beaver pelts as currency to trade with the local indigenous population. The local tribes weren’t interested in traditional gold or silver money; they wanted guns, knives, and other supplies. On the other hand, Hudson’s Bay wanted furs, so they started bartering between the indigenous tribes and the company — say, guns for pelts.
The problem…
I completed a year long survey of 1000 people a month to understand what they know about Bitcoin and how their opinion changes over time.
How I did it
To do this, I ran a survey 11 times every month from October 2017 to October 2018 (unfortunately, I missed September 2018). A thousand people were surveyed each time. This survey captured people’s opinions before the Bitcoin bubble in December 2017, through the crash, and the well into the Bitcoin bear market.
The tool I used was Google Survey, which has a statistically valid surveying tool that content sites use to monetize traffic. Its is…
Most people understand Bitcoin as a speculative investment or a way to transact online. But this increasingly popular method of transaction was specifically developed as a form of currency that could not be censored, confiscated, or inflated. I believe these unique aspects make Bitcoin a superior form of currency, one that can increase people’s economic freedom.
Imagine living in a place where you did not have control over the money that you earn, or you were unable to access or use it. …
There are several trillion dollar challenges the US will face that could potentially affect the confidence in our nation’s money — the US Dollar.
None of these could unseat or permanently damage our status as a global reserve currency alone. However, combined and if dealt with poorly, these problems could create an opening that another country or currency could use to establish a significantly larger roll on the global state.
The US has extremely high debt that could cause pressure to print money in the future:
- The US Federal Debt is approximately $21T and growing rapidly. It exceeds the US’s…
