Bitcoin is Just an Idea
“Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”
All In
Regular readers will know I’ve been tinkering with shitecoins for a while. Well, a few days ago, I sold them all except for two: Sonar PING and Constellation DAG.
The rest of my crypto portfolio now consists entirely of Bitcoin. And, for as long as the Bitcoin experiment lives, Bitcoin is where my productive energy will go.
I first got into Bitcoin way back in 2011. I tried, but couldn’t figure out how to mine it. But, I found a guy on a forum who agreed to sell me some. If I remember correctly, it was about $100 worth.
Shortly after I received my Bitcoin, the price nuked by more than 50%. It was just bad timing. But, I was skittish enough to write the whole thing off as a scam and deleted the wallet.
People sometimes ask if I can somehow get access to the Bitcoin, or if I regret deleting the wallet. I know myself well enough to know I would have sold that Bitcoin a long time ago. Certainly long before it ever hit $2000, let alone $20,000.
The trouble is, I tend to be very practical.
And, until three days ago, I continued to be very “practical” about Bitcoin. A good friend of mine is a Bitcoin purist, and we talk about Bitcoin often. A little over a week ago, I said to him, “I know there will be a day when I wish I had gotten more Bitcoin.”
I dwelt on that statement for several days. During that time, it occurred to me that Bitcoin is just an idea. A proposition, really.
That notion changed my whole outlook on Bitcoin.
The root of all evil
Is money the root of all evil?
I don’t think so. I think evil is at the root of all money. It may seem I’m just playing with words here and I’m not.
Modern money is a scam.
It is a tool designed to extract value from a population through debasement and taxation. The people that designed money this way are evil.
They may not think they are. They may even believe they were or are doing good. They’re not. They never have and they never will.
According to a Newsweek poll, the most important issue for voters in the United States— by a WIDE margin — is the economy. Take a look:
How could that be? If you listen to economists, legacy media, and the current administration, the economy is GREAT.
Anyone that’s been to the grocery store in the last two years knows the economy is not great. Anyone that wants to buy a house, save for the future, or send their kids to college knows the economy is not great.
The economy is a problem today because of money and the policies of the people that create it. There is no reason our economy is in shambles other than sheer corruption.
Everyone knows it. Just ask anyone in the street what they think of US politicians and bankers. What do you think you will hear?
Scumbags.
Corrupt.
Incompetent.
Liars.
Evil.
It’s self-evident. These are the people that stole money from you, your children, and your grand-children to bail out financial firms that were committing outright fraud.
My question to you is: How do we fix it?
Do you think there exists a group of conscientious bankers and politicians waiting in the wings to swoop in and save the day? Do you think there will be a populist revolution that fixes the money?
Occupy Wall Street lasted 59 days. It resulted in…nothing. What were they going to do? Pout on the street until corrupt politicians and bankers felt bad?
The trouble is, even if a legit revolution happens, the revolutionaries are still people. Which means, after the new group comes in, they usually end up being just as corrupt as the group they displaced.
Why?
Because once they take power, they become the root of money in that nation. And, if evil is at the root of all money, then guess what they become?
Evil.
To be fair, whoever takes power may pursue fairness. They may respect your property and your productive effort.
Maybe. Probably not.
If money is power and you have absolute authority over money then you have absolute power. Which, as the old saying goes, corrupts absolutely.
5000 years of human civilization tells us this is true. It’s always been this way. Point being, no one, including me and you, is going to do it any different.
The Bitcoin Idea
Centralised control of money is an eternally corrupting force. Thus, we should decentralise control of money to reduce or eliminate corruption.
Neat idea, right?
The $500 Trillion dollar question is: How?
Right now, what the top 1% of wealth holders do is game the system in their favour, while the rest of us fall further and further behind. We spend more energy for longer periods of time to get less in return.
To make matters worse, the top 1% of wealth holders either directly or indirectly control the money. Which grants them absolute power over the direction money goes.
Meaning, there is no incentive whatsoever to “fix” money so it benefits the rest of us. It’s a snake eating its own tail.
But, in 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto created a mathematically and thermodynamically sound proposal to decentralise money via Bitcoin. From that early tinkering, the Bitcoin network has now grown to be the most powerful computer network ever conceived.
The network launched using around 5 MH/s (MegaHash per second). Today, the network commands 422 EH/s (ExaHash per second). It’s an extraordinary, voluntary, cooperative endeavour.
All of that power is devoted to cryptographically securing the network. It’s functionally impenetrable. Every holder, every node, and every miner that joins the network makes the network stronger.
Every holder, every node, and every miner that leaves the network weakens it. I think part of the reason people trade, or speculate on Bitcoin (thus weakening the network) is Nakamoto’s original proposition for Bitcoin, which called it “peer-to-peer electronic cash.”
It’s not.
Much like many inventions, the original intention often overlooks the greater utility. Gunpowder was used as medicine in China for centuries. Crude oil was refined for kerosene, while gasoline was discarded as a waste product.
In both cases, the energy potential was overlooked by the quest for a low order utility function. At the time of creation, medicine and lamps were perfectly good ideas for gunpowder and crude oil.
But, clearly, gasoline and guns were more powerful uses of those inventions. Same is true for a “peer-to-peer electronic cash” system.
As “cash” Bitcoin is cute. Just like using gunpowder to create an “elixir of life” is cute.
But, gunpowder in a gun or a bomb changed the world forever. Just like a 422 EH/s and growing, cryptographically secure monetary firewall against corruption is changing the world forever.
Practicality
As I mentioned up top, I tend to be a very practical person. And, when confronted with transformative ideas, the “practical” part of me becomes a cynic.
I’ve devoted a fair amount of thinking to discounting Bitcoin. Jason P. Lowery’s book Softwar: A Novel Theory on Power Projection and the National Strategic Significance of Bitcoin changed my mind about Bitcoin’s value.
Prior to listening to Major Lowery and reading his book, I lumped Bitcoin in with all other cryptos. That one book completely changed my mind about Bitcoin.
But, just because I knew Bitcoin had an actual value, I still hedged about its utility and longevity. That’s in part because, on some level, I still viewed Bitcoin as “just another crypto.”
The odd thing is, it may be. I don’t think so anymore, but what I think is irrelevant in a macro sense. What I’ve come to realise is Bitcoin is the revolution.
It’s the army we have. It’s channeling 150+ TerraWatt hours to secure $921 Billion dollars of asset value that is 100% voluntarily contributed. No one is forced to join the fray.
I choose to join the fray.
Laser eyes
Over the last 15 years, I have gone from an early Bitcoin nerd, to a skeptic, to a Bitcoin hedger, to what I would call myself today: A purist.
As I told my friend last week, I know there will come a time when I wish I would have stacked more sats. As a hedger, I suppose I’ve done okay in that regard.
I used whatever fiat gains I realised from shitechoins to acquire more BTC. But, as of today, gone are the days of speculating and gambling on nifty crypto toys.
I’ve known better all along.
I’ve spent a lot of time telling folks that crypto markets are a rigged game. As Robert Breedlove said, the rest of the crypto market besides Bitcoin are “Liquid venture capital subject to little or no due diligence.”
He’s absolutely correct.
I’m embarrassed it’s taken me this long to stop tinkering with that crap. The difference between me today and the “me” a few days ago is summed by the Bitcoin idea.
An idea that says no one is coming to “fix” the money.
Just like no one was coming to “fix” the problems the American colonists had with the British Government. It was up to them to make a stand, to risk everything including life and limb, for a chance to make the world a better place.
The risk I take by joining the Bitcoin revolution pales in comparison. I run a node, and I contribute as much of my monetary energy to the network as I can.
What’s the risk? I lose fiat money?
That money is vapour. The purchasing power of the money I earn from my labour is evaporating around 10–15% a year. I know it. You know it. Anyone with a pulse knows it.
For me, the choice is clear. Bleed out, or buy Bitcoin.
I choose Bitcoin.
These are just my opinions. I’m not a financial advisor, this isn’t financial advice, and always DYOR. Following any of these ideas might cause you to lose all of your money. I am 100% serious about that. I like tinkering with this stuff, but I’m on record acting like a total baboon. Invest accordingly.
Until next time, be safe, be smart and be sure to tie the camel.
