"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for."
John Shedd
This applies to currencies (like Dollars, Yuan, Pounds, Euros, Rupees, etc). Keeping your cash safe in a bank account keeps you from losing money BUT that's not what currencies are for.
When you keep your currencies safe, they slowly lose buying power (what you can exchange them for, like food, energy, shelter, etc) until they're worth nothing.
Currencies are a medium of exchange - get rid of them as soon as possible to buy scarce things: stocks, real estate, Bitcoin, gold, and silver.
When you buy assets, they increase in buying power exponentially.
Buying a house is not always a good decision.
Renting is not throwing money away.
If you can't afford a house and you buy it anyways, you will destroy your finances.
The Federal Reserve issues the money that we use as a world reserve currency (the US Dollar).
The Federal Reserve is not a government institution.
It just uses the US government to force everybody to use US Dollars by keeping the US government in debt.
Who owns the Federal Reserve?
You don't hate capitalism.
You hate fiat currencies, which are a big reason for:
- Unlimited money printing
- Price inflation
- Bailouts
- Reckless government spending
- Wealth gaps
Bitcoin is the most powerful revolution of monetary policy.
It will take power away from governments and give it back to individuals.
Nobody can stop it, including the US, Russia, China, North Korea, etc. Only YOU can choose to stop yourself from using it.
Humans are greedy. They choose to steal from others.
Developed countries have used fiat currencies to steal from the rest of the world.
Bitcoin is the first form of money that NO HUMAN is in control of. It's completely controlled by incorruptible software.
That's why governments of developed countries hate it, while the rest of the world is embracing it.
Bitcoin is hard to understand because it challenges just about every belief you have about money.
Here are the most common misconceptions about the Bitcoin network:
1) Bitcoin has no physical presence so it's worthless
Money is simply a belief system used to transfer value. It doesn't NEED to be physical.
If market participants accept that BTC has value, IT HAS VALUE. Countries like El Salvador have adopted a Bitcoin standard already!
2) Bitcoin isn't backed by anything
BTC has all the characteristics of money: scarcity, durability, divisibility, portability, fungibility, and acceptability.
As long as these characteristics are maintained, demand (and price) will continue to go up.
3) Bitcoin is not scalable
Financial systems are built in layers.
Debit and credit cards are used to support more transactions in the USD system.
Similarly, lightning exists for small transactions on the Bitcoin network, and can support 1 million transactions per second.
4) Bitcoin can and will get hacked
Bitcoin was introduced to the world 13 years ago. IT HAS NEVER BEEN HACKED.
In that same period, Yahoo, Alibaba, LinkedIn, Facebook, Marriott, and Adobe were ALL hacked. Private information from billions of accounts was compromised.
5) Regulations will kill Bitcoin
Custodial services need to be regulated before institutional investors buy Bitcoin.
In reality, regulation will lead to new inflows of capital, and will HELP Bitcoin adoption.
You buy bitcoin at the price you deserve:
If you buy because of a fear of missing out, you'll probably end up overpaying.
If you sell because of fear that the price will drop more, you'll probably end up selling at a discount.
Just dollar cost average in and stop trying to time the market!
Governments dislike Bitcoin because it records ALL TRANSACTIONS that occur.
This means no under-the-table money for politicians.
It means no stealing from savers to give to corporations.
And, most importantly, it means leaders need to start thinking about opportunity cost.
If you're not a part of the government, Bitcoin gives YOU the power to decide what you do with your money, rather than giving that power to a group of individuals.
Stop buying things you don't need, with money you don't have, to impress people who don't care.
Building a habit of going for a daily 20-minute walk has so many benefits that will make you healthier over the next few decades.
But most people won't do it because they don't think it will be effective.
So they do nothing instead.
We spend 40-50 years of our lives working for money, but when it comes to learning how money works, most people won't be willing to set aside a couple of hours.
I started learning about Bitcoin in 2020. Before I started learning and really spending time reading books and learning financial history, I thought it was a scam.
I was stuck in the narrative that US Dollars will always be money, and I was always too tired after work to spend the time questioning this belief.
The pandemic allowed me to take a few hours of my time every day to learn about how money works on a deeper level.
Instead of commuting, I started going for walks and listening to podcasts about money, economics, and the financial system.
I started going down the rabbit hole of what the federal reserve is, why it was created, and who it benefits.
Making better decisions with your finances requires that you develop knowledge and learn about money in your free time.
Here's what most people miss: money is whatever a majority of the world believes it is.
The US dollar is considered "money" due to political force. Most of the world uses it for trade, and a majority of people are willing to keep it to store value.
Over the last few months, more countries have been saying that they're willing to accept other currencies in exchange for natural resources.
For example, Saudi Arabia is making agreements with countries like Kenya to accept the Kenyan Shilling for oil. In the past, Saudi Arabia ONLY accepted US dollars!
This may not seem like a huge deal (Kenya has a small GDP compared to other countries), but what happens if Saudi Arabia starts making these deals with more countries? What happens if the BRICS currency actually starts being widely used?
The future may not be Bitcoin (even though I think it is), but US Dollars are only used as money because a lot of people agree that they have value. In reality, they're not scarce and can be created at will by a small group of people (similar to BRICS).
Think of bitcoin as insurance against the current financial system and fiat currencies. If the current system breaks down, BTC's censorship resistance, limited supply, and ease of portability will make it very useful as money.
The important thing to consider is that you don't need to buy a lot of insurance to get protection. I could get a $1m life insurance policy for the next 20 years for ~$50/month.
It works the same with Bitcoin. You can buy tiny amounts (as little as $0.01 if that's all you can afford) to be protected in case things do end up going wrong with USD.
Before I started understanding how Bitcoin worked, I thought of money only as a way to get what I wanted. I would recklessly spend everything I earned on things I didn't need to impress people who didn't care.
Today, I understand that money is a tool to design your life the way you want it to be. Making better decisions isn't difficult, but spending the time to learn before you need to make those decisions is important.
I know it's stressful thinking about money, personal finance, and investing. Putting aside some time will completely change your perspective on what's going on in the world around you.
Truly spending time to learn how money works could put you ahead of the curve over the next 20-30 years. It could mean not having to work past 40 or 50 (if you don't want to) when others are forced to work in their 70s.
Bitcoin takes power away from the people at the top and gives it to the people at the bottom. Most people will continue to ignore it and wonder how they missed it in 10 years.
Spending a few hours to learn over the next few months could completely change your perspective!
If you think a single president is to blame for the current financial position of the United States, you don't understand politics at all.
The goal is to convince the world to continue spending in the US and holding US Dollars and treasuries. That's it.
99% of politicians don't care about you. They want to keep corporations and investors happy. If you're not a corporation or investor, you don't matter.