It feels like this year is passing by at the speed of light, doesn’t it? I can’t believe it’s already June. Everyone is in vacation mode and ready to relax by the pool and forget about the daily pressure of work and taking care of the family.
I completely understand the sentiment. Who doesn’t want to stop thinking about wallet-crushing inflation, high interest rates, credit card debt, and the feeling that no matter what you do, you won’t be able to get ahead in life? It’s like this whole system is rigged against you, doesn’t it?
Well, to be honest, but that’s a story for another time. The forces that want you fat, happy, and stupid have largely succeeded in this mission. Now that they have succeeded in oppressing the people, they can literally do whatever they want and get away with it with impunity.
The thing is, their arrogance got the best of them. The Federal Reserve and its Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) have screwed things up to the detriment of the American people and the federal government.
Before the 2020 pandemic, the government had difficulty maintaining inflation at 2%. Some economic factors such as improved technology, declining birth rate, retirement of baby boomers, and globalization have caused inflation to trend downward over time.
The Fed, in its infinite wisdom and constant concern about deflation, continued to lower interest rates to stimulate borrowing and lending in the US economy, something that worked for a while until we reached 2008 and the Great Financial Crisis (GFC).
Increased borrowing and lending overheated the housing market and almost caused the global economy to collapse, but fortunately we had a “mighty” government to step in and solve the problem it helped create. However, you might think that they have learned their lesson and put their finances in order.
It’s the government, of course not! They did no such thing, what they did was continue to spend extravagantly during the 2020 pandemic. Regardless of which political party was in power, spending continued to rise.
Did you know that former President Trump added $8.4 trillion to the national debt while he was in office And President Biden isn’t in a much better position with total debt looking at around $7.9 to $8 trillion? Needless to say, the government is bankrupt and living on borrowed time.
Whoever “wins” the elections will be the captain of a sinking ship. Medicare and Social Security are broken and completely unaffordable, but politicians don’t dare tell the millions of Americans who have “paid” their money their entire working lives that no amount of money was meant for them and that it was just an elaborate tax scheme to fund the government.
You are not entitled to Social Security “benefits”, I hope you know that now. If the government tells you you won’t get Social Security or Medicare, there’s nothing you can do about it. There are no lawsuits you can file to force the government to return your money or elect the “right” congressman to fix things. Once the government taxes your paycheck, that money is gone forever.
You can’t trust the government to keep its side of the bargain or not devalue the currency and ruin your quality of life. With a government like this, why would you trust them with anything? Self-custodial assets will determine winners and losers over the next five to 10 years.
Storm clouds gathering
I don’t know about you but I have an unsettling feeling that we’re on the verge of something big. This will be a qualitative shift for the whole world. If you look at the horizon, you can see all the pieces falling into place. Just look at what’s happening:
The US government is in debt at $34 trillion, and there is no end in sight.
Israel bombs the Iranian army in Syria
BRICS expansion and de-dollarization continues
The global birth rate is below replacement levels
All over the world there is open hostility or rising tensions about to explode into the open. I’m not sure if this is how the world felt before World War II, but it sure feels like the world is coming apart at the seams. With all this going on, how can you trust the current dollar-based system to protect your hard-earned wealth?
no new under the sun
If you have large amounts of dollars in the bank, your wealth is at risk. Banks can seize or severely restrict your access to your money, especially during a bank run or some other unexpected crisis. This is exactly what happened in 2013 during the Eurozone crisis.
During this time the two largest banks in Cyprus were facing problems and needed a bailout from the European Union. The Cypriot government was desperate and the EU knew it, so, in classic mob fashion, they insisted on the bank bailing out using clients’ money!!
It doesn’t get any worse than this people. According to a 2018 survey, 55% of families whose deposits exceeded the threshold of $100,000 were exposed to a direct financial loss, and 28% were exposed to a deposit rescue operation.
If you think this couldn’t happen to you, think again. I bet the Cypriots thought this couldn’t happen to them, but it did. Now is not the time to get complacent and think that everything is fine. If you are a Bitcoin user, you understand the world we live in now.
This is why self-custody of your assets, especially Bitcoin, is a must if you want to survive economic disaster while keeping your wealth intact.
Self-incarceration is the best tool for economic freedom
Satoshi created Bitcoin and gave us the monetary policy we needed to change the course of humanity from endless paper wars and a dystopian surveillance state to a bright orange future where human potential can flourish.
In addition to creating a fair and equitable monetary system, Satoshi gave us the ability to preserve our wealth without the need for an intermediary like a bank. All you need is a simple Bitcoin wallet address and your private key to secure your wealth from being confiscated by a malicious third party. This is really revolutionary, I mean this is a real 1776 moment in history Retrieved January 3, 2009.
Self-custodial gives you the ability to move across borders with your wealth and start over in a new place if necessary. You can’t do that with gold, you can’t do that with silver, you can’t do that with a 401k or shiny new Bitcoin ETFs.
Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins is the slogan that should be drilled into the head of every new person entering Bitcoin. Trusting a custodian to hold your bitcoin wealth is just as risky as keeping money in the bank.
There are so many educational materials and Bitcoiners willing to help people new to Bitcoin that it is frankly unacceptable for anyone to have any amount of Bitcoin on an exchange. If the majority of Bitcoin holders are holding their coins on an exchange or buying a Bitcoin ETF instead of the real deal, what are we doing here? It’s self-guardianship or bankruptcy. This is the task at hand. Are you ready anon?
This is a guest post by Robert Hall. The opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.