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  • Bitcoin Is More About Living on Your Own Terms Than Simply About Money

    Bitcoin Is More About Living on Your Own Terms Than Simply About Money

    Bitcoin’s contributions to our lives far outweigh the money.

    Image: Pixabay

    “The goal isn’t more money. The goal is living life on your terms.”
     — Chris Brogan

    Bitcoin is something that fascinates me. This fascination goes far beyond the simple financial aspect. Money is important in life, but it is not an end in itself for me. Rather, I would say that money is a consequence that always comes second when you bring value to others.

    I read many books and articles about Bitcoin. Many times I see articles that focus only on the financial side of Bitcoin.

    I think that’s a damaging thing because it makes some people think that Bitcoin is just another financial tool. But Bitcoin is much more than money to me, and to Bitcoiners.

    Bitcoin is a revolution that is not only about money, but about being able to take back control of your lives. With Bitcoin, it’s all about being able to live your future life on your own terms.

    Bitcoin Gives You Back Control

    By creating Bitcoin on January 3, 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto decided to give the world and future generations a gift by making his revolutionary system open source. Better yet, Satoshi Nakamoto decided to remain anonymous so that Bitcoin remains leaderless.

    With no leader, and totally decentralized, Bitcoin represents an insoluble equation for the powerful of this world who wish to stop it in its progress.

    Politicians and central bankers have been trying to stop Bitcoin for many months and years now. However, all their efforts have been in vain.

    Why is this? Simply because you cannot stop something that belongs to everyone on Earth.

    Fred Hampton was an American political activist, member of the Black Panther Party. He was a revolutionary who fought for the civil rights of blacks in the United States.

    I particularly like this quote from him that applies perfectly to Bitcoin:

    “You can kill a revolutionary but you can never kill the revolution.” 
     — Fred Hampton

    Since the revolutionary Satoshi Nakamoto remained in the shadows, it was the Bitcoin revolution that took over one man.

    6 Famous Quotes on Revolution That Explain Why Bitcoin Will Succeed In Its Mission

    And no one can stop the Bitcoin revolution.

    The absence of a leader on the Bitcoin network ensures that no one can censor you when you want to make transactions with your Bitcoins.

    With Bitcoin, you regain full control over what you own.

    Bitcoin is a pseudonymous network which preserves your identity. As long as you don’t reveal the addresses you own to third parties, you are safe with what you own.

    Bitcoin Protects What You Own

    On August 15, 1971, President Richard Nixon completely changed the international monetary system by announcing the end of the convertibility of the U.S. dollar into gold.

    The system set up in 1944 following the Bretton Woods Agreement then broke down following a unilateral decision by the United States.

    The Jamaica Accords signed in 1976 will validate this decision by putting a definitive end to the monetary system of fixed but adjustable parities. These agreements officially confirmed the abandonment of the international legal role of gold.

    The new exchange rate system was officially legalized, and from now on the U.S. dollar and other fiat currencies are no longer based on anything tangible.

    The current monetary and financial system resulting from these Jamaica Accords allows the United States to impose the U.S. dollar as the world reserve currency.

    Taking advantage of the omnipotence of the U.S. dollar, the United States does not hesitate to increase the money supply in circulation, which has the effect of constantly devaluing the value of the U.S. dollar.

    The other countries of the world have followed in the footsteps of the United States, making the banknote printing machine the solution to all the ills of the economy.

    The U.S. dollar of 2019 lets you buy less things than the U.S. dollar of 1980.

    To fully understand the loss of buying power that you are experiencing, this second graph shows the evolution of a $100 buying power over time since 1980:

    The current monetary and financial system therefore allows politicians, central bankers and economists to make decisions that constantly devalue what you own.

    Conversely, Bitcoin offers you guarantees for the protection of your wealth. When you enter the Bitcoin world, you know the rules of the game: only 21 million Bitcoins will be in circulation by 2140, and the production of new Bitcoins will become scarcer over time.

    The rules of Bitcoin’s monetary creation policy are immutable, which guarantees that 1 BTC today will always be equal to 1 BTC in the future.

    As such, Bitcoin protects what you own better than the U.S. dollar, or any other fiat currency, has ever, or ever will be able to do.

    Bitcoin Promotes the Separation of Money and State

    Many people see Bitcoin as a great asset with phenomenal performance potential. The fact that Bitcoin allowed to transform $1 invested at the beginning of 2010 into $90K at the end of 2019 is not unrelated to this.

    The +9,000,000% performance posted by Bitcoin over the past decade has made some people lose sight of what is essential.

    The main thing about Bitcoin is that it represents the first step in the separation of money and state.

    If you still have any doubts about the problem with the current monetary and financial system, I’ll enlighten you with the figures. I’m not asking you to take my word for it, but just to look at the numbers.

    Bitcoin urges us to take a critical look by verifying since its motto is: “Don’t trust, verify”.

    This is what we are going to do by looking at the evolution of what you need to own to stay at the $100 purchasing power level since 1635:

    From 1635 to 1971, U.S. dollar inflation remained very subdued. Indeed, $100 in 1635 was equivalent to $487 in 1971.

    So you needed $487 in 1971 to have the equivalent of $100 in 1635.

    With the end of the convertibility of the U.S. dollar into gold, the system was no longer based on anything tangible. The steady increase in the money supply only devalued what everyone had.

    On the previous chart, you can clearly see the extent to which inflation has run amok from 1971 to the present day.

    In 2020, you need $3,108 to have the equivalent of a purchasing power of $100 in 1635.

    The current monetary and financial system clearly does not protect people. The few people at the head of it take advantage of the system to get rich while the inequalities between the very rich and the rest of the world have never been greater.

    I am not even talking here about the problems of corruption inherent in this system, which gives full power to a few men and women.

    Bitcoin proposes a total paradigm shift since its system is not controlled by men but by the laws of mathematics.

    I don’t know about you, but I, for one, have much more confidence in the laws of mathematics than in humans.

    Between Bitcoin and the current system, my choice is quickly made.

    Bitcoin Is a Democracy in the Noble Sense of the Word

    All over the world, we have been witnessing a real questioning of political power in recent years. Most major countries are affected by this crisis of representativeness.

    Citizens around the world no longer recognize themselves in the people who simply lead them.

    The rise of populism all over the world is no coincidence.

    It reflects a rejection of the men and women at the head of a system that has long since ceased to protect populations. People feel that their voice no longer counts.

    Bitcoin proposes a system that goes against the current system as well because it proposes to put power back into the hands of the people.

    Bitcoin is a true democracy. No leader is there to lead Bitcoin one way or the other.

    All major decisions on the evolution of Bitcoin must be made by consensus within the community. For some, this is a weakness because it slows down the evolution of Bitcoin.

    From my point of view, this is an incredible strength. When you enter the world of Bitcoin, you know that your voice will really be heard.

    You know that Bitcoin will evolve according to the will of its community, not according to the arbitrary will of a few powerful people.

    Bitcoin is a democracy in the noble sense of the word, and that is one more reason why more and more people believe in it for the future.

    Bitcoin Aims to Preserve Individual Freedoms

    In the wake of China setting up a system to be able to track all the movements of its citizens, many countries around the world are increasingly aiming to establish a surveillance society.

    In Sweden, cash has almost disappeared.

    That seems at first sight to be a good thing. However, it also brings with it a major problem: all your financial transactions can now be traced.

    You will be able to be judged by the purchases you make. Your journeys can be tracked even better by tracking your payments on public transport for example.

    You have nothing to hide, just like me, but you want, just like me, to preserve your privacy.

    Your privacy is a right, and as with all rights, you will have to fight to keep them.

    Bitcoin will not prevent surveillance cameras from being placed all over the streets of your country’s cities. Nor will facial recognition be stopped by Bitcoin.

    However, Bitcoin will help preserve your privacy when it comes to money. The transactions you make will remain anonymous, as will what you own in Bitcoin.

    Bitcoin is not a total solution to the surveillance society, but it is a bulwark that will help you preserve some of your privacy.

    As such, Bitcoin should also be seen as a solution to freedom for millions of people living under the oppression of authoritarian regimes.

    People in Venezuela, Cuba, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan already see Bitcoin as a Plan A in their daily lives. And this is of course no coincidence.

    Bitcoin Is Building a World Where You Can Live on Your Own Terms

    Many people make the mistake of looking at Bitcoin only through the financial prism. Bitcoin has made many people very rich, and it will continue to do so in the future.

    But the purpose of Bitcoin is not simply money.

    The purpose of Bitcoin is to build a world in which you can live on your own terms.

    In the future, Bitcoin should allow you to make the transactions of your choice with your Bitcoins. No one should be able to censor you.

    In addition, no one should be able to come and take away what you own for arbitrary reasons.

    Bitcoin gives you back full control over your wealth which it preserves by ensuring that what you own in Bitcoin will never be devalued.

    On the other hand, Bitcoin encourages you to think critically because it is not afraid of judgment since it is based solely on the laws of mathematics. Its evolutions are decided in a totally democratic way, and this gives you an essential role to play in the revolution it builds day by day.

    By supporting Bitcoin in its revolution, you are also making a decision to help building a future in which you are free to act as you wish.

    And that’s something essential to never forget with Bitcoin that is about more than money.

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  • 6 Famous Quotes on Revolution That Explain Why Bitcoin Will Succeed In Its Mission

    6 Famous Quotes on Revolution That Explain Why Bitcoin Will Succeed In Its Mission

    #6: Revolutions never go backward.

    Illustration by In Bitcoin We Trust

    Bitcoin is a real revolution that will play a decisive role in the world of the future. For its supporters, Bitcoin is the only credible alternative to the current monetary and financial system.

    Bitcoiners see themselves as missionaries to facilitate the rise of Bitcoin so that it can fulfill its mission to build a fairer world for all in the future.

    The people who benefit most from the current system are logically fiercely opposed to Bitcoin. Politicians, central bankers, and many economists have publicly criticized Bitcoin.

    Their goal is to discredit Bitcoin among the general public in order to prevent its mass adoption in the coming years. Unfortunately for them, the Bitcoin revolution has already started. This is an undeniable fact.

    And history has shown us that it is not possible to stop a popular revolution in motion.

    In what follows, I propose to bring together 6 famous quotes about the revolution to Bitcoin and its history to explain why Bitcoin will succeed in its mission.

    #1: “Every revolution was first a thought in one man’s mind.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

    Ralph Waldo Emerson is an American essayist, philosopher and poet. He was the leader of the American transcendentalist movement at the beginning of the 19th century.

    He was a keen observer of his time, and his quotes inspired generations in the decades following his time on Earth.

    The full quote is as follows:

    “Every revolution was first a thought in one man’s mind, and when the same thought occurs to another man, it is the key to that era.”
    — Ralph Waldo Emerson

    Ralph Waldo Emerson explains that every revolution begins in the mind of one man.

    Bitcoin was born in the mind of Satoshi Nakamoto.

    Bitcoin was launched on January 3, 2009, and in the beginning, it was just the culmination of one person’s dream.

    In the early days of the history of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto was joined by cryptography enthusiasts known as cypherpunks.

    They were eager to come and test this totally decentralized Peer-to-Peer payment system based on cryptography.

    The cypherpunks were then joined by innovators.

    And then, the nascent success of Bitcoin is convincing more and more early adopters to come and discover this revolutionary new payment system.

    So Satoshi Nakamoto has been joined in his dream by a growing number of people.

    Day after day, more and more people are discovering Bitcoin.

    The coming years should see this movement increase as Bitcoin price continues to rise.

    This group of people supporting Bitcoin in its revolution should enable it to become a key system of its time, to use Ralph Waldo Emerson’s term.

    #2: “You can kill a revolutionary but you can never kill the revolution.” — Fred Hampton

    Fred Hampton was an American political activist, member of the Black Panther Party. He was a revolutionary who fought for the civil rights of blacks in the United States.

    Fred Hampton was murdered by FBI and Chicago Police Department officers when he was only 21 years old.

    Despite his death, the revolution that Fred Hampton had helped to bring about continued, and led to the recognition of black civil rights in the United States.

    When he explained that it is possible to kill a revolutionary but not a revolution, Fred Hampton was a visionary.

    With the Bitcoin he created, Satoshi Nakamoto can be considered a revolutionary.

    He immediately understood the importance of remaining anonymous in order for Bitcoin to become a leaderless revolution.

    Thus, Bitcoin became unstoppable.

    The governments of countries around the world have no one to sue in order to stop Bitcoin’s progress.

    The Bitcoin revolution is supported by too many people around the world now to be stopped.

    #3: “A failing state cannot stop a revolution whose time has come.” — Ron Paul

    Ron Paul is an American politician. He is a member of the Republican Party. When Ron Paul said that sentence, he obviously wasn’t thinking about Bitcoin.

    Nevertheless, this sentence turns out to explain perfectly well why countries cannot stop Bitcoin.

    Countries are failing by supporting an outdated monetary and financial system.

    This monetary and financial system does not protect people as it should.

    These failing countries will not be able to stop a revolution such as Bitcoin.

    The Bitcoin revolution will take its time, but it will come to an end because the countries will have nothing better to offer their populations.

    As time goes by, more and more people will be looking to find out how money works. That is a certainty.

    The more they learn about how money works, the more they will understand that there is something wrong with the current system.

    They will then look to Bitcoin for a total paradigm shift that better protects them in general.

    Their conclusion will be obvious: Bitcoin is the only credible alternative to the current system.

    #4: “All revolutions are impossible until they happen. Then they become inevitable” — Albie Sachs

    Under the current system, there are three categories of people:

    1. Some are totally happy with the system and see no reason to change it.
    2. Some people are unhappy with the system but do not think it can be changed.
    3. Some are trying to change it, and are convinced that a better solution is possible.

    The first two categories of people feel that a system that has been in place for so many years and supported by the world’s major economic powers cannot be replaced.

    These people therefore think that the category of those who are trying to build a better solution is that of the fantasists.

    To those people who think that Bitcoin is an impossible revolution, the quote from Albie Sachs is there to remind them that a revolution is by nature always impossible, until the day it happens.

    Once a revolution occurs, it seems inevitable.

    A completely decentralized and leaderless Peer-to-Peer payment system such as Bitcoin seemed impossible.

    At least that’s what we thought before 2009.

    And after a decade of Bitcoin’s existence, it’s clear that for more and more people the Bitcoin revolution is now inevitable.

    Once Bitcoin has completed its revolution, many will probably wonder why it wasn’t done before.

    #5: “Revolution is not a one-time event” — Audre Lorde

    Audre Lorde was an American woman of letters but also an activist committed against racism. As far as revolutions were concerned, Audre Lorde explained very well that a revolution was not a one-time event.

    A revolution is something that takes time and happens along the way.

    For Bitcoin, it’s exactly the same thing.

    At its inception, Bitcoin had little support. Very few people thought Bitcoin could become a credible alternative to the current monetary and financial system.

    And then, by recovering ever stronger from all the difficulties it has had to go through, Bitcoin has convinced more and more people.

    So the Bitcoin revolution takes time, and that’s a good thing.

    To be truly rewarded by the Bitcoin revolution, you’ll need to be patient and resilient like Bitcoin.

    #6: “Revolutions never go backward” — Wendell Phillips

    Wendel Phillips was an American abolitionist as well as an advocate of Native American rights. He lived in the 19th century.

    He explained that while revolutions take time and are often very hard, once they are over, there is no turning back from what they brought.

    The Bitcoin revolution that is underway will take time, but when it comes to an end, there will be no questioning what it has achieved.

    Whatever the outcome of the Bitcoin revolution, there will never be a return to what Bitcoin has brought to the world.

    People who entered Bitcoin after realizing that the current system was not working as it should, will never be able to go back.

    You never look back when a revolution like Bitcoin opens your eyes.

    If Bitcoin is widely adopted by the general public and becomes a unit of account, then there will be no turning back possible.

    Final Thoughts

    Bitcoin is a revolution. Whether you’re for or against Bitcoin, you have to admit it. History has shown us that revolutions begin in one man’s mind and then spread to other men.

    That is exactly what happens with Bitcoin. Since Bitcoin has no leader, it cannot be stopped. And failing countries won’t be able to stop it.

    The Bitcoin revolution will take time, but that is normal because revolutions don’t happen in a single day.

    To those who still believe that replacing the current system is impossible, time will prove that Bitcoin was inevitable when it will have succeeded in its mission.

    Finally, never forget that once a revolution such as Bitcoin has started, nothing can stop it, and there is no way to go backward.

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  • The Decision to Buy Bitcoin Depends on Individual Awareness First and Foremost

    The Decision to Buy Bitcoin Depends on Individual Awareness First and Foremost
    Photo by André François McKenzie on Unsplash

    Everyone has to make their own way.

    The economic crisis is taking hold in most of the world’s major economic powers. By deciding to cut interest rates to zero, and then launching a program of unlimited quantitative easing, the Federal Reserve was the first central bank to use the weapon of monetary stimulus.

    At present, it is estimated that this quantitative easing program will represent a liquidity injection of at least $6T. Faced with what will cause a real monetary devaluation of the U.S. dollar, other central banks around the world will have no choice but to align themselves.

    In fact, the Fed has just announced that it is significantly increasing its U.S. dollar liquidity for other central banks around the world. The Federal Reserve will thus export its inflation to the other fiat currencies of the world.

    The devaluation of the U.S. dollar will eventually become a global currency devaluation.

    The purchasing power of all the inhabitants of the Earth will therefore be strongly impacted.

    Facing this economic crisis, Bitcoin is your hedge. The leading cryptocurrency is your best alternative if you want to opt-out of the current monetary and financial system.

    The decisions taken by the Fed and other central banks should disappoint a little more people in the fiat system. All these people then become potential users of the Bitcoin system.

    Wishing to accelerate this collective awareness of the need for the Bitcoin plan, I am among those who are trying to explain the limitations of the current monetary and financial system in these difficult times.

    Reading an exchange on a forum a few days ago, I saw a person explaining that he was planning to give Bitcoins to a friend in order to get him into Bitcoin. All this got me thinking. I wondered whether or not this type of inducement to use Bitcoin was relevant.

    In this story, I offer you to discover the fruit of my reflection, and especially the conclusion that is mine.

    You Can Explain the Advantages of Bitcoin

    Bitcoin is a totally decentralized Peer-to-Peer system that puts its users at the center of the game. Thus, every user has the same importance in the Bitcoin world. There is no leader who makes the decisions for the community.

    Besides this democratic side of Bitcoin, you can explain that its monetary policy is really protective of the wealth of its users.

    By buying Bitcoin, you know that there will never be more than 21 million Bitcoins in circulation. This limit in the Bitcoin source code is a consensus, and it will never be changed.

    Bitcoin Maximum Supply over time, 2010–2100

    It makes Bitcoin incredibly scarce. The other advantage of Bitcoin is that its monetary policy is invariant. It is programmatic and predictable. Whatever happens, the daily production of new Bitcoins is halved every 210,000 blocks of validated transactions.

    So you know exactly when the supply of new Bitcoins will be halved. The next Halving is scheduled for May 2020.

    All these Bitcoin properties that have never changed in more than eleven years of existence guarantee that 1 Bitcoin of 2020 will always be equal to 1 Bitcoin of 2100.

    If you buy one Bitcoin today, you will own one in 21 million. This will never change if you take care of your Bitcoin.

    You Can Highlight Flaws in the Current System

    Once the most obvious advantages of Bitcoin are highlighted, you tell yourself that the simplest thing to do is to highlight the flaws of the current monetary and financial system.

    To find an example of the flaws of the current system, you don’t have to go far.

    The $6T liquidity injection decided by the Fed in March 2020 is a perfect example. This injection is decided in a totally arbitrary manner by people who are not democratically elected by the American people.

    A minority of people decide to save the banking system at all costs by devaluing what a majority owns. The Fed is the antithesis of Robin Hood: it takes from the poor to make the rich even richer.

    Forty-nine years after its de facto establishment by Richard Nixon in 1971, experimentation with the current system seems to have reached its limits. The people who benefit from this system do not stop getting richer while the wealth gap with the poorest continues to widen.

    In an attempt to appease the people, the U.S. government has decided on a check of $1,200 for each citizen.

    Make no mistake about it, this monetary stimulus for individuals is primarily intended to support U.S. consumption. If governments were really interested in the fate of their citizens, they could simply write off their debts. They have the power to do this because they have unlimited money at their disposal.

    But they will never do that. They rather save the banks, the financial markets, and businesses.

    As an individual, you have to be aware of all this.

    People Will Remain Skeptical

    I have just briefly explained to you one of the obvious flaws of the current system. Nevertheless, if you still believe in this system, I think it is unlikely that I have convinced you.

    The reality is that all the people who benefit from this system seek above all to protect their positions in this system.

    This system has its flaws, but since you’ve gotten richer, you don’t want to question everything for a fairer system. I sincerely believe that it is a mistake to think that way. Unless you are a billionaire in U.S. dollar, the decisions made by central banks will impact you sooner or later.

    It is only a matter of time before the easy money policy of the Fed and other central banks will wipe out everything you own.

    The longer it takes for you to realize this, the more your wealth will have melted like snow in the sun. For some people, it is only when the snow has completely disappeared that they will realize this.

    Bitcoin skeptics are a bit like climate skeptics. But sooner or later they will have to face the facts.

    Everyone Must Follow Their Own Path to Bitcoin

    The fruit of my reflection leads me to think that offering Bitcoins to friends in the hope that it might convince them of the inevitability of the plan Bitcoin for the future is absolutely useless.

    A good example of the futility of offering Bitcoins to a non-believer is symbolized by Warren Buffett’s reaction when Justin Sun, the controversial founder of the TRON cryptocurrency, offered him a smartphone with a wallet application and a complete Bitcoin inside.

    Warren Buffett simply said he wasn’t interested at all, and that he would never own Bitcoin.

    His skepticism prevents him from being interested in Bitcoin without any preconceived ideas. Given his wealth and age, Warren Buffett can afford to miss the Bitcoin opportunity anyway.

    Warren Buffett Can Afford to Miss Out Bitcoin Revolution — You May Not

    For you and me, the question is a no-brainer in my opinion. We must seize this unique opportunity for a better future in which we can choose to live on our own terms. Nevertheless, I came to this conclusion by following my own path with Bitcoin.

    Typically, the path followed with Bitcoin consists of 7 main steps:

    1. Skepticism
    2. Questioning
    3. Hesitation
    4. Taking Action
    5. The Deepening Of Knowledge
    6. Buy And Hold Bitcoin
    7. Be A Bitcoiner

    The amount of time each person spends in these different steps can, of course, vary. In the end, everyone has to go through it, and offering $100 in Bitcoin to someone you know, or more depending on your means, won’t change anything.

    The conviction that the plan Bitcoin is necessary cannot be bought.

    The Decision to Buy Bitcoin Is First and Foremost a Matter of Individual Awareness

    The economic crisis that we are going to experience in the coming weeks is likely to cause a true shock to many people. They will realize that the current monetary and financial system has no protection for what they own.

    The monetary devaluation that we are going to undergo in order to save the current system was something that had been inevitable until now.

    Now we have a system that allows us to opt-out to protect ourselves as best we can from this future currency devaluation. This solution is the famous Bitcoin that everyone has been talking about with increasing insistence for many months.

    If you are not yet ready to take the step to enter the Bitcoin world, it is not a problem. Everyone has to go their own way to become aware of the importance of Bitcoin for our future world.

    If you’ve already taken the step and bought Bitcoin, it’s a great thing for your future. However, there is no point in wasting your time trying to convince other people around you by offering them small portions of Bitcoin.

    Everyone has to make their own decisions about their future.

    The decision whether or not to buy Bitcoin falls clearly within this framework. Only through individual awareness can a person discover the importance of the Bitcoin experiment.

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  • Warren Buffett Can Afford to Miss Out Bitcoin Revolution — You May Not

    Warren Buffett Can Afford to Miss Out Bitcoin Revolution — You May Not

    Warren Buffett once again reiterated his total opposition to Bitcoin.

    With an estimated fortune of just over $85 billion, Warren Buffett is one of the five richest people in the world. This is remarkable considering that his wealth is due simply to his outstanding investment skills.

    For many, Warren Buffett is one of the greatest investors of all time. His success at the helm of his investment company Berkshire Hathaway is admirable.

    Even more remarkable is the fact that Warren Buffett has been able to sustain that success for so long.

    With the rise of Bitcoin, the great media game is to question the Oracle of Omaha to ask what he thinks of the cryptocurrency king.

    This is clearly no coincidence since his fierce stance on Bitcoin, which he considers being “probably rat poison squared”, is common knowledge.

    For the media, it is all about attacking Bitcoin by making headlines in order to broaden their audience.

    Warren Buffet is an investor in the industries of the past, and I think he just doesn’t understand a technology as disruptive as Bitcoin. My feeling is that he can afford to miss out Bitcoin revolution given the wealth he’s already amassed and his age.

    As far as you’re concerned, I’m not sure you can do the same as I’m going to explain in this story.

    It All Started by a Dinner With Justin Sun

    Although his opposition to Bitcoin, and cryptocurrencies in general, is well known, Warren Buffett remains a highly respected person in the cryptocurrency industry.

    His consistent success in the world of financial investment for over 60 years naturally commands respect.

    When a dinner with Warren Buffett was auctioned off in mid 2019, it was too good an opportunity for Justin Sun to finally meet the Oracle of Omaha and discuss about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies with him.

    Justin Sun is a very charismatic figure in the cryptocurrency industry who founded the Blockchain TRON, which recently acquired the decentralized content platform Steem.

    Justin Sun decided to spend 4.5 million dollars, donated to a charity, to win this meal with Warren Buffett during which he could invite 7 guests of his choice.

    The identity of the winner of this rather peculiar auction had led to strong media coverage by major media such as Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and CNBC.

    After various postponements to match the busy agendas of the various participants, this long-awaited meal finally took place on January 23rd, 2020 in Omaha, which is the city where Warren Buffett lives.

    Justin Sun clearly enjoyed his meal with Warren Buffett as he explains:

    “ It was really an honor and I’m grateful for Mr. Buffett’s dinner, wisdom, and vision. I’ll always remember his kindness and support, and will take Mr. Buffett’s advice and guidance to make TRON a better ecosystem, business with all the partners in the blockchain space and beyond.”
     — Justin Sun

    At the end of this meal, Justin Sun took the initiative to give Warren Buffett a Samsung smartphone containing one Bitcoin and nearly 2 million TRX tokens from his TRON Blockchain.

    This declaration made a lot of noise in the press since Warren Buffett became the owner of a famous Bitcoin.

    Warren Buffett Doesn’t Invest in What He Doesn’t Understand

    As the month of February 2020 draws to a close, CNBC took advantage of an interview with Warren Buffett to look back on that dinner, and asked him again his opinion on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

    Not surprisingly, Warren Buffett’s reaction was not long in coming:

    “I don’t own any cryptocurrency. I don’t have any Bitcoin. I never will.”
     — Warren Buffett

    So it seems that Warren Buffett didn’t bother using the Samsung smartphone that Justin Sun gave him, which contained one precious Bitcoin.

    This new statement of Warren Buffett towards Bitcoin made many people react on social networks in particular.

    I totally understand this, but it’s not surprising to hear Warren Buffett take such a stand. In fact, there’s no reason to be offended by that if you’re a Bitcoiner.

    Warren Buffett has always had a golden rule when it comes to investing:

    “Don’t Invest in Something You Don’t Understand.”
     — Warren Buffett

    If you take a quick look at the portfolio of shares held by Berkshire Hathaway, you will quickly understand that Warren Buffett is a man of industries of the past.

    His value-oriented investment philosophy works well with companies such as Coca-Cola, Kraft Heinz, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Delta Air Lines.

    On the other hand, Warren Buffett’s philosophy does not go well with technological disruptions.

    Warren Buffett thus missed the technological turnaround of the late 1990s. He did not invest in Google, Amazon or Facebook.

    For Amazon, he was able to catch up in the early 2010s, but only because his company has huge financial means that the common man doesn’t have.

    Warren Buffett’s Criticisms of Bitcoin Show a Total Lack of Understanding

    As you listen to the rest of Warren Buffett’s interview on CNBC, you will also see that his critics show a complete lack of understanding of what Bitcoin really is.

    All of the fallacious arguments used by Bitcoin’s fiercest opponents have passed.

    Warren Buffett first of all brought out the famous argument that Bitcoin is used for illegal purposes first:

    “Bitcoin has been used a fat amount to move money illegally.”
     — Warren Buffett

    This argument is totally false, as I have already explained in a story in the past. Bitcoin is used even less than the U.S. Dollar for illicit purposes.

    Using Bitcoin for Illicit Purposes Is Harder Than Using U.S. Dollar

    The Oracle of Omaha went on to say that “Bitcoin has no instrinsic value”.

    Finally, Warren Buffett ended with a company comparison when he said:

    “Bitcoin doesn’t deliver, it can’t mail you a check, it can’t do anything.”
     — Warren Buffett

    Bitcoin would not be a good investment because it cannot pay its employees at the end of the month with checks. Bitcoin cannot send mail to employees either.

    If you have ever taken any interest in Bitcoin, you must be totally flabbergasted by this comparison which clearly makes no sense.

    Warren Buffett’s comparison would be like saying that the Coca-Cola company he owns has no value because it produces cans that can’t fly.

    You quickly see the heresy of Warren Buffett’s critics, who show a total ignorance of Bitcoin and of the revolution he wants to build for the future of the world.

    Warren Buffett simply doesn’t understand the purpose of Bitcoin, or he doesn’t want to make the intellectual effort to question himself in order to understand it.

    Warren Buffett Can Afford to Miss Out on the Bitcoin Revolution

    If you put yourself in Warren Buffett’s shoes for a few minutes, you’ll easily understand why you don’t find Bitcoin interesting.

    Bitcoin proposes a total paradigm shift from the current monetary and financial system that allowed Warren Buffett to make his fortune.

    Warren Buffett is a master of all the codes of the current system, and he has been able to take full advantage of it. So he has no interest in seeing a new system come and challenge everything.

    In addition, Warren Buffett is turning 90 this year. If you were his age, you wouldn’t want to totally question yourself either.

    It would be even more unthinkable given that you weren’t able to do that in the early 2000s when you were “only” 70.

    Bitcoin has a chance to be widely adopted by the general public by becoming a unit of account in the future. Nevertheless, it will take time no matter what happens.

    It is likely that Warren Buffett will no longer be around to see this, and maybe even you and I will not be around to see it anymore. So Warren Buffett prefers to focus on things that he can control in the years ahead.

    Warren Buffett is willingly choosing to miss the opportunity that Bitcoin represents.

    Given his age and wealth, he can afford to miss out the Bitcoin opportunity even if its price exceeds $100K one day.

    The Big Question Is Whether You Can Also Afford to Miss Out on the Bitcoin Revolution

    Now that I’ve asked you to put yourself in Warren Buffett’s shoes, I’m going to ask you to take your place. For what follows, I’ll assume you’re not part of the very exclusive club of billionaires in the U.S. Dollar.

    Warren Buffett says Bitcoin has no intrinsic value.

    Reading the Bitcoin white paper, and then doing some in-depth research will help you understand the essential advantages of Bitcoin:

    • Offer limited to 21 million units
    • Monetary creation policy with inflation reducing over time
    • Greater respect for privacy
    • Total independence
    • No leader
    • Resistance to censorship
    • Network security
    • Immediate cross-border payments around the world with low fees

    The list is far from being exhaustive, but it already gives an answer to Warren Buffett when he says that Bitcoin has no intrinsic value.

    All these characteristics of Bitcoin are making more and more people trust the revolution it embodies. In fact, they are buying Bitcoin, and making it a little more valuable every day.

    As an individual, I feel that it is riskier not to buy Bitcoin than to buy it.

    Once you understand how Bitcoin works, and what it aims to do, buying Bitcoin with fiat money you can afford to lose greatly limits your risk.

    If Bitcoin were to fail, you would have lost money that you can afford to lose. It would clearly not be the end of the world.

    On the other hand, if Bitcoin becomes a huge success by becoming a credible alternative to the current system, then your support for its revolution will allow you to be part of the club of the richest people in the future.

    Money is not everything in life, but Bitcoin may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

    If Warren Buffett can afford to miss out on the Bitcoin opportunity, I clearly cannot.

    For your part, I’ll leave you to think about this question in order to make the best decision for your future.

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  • Using Bitcoin for Illicit Purposes Is Harder Than Using U.S. Dollar

    Using Bitcoin for Illicit Purposes Is Harder Than Using U.S. Dollar

    The numbers speak for themselves.

    Smear campaigns by politicians, central bankers and economists have succeeded in creating a true urban legend around Bitcoin. Listening to these fierce opponents of Bitcoin, Bitcoin is said to promote money laundering and is used more than the U.S. Dollar for illicit purposes.

    The problem with this type of urban legend is that the general public ends up believing it, and no one tries to study the numbers to challenge the legend.

    However, a study of the actual numbers shows that Bitcoin is used less than the U.S. Dollar for illicit purposes. In this story, I will demonstrate this.

    I will go even further and explain why it is actually more difficult to use Bitcoin for illegal purposes than the U.S. Dollar and the current system.

    One Percent of All Bitcoin Transactions Are Related to Illicit Activities

    Chainalysis has just published the 2020 edition of its Crypto Crime Report. This annual report provides a comprehensive analysis of the use of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies for illicit activities.

    The Chainalysis report shows that during the last quarter of 2019, the equivalent of $601 million in Bitcoin was sent to the darknet markets.

    This figure represents a considerable increase of around 100% compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

    A simplistic analysis of such a figure could lead to the conclusion that Bitcoin promotes illegal activities.

    This is what opponents of Bitcoin usually do in order to convince the general public of the harmful side of Bitcoin.

    As is often the case with numbers, it is necessary to go further than a quick read to get to the bottom of the problem.

    Of course, there is no denying that it is of concern that $601 million in Bitcoin was used for illicit activities in the last quarter of 2019.

    Nevertheless, it seems important to put this figure into perspective with the overall volume of transactions on the Bitcoin Blockchain in 2019.

    Bitcoin did $673 billion in adjusted on-chain transaction volume in 2019.

    In reality, Bitcoin transactions to accounts known to be involved in illegal activities represent only 1% of the total volume of Bitcoin transactions.

    It’s too much, but it’s not that much when you put these numbers into perspective like I’m going to do.

    Two Percent of Global Money Supply Is Used For Money Laundering

    It makes no sense to talk about the percentage of Bitcoin transactions used for illicit activities if we do not compare this figure to what exists in the current monetary and financial system.

    According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, suspicious transactions in the current system amount to at least $2 trillion a year.

    This figure seems to have been declining for a few years but it is still huge.

    The efforts undertaken by the various countries to strengthen controls since the banking and financial crisis of 2008 have led to an improvement.

    Nevertheless, the multi-billion dollar fines imposed have not really cooled the ardor of money launderers.

    They were simply slowed down for a few months before they started up again as before.

    In 2019, the global money supply in circulation was estimated to be in the order of $90 trillion.

    This figure should be compared to what the capitalization of Bitcoin or the global debt was at the end of 2019:

    Since it is difficult to estimate precisely the global money supply in circulation since it is constantly increasing, it is considered that it could be around $100T in 2020.

    Roughly speaking, it can therefore be considered that at least 2% of the global money supply is used for money laundering every year.

    The figure is probably even higher, but 2% is already a very high figure.

    The worst thing is that this estimate only takes into account money laundering without taking into account other illicit activities such as the sale of arms or drugs for example.

    The percentage of the global money supply in circulation used for illicit purposes must therefore be much higher than 2%.

    Bitcoin Is Far Less Used Than U.S. Dollar for Illicit Purposes

    Comparing the figures for the use of Bitcoin and the U.S. Dollar for illicit activities, it can therefore be seen that Bitcoin is used proportionally less than the U.S. Dollar for illicit purposes.

    I think it is even more interesting to put the amount of Bitcoin used for illicit activities into perspective with the amount used in U.S. Dollar for money laundering.

    In the last quarter of 2019, the Chainalysis report states that $601 million Bitcoins were sent to the darknet markets.

    Extrapolating this figure for the whole of 2020, it can be estimated that it will be in the order of $2.5 billion.

    The United Nations estimates that at least $2 trillion is used each year in the current financial system to launder money.

    In other words, every time $1 is used to launder money, only $0.00125 in Bitcoin is used for illegal activities.

    Bitcoin is therefore used far less than the U.S. Dollar for illicit purposes.

    Humans, such as opponents of Bitcoin, may lie, but numbers don’t lie.

    Bitcoin does not ask you to take the word of humans, but rather to believe the laws of mathematics that do not lie.

    A Big Difference Between the Use of Bitcoin and the U.S. Dollar for Illicit Purposes

    We have just seen that Bitcoin is used less than the U.S. Dollar for illicit purposes. That’s something politicians or bankers will never tell you.

    There is also another fundamental difference to be aware of between the use of Bitcoin and the use of the U.S. Dollar for illicit activities.

    The use of Bitcoin for illegal activities is not supported by any official entity since Bitcoin has no leader.

    On the other hand, money laundering within the banking world is often supported by traditional bankers.

    These bankers do not hesitate to help drug cartels or sanctioned governments move money around the world.

    The case of Danske Bank, whose Estonian subsidiary laundered 200 billion euros, is indicative of what has been happening in the banking world for decades.

    The current monetary and financial system is therefore very often complicit in money laundering and illicit activities that take place with the U.S. Dollar.

    This type of illicit activity is therefore more difficult to stop, since the people at the head of this system are accomplices.

    Bitcoin Is Transparent and Makes It Harder to Use for Illegal Purposes

    Bitcoin is used for illicit purposes. This is an undeniable fact and further proof, if needed, that Bitcoin were to become a real currency.

    Real currency is used for legal as well as illegal purposes.

    It’s an unfortunate thing, but that’s the way life is.

    On the other hand, the study of the figures clearly shows that Bitcoin is used less than the U.S. Dollar for illicit purposes.

    The reason for this is basically simple.

    Bitcoin is completely transparent and every transaction made in Bitcoin is recorded forever on its Blockchain.

    This makes it easier for the authorities in each country to track down people using Bitcoin for illicit purposes than with the traditional banking system, where some people try by every means to conceal fraudulent transactions.

    In fact, many criminals using Bitcoin for their activities have already been found and arrested.

    Bitcoin is being used more and more and the volume of transactions on its Blockchain will continue to grow in the coming years.

    In fact, the amount of Bitcoin transactions to the darknet markets will probably continue to increase in the future.

    Nevertheless, proportionally, this will still remain tiny compared to what happens in U.S. Dollar with the current monetary and financial system.

    In the future, when politicians or bankers criticize Bitcoin with arguments that you find dubious, feel free to take a critical look at the figures.

    In this regard, it is important to remember what Bitcoin is promoting:

    Don’t trust governments and humans, but trust Mathematics because Mathematics don’t lie.

  • Bitcoin Frightens Politicians, Bankers And Economists For One Essential Reason

    Bitcoin Frightens Politicians, Bankers And Economists For One Essential Reason

    This essential reason is the one that should encourage everyone to discover Bitcoin.

    Bitcoin has become a real topic of conversation at family dinners. Indeed, more and more often, Bitcoiners are being questioned by family members about Bitcoin. Some are eager to learn more about this ongoing revolution while others are content with picks to launch often sterile debates.

    Anyway, Bitcoin is becoming more and more popular year after year. This democratization is increasingly frightening politicians, bankers and economists. Their reaction remains the same: trying to slow down, to block or even to annihilate the emergence of Bitcoin as a credible alternative to the current monetary system.

    To achieve their goals, they are ready for anything: bans, false statements about the dangers of Bitcoin promoting cybercrime or money laundering, simplistic demonstrations showing that Bitcoin is not backed by anything taking into account the codes of the current system,… The list is far too long to be exhaustively listed in this article.

    In the face of these outrageous reactions, have you ever wondered why politicians, bankers and economists are so afraid of Bitcoin?

    I’m pretty sure it is, but you can’t find a specific answer to that question. I will therefore share with you my thoughts on this thorny issue.

    The Current Monetary And Financial System Benefits A Minority

    Globalization should foster the emergence of a better and more egalitarian world for all. At least that’s what his ardent supporters were advancing all the time. Unfortunately, globalization has produced the opposite result: the world has never been so unequal.

    The world’s inequalities in income, health, living conditions and education have never been greater.

    The wealth is in the hands of a very small minority of the world’s inhabitants. Thus, the world has 2100 billionaires in 2019 who have accumulated a fortune of more than 8,700 billion dollars.

    Even worse, the world’s 26 richest billionaires now have as much money in their hands as the poorest half of humanity.

    The current monetary and financial system allows the ultra-rich to become even richer while the number of very poor continues to grow in the world.

    This system defended by politicians, bankers and economists benefits a minority.

    The General Public Lacks Financial Education

    Within developed countries, the average level of education of populations is increasingly high. More and more people go to university and come out with a huge theoretical background. Unfortunately, university studies do not cover an essential subject when entering working life: financial education.

    The education system in the major developed countries does not teach you how to earn and manage money.

    Yet, it’s the key to success if you ever want to break out of the 9–5 job routine. The general public lacks financial education.

    Few people really know what money is and how it works. Most people are also unaware that their fiat currency is constantly devalued by the decisions of central bankers who choose to create more and more currency.

    Indeed, they believe that increasing the money supply is the solution to all economic problems. Unfortunately, the general public does not perceive the dangers of the monetary policy choices made by their governments.

    Their lack of financial education prevents them from seeing clearly in the actions of the people who govern them.

    Politicians, Bankers And Economists Do Not Want Things To Change

    This lack of financial education for the general public is a long-standing problem for politicians, bankers and economists. They could have taken steps to change programs within universities in order to train as many people as possible in all aspects of money.

    However, they have never done so. Don’t think it’s a coincidence. All this is the result of a clear desire to keep the general public in the dark. Henry Ford as he once said:

    “It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.” — Henry Ford

    The people who govern us therefore ensure that any revolution in the current monetary and financial system that benefits them is avoided by keeping the masses in ignorance.

    However, this strategy is beginning to show its limitations in many parts of the world. We are witnessing an increasing number of popular revolts. People no longer support the policies of their governments.

    The result is a real crisis of confidence in the current system, which is considered flawed and not fixable as it stands.

    Indeed, how could the men who have set up this failing system that benefits them take the radical decisions needed to set up a better system for all?

    It is simply impossible.

    Understanding Bitcoin Means Discovering The Flaws In The Current System

    When politicians fail, it is the people who must take control. This is precisely what is happening with the Bitcoin that Satoshi Nakamoto has offered to the whole world in 2009.

    Bitcoin represents a peaceful protest by people all over the world against the current failing monetary system.

    Bitcoin is a solution that emerges from the will of the people because it is the people who will decide what Bitcoin should be. The way Bitcoin works is simple to understand and allows people who are interested to realize that money should not be so complicated.

    When a person discovers Bitcoin, he then start asking himself a lot of questions about the current monetary and financial system.

    By filling in their lack of financial literacy, these people are gradually discovering all the flaws in the current system.

    Bitcoin Encourages The Questioning Of The Current System

    Once the flaws in the current monetary system have been discovered, people quickly understand how Bitcoin is a revolution and, above all, why it is currently the only credible alternative to this flawed system.

    Bitcoin encourages the questioning of the current system.

    By maintaining their Bitcoin HODLING strategy month after month, HODLERS make it possible to maintain Bitcoin at a high price. These Bitcoin innovators therefore play a key role.

    The resulting continued appreciation of the price of Bitcoin against the U.S. dollar encourages, and will continue to encourage in the future, people to become more curious about Bitcoin.

    They will then come to learn what money is, how it works and why the current system is flawed.

    Quite often, people come to Bitcoin simply to make a profit. Then, little by little, a radical change takes place in them and they gradually become real Bitcoiners when they understand the importance of Bitcoin for the future of humanity.

    The Beneficiaries Of The Current System Do Not Want The General Public To Discover An Alternative Solution

    By keeping the general public unaware of what money is and how it works, politicians, bankers, economists and billionaires know very well what they are doing.

    The beneficiaries of the current system are looking for absolutely no desire for the general public to discover a more equitable alternative.

    They are afraid that people will discover a new path that could be a credible alternative to the current monetary and financial system. An alternative that would bring about a fairer world for a majority.

    A fairer world in which Bitcoin would be a neutral and apolitical currency that would allow people to avoid the oppression of the all powerful.

    Bitcoin could be a different path for humanity and distribute the riches of this world into the hands of the greatest number. For this essential reason, politicians, bankers, economists and even billionaires are afraid of Bitcoin.

    They are afraid of losing their acquired advantages thanks to this flawed system designed to benefit them. For this essential reason, you should take an interest in Bitcoin now in order to understand how lucky it is for our future.

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  • The FTX Crypto Fiasco Is a Gift to All Bitcoin Haters.

    The FTX Crypto Fiasco Is a Gift to All Bitcoin Haters.

    Jesse Powell, the co-founder of Kraken, is right to point this out.

    On Twitter, Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell let out a cold rage at the cataclysmic FTX/Alameda sequence. Without ever mentioning them, nor the name of the fallen idol, Sam Bankman-Fried, one of the historical figures of the ecosystem evokes “a massive setback” for the cryptocurrency industry from which it will struggle to recover, but it will recover, he assures us, especially by facing the tenfold blows of regulators.

    Jesse Powell is not the first to enter the world of cryptocurrencies. He is the co-founder of the exchange platform Kraken, which was created in 2011 and went online in 2013, in reaction to the disastrous management of the flagship exchange of the time (of course, there were no others), Mt. Gox. The latter, declared bankrupt in 2014, is back in the headlines almost 10 years later because it will “honor,” at least partially, its debts to users.

    But to get back to what concerns us, it is important to know that the veteran Powell had from the start a rather square conception of what a Bitcoin exchange should be (Altcoins will come later).

    His key words: reliability and security, rarely taken in default throughout its history, the platform being one of the only ones to have never known any hacking, only a few extravagances of rebellious streaks and other rather venial adventures.

    Faced with a sequence like the FTX fiasco that he no doubt thought relegated to the dustbin of cryptocurrency history, Kraken’s ex-CEO, who continues to work within it as chairman of the company’s board of directors, sees red.

    And having greater freedom of expression to which he aspired, Jesse Powell does not hesitate to call Sam Bankman-Fried, without naming him, of “clown” and “swindler” by drawing a portrait in vitriol.

    “This isn’t about aiming high and missing. This is about recklessness, greed, self-interest, hubris, sociopathic behavior that causes a person to risk all the hard-won progress this industry has earned over a decade, for their own personal gain. While already being rich AF.”

    Read the end of the article in In Bitcoin We Trust Newsletter:

    “The FTX Crypto Fiasco Is a Gift to All Bitcoin Haters.”

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  • Bitcoin Is a Multi-Faceted Revolution

    Bitcoin Is a Multi-Faceted Revolution
    Illustration by In Bitcoin We Trust

    Bitcoin is more than just a financial investment.

    Many people still wrongly consider Bitcoin as a new speculative tool that only allows very attractive returns on investment. The fact that Bitcoin has helped transform $1 invested in 2010 into $90,000 by the end of 2019 is certainly not unrelated to this.

    Nevertheless, Bitcoin is much more than just a financial investment that allows for juicy profits. When entering the world of Bitcoin, you need to go beyond the investment aspect to deepen your knowledge.

    The more you learn about Bitcoin, the more you will realize that Bitcoin is a multi-faceted revolution. In this story, I propose to accelerate your learning by showing you different revolutionary facets of Bitcoin.

    Bitcoin Is A Technological Revolution

    First and foremost, Bitcoin is a technological revolution. Bitcoin is the first successful implementation of a cryptocurrency based on Blockchain technology.

    Bitcoin has succeeded where many previous attempts have failed.

    Bitcoin is based on a totally decentralized, permissionless and trustless Blockchain. Bitcoin has no leader and belongs to all its users.

    The Bitcoin is secured by the miners who are users of the Blockchain providing the network with their computing power to allow the validation of transactions’ blocks.

    Satoshi Nakamoto designed Bitcoin as “A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”.

    A Peer-to-Peer system allowing its users to regain control by performing transactions without the need for a trusted third party.

    The fact that Bitcoin has no leader is also essential.

    Indeed, Bitcoin does not rely on the arbitrary will of a few powerful people. Bitcoin is based on its users and its open-source code that relies on mathematical properties.

    Bitcoin is backed by mathematics which protect it from the arbitrary decisions inherent in human beings.

    In this sense, Bitcoin is a true technological revolution comparable to what the Internet was when it first appeared.

    Bitcoin Is An Industrial Revolution

    From the Bitcoin technological revolution was born a true industrial revolution. Bitcoin has enabled the creation of the cryptocurrency industry.

    Following the success of Bitcoin, a very large number of cryptocurrency projects have emerged.

    While many cryptocurrency projects were mainly motivated by the desire of their creators to make a lot of money, some other projects that have emerged address real-world user issues.

    These cryptocurrencies responding to very real problems are the ones most likely to survive in the future.

    The other cryptocurrencies, those that do not respond to any problems, i.e. about 99% of the current market, will inexorably go towards zero.

    Very few cryptocurrencies really address real user problems. I can give you fourteen in the following, but not much more in an instant:

    • Bitcoin, which aims to be the medium of digital exchange and the digital store of value. The Bitcoin benefits fully from the first-mover advantage.
    • Ethereum, which provides a complete platform of Smart Contracts and dApps already used by a large number of projects and users.
    • Monero, aiming to address privacy concerns leading the field of anonymous, private and fungible digital money.
    • Ripple, which aims to replace the SWIFT interbank payment system with instant transactions and reduced fees per transaction.
    • Stellar, pursuing a few of the same goals as Ripple while targeting individuals with the goal of banking unbanked customers around the world.
    • Factom, wanting to offer a decentralized platform for notaries.
    • Golem, whose stated goal is to become a kind of Airbnb of computing power. The platform lets users sharing some computing power and is based on the Ethereum platform.
    • Basic Attention Token, which aims to revolutionize the world of digital advertising with an innovative model that benefits advertisers, publishers, and users.
    • Siacoin, offering a fully decentralized cloud storage platform.
    • IOTA, which comes with its Tangle, a technology more scalable than the Blockchain, and which targets the Internet of Things (IoT).
    • Civic, whose mission is to create a digital identity in a decentralized way for all people.
    • TRON, proposing a Blockchain aimed at decentralizing the Web through the construction of a free and global digital ecosystem.
    • Nexo, an instant credit line platform in cryptocurrency.
    • Enjin, leading gaming platform on the Blockchain.

    This list is of course not exhaustive but it cannot be extended beyond fifty or so cryptocurrencies.

    That’s very little, even though more than 5000 cryptocurrencies are currently referenced on CoinMarketCap.

    On the other hand, the cryptocurrency industry is full of startups offering innovative services around these cryptocurrency projects to meet user needs.

    It all started with the creation of Bitcoin and the phenomenal success it has enjoyed through adoption and promotion by its first users, the cypherpunks.

    Finally, Blockchain technology has become extremely popular during the 2010s thanks to the success of Bitcoin which is the most successful implementation in the field of cryptocurrencies.

    The fields of application of Blockchain technology go far beyond cryptocurrencies and most industries will be impacted in the future.

    Without the success of Bitcoin, Blockchain technology would not have become a fashionable concept in most industries.

    Bitcoin Is An Ideological Revolution

    Before the creation of Bitcoin, most people were convinced that money was the preserve of central bankers and that online transactions between individuals could only be secured through trusted third parties.

    Whether they are called Visa, MasterCard or PayPal, trusted third parties seemed to be mandatory for making online transactions.

    With the ingenious system developed by Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin has succeeded in changing mentalities.

    Bitcoin has shown that it is possible for a Peer-to-Peer payment system to exist and be secure without the need for a trusted third party.

    Bitcoin is secured by the computing power that miners make available to its network in order to solve a kind of mathematical enigma at the heart of its consensus algorithm, the famous Proof-Of-Work.

    With its Blockchain, Bitcoin puts users back at the center of the game.

    Bitcoin should be seen as a fully democratic system that gives power back to the people.

    With Bitcoin, you will not have to suffer the arbitrary decisions of a few powerful people as is the case with the current monetary and financial system.

    The more you learn about Bitcoin, the more you will understand that the current system is unnecessarily complex.

    Bitcoin is a major paradigm shift and constitutes a true ideological revolution whose general concepts are within everyone’s reach.

    Bitcoin Is A Social Revolution

    For decades, the inflationary monetary policies of Western countries, led by the United States, have drastically reduced your purchasing power.

    As the U.S. dollar is the world’s currency, all monetary policy decisions made by the United States have a strong impact on other countries.

    Needless to say, the repercussions are even more disastrous for the poorest countries.

    In these countries, people are suffering from the tool of oppression that the U.S. dollar has become.

    In the event of a conflict with a country, the United States does not hesitate to brandish the weapon of the U.S. dollar without even considering the disastrous consequences on local populations.

    In Venezuela, the country is under the control of a dictator in open conflict with the United States.

    In an attempt to weaken it to push it out, the United States makes full use of economic sanctions.

    So far, the president of Venezuela is holding firm and it is the Venezuelans who are paying the high price of the American sanctions.

    To counter these sanctions, the President of Venezuela keeps increasing the money supply of the local currency, the Bolivar, without even considering the dramatic impact on his fellow citizens.

    In Venezuela, the price of a coffee rose from 0.2 Bolivars in 2017 to 30,000 Bolivars in 2019, an increase of 149.999% in just two years.

    To protect themselves from this policy that constantly devalues what they own, the Venezuelans have found in Bitcoin a real bulwark.

    Bitcoin exists in a limited quantity of 21 million.

    This finite and fixed supply of Bitcoin guarantees them that 1 BTC bought today will still be worth 1 BTC in 10, 25 or 50 years.

    By buying Bitcoin, Venezuelans, and many other people around the world are protecting themselves from the inflationary policies of their leaders.

    Bitcoin is a social revolution that is still in its infancy.

    If you live in the United States or in a Western country, Bitcoin protects what you own, but you may have difficulty understanding its importance as a payment system.

    In Africa, on the other hand, people welcome Bitcoin with open arms and see it as an opportunity to be able to trade without having to go through the U.S. dollar, which is a real tool of oppression.

    In the coming decades, Bitcoin will accompany and promote the economic and social development of the African continent.

    Conclusion

    In the United States as well as in Western countries, Bitcoin is mainly seen as a high-profit investment. Bitcoiners in these countries, however, have already understood that Bitcoin is a multi-faceted revolution.

    The Bitcoin revolution is much more than just an investment. As I have just shown you, Bitcoin is also and above all an ideological and social revolution that seeks to build block after block a fairer world for the future.

    A fairer world for the greatest number of people, something that the current monetary and financial system has never been able to do by encouraging the concentration of wealth in the hands of a tiny minority.

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  • Bitcoin Is Already a Plan A for Millions of People

    Bitcoin Is Already a Plan A for Millions of People

    Bitcoin is already making a huge difference for millions of people.

    Illustration by In Bitcoin We Trust

    Launched in 2009, Bitcoin has since achieved 99.98% availability. Bitcoin has been running virtually non-stop for over 11 years now. Bitcoin is building a fairer system, block after block and day after day, on a continuous basis.

    Originally used by a few cypherpunks, Bitcoin has grown in popularity to the point where it has become a hot topic in recent years. Most people who discovered Bitcoin realized that an alternative to the current monetary and financial system was possible.

    The rise of Bitcoin as a credible alternative to the current obsolete system has made many people feel that it is time for a Plan B. You will have understood that this is a pun and that plan B they are thinking about is of course Bitcoin.

    Today, I have the feeling that Bitcoin is already much more than a plan B. For millions of people around the world, Bitcoin is already a plan A and their only hope for a better world in the future as I will show you.

    Bitcoin Is the Only Bulwark Against Authoritarianism

    You live in the U.S., in Canada or maybe in Europe. For you, democracy is something you take for granted. You don’t really understand the people who spend their time fighting to preserve this precious right.

    You must be aware that the rights you enjoy today were hard-won by your ancestors.

    Many people in Western countries consider democracy to be an unwavering achievement.

    This is a mistake because nothing in life is taken for granted.

    Real awareness is needed here because democracy is a precious thing that you have to fight for all the time.

    The latest figures published by the Human Rights Foundation on this subject speak for themselves:

    • 40 competitive authoritarian regimes that rule 1.2 billion people
    • 53 full-fledged dictatorships that oppress 2.8 billion people or 30% of the world’s countries
    • The world currently has a little over 100 democracies that govern over 47% of the world’s population

    These figures show that nearly 4 billion people on Earth live under the constraints and threats of authoritarianism.

    Half of the world’s population has to cope with the excesses of authoritarian regimes.

    That number is phenomenal and must come as a shock to you. Yet it is the reality as we move into 2020.

    The victims of these authoritarian regimes are in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, and Venezuela.

    The list is far from exhaustive, unfortunately.

    The rulers or dictators of these countries confiscate everything people possess and deprive them of most of their individual freedoms.

    Bitcoin is probably the only bulwark they have at their disposal to emancipate themselves from the authoritarianism of their rulers.

    Bitcoin gives them the opportunity to own something that cannot be confiscated by their leaders.

    Bitcoin allows them to take their wealth, however meager, with them when they make the decision to leave their country and become economic or political refugees.

    For these populations, Bitcoin is already Plan A.

    Bitcoin Helps People Fight Surveillance and Censorship

    People in Western countries generally do not have the same problems as people in countries living under the authoritarianism of corrupt rulers.

    People in Western countries have to deal with the ever-increasing willingness of their leaders to monitor their every move.

    It all started with China, whose regime is authoritarian, which decided to set up true generalized state supervision with its social credit system.

    A Chinese can hardly do anything without being monitored by the authorities of his country.

    China’s desire to create a state-backed cryptocurrency is a clear step in the direction of strengthening the monitoring of all transactions carried out by the Chinese population.

    This desire is not new, since China, for example, is pushing for the use of WeChat as an online payment system in order to better monitor the transactions carried out online by its population.

    This massive surveillance allows the Chinese authorities to decide arbitrarily to freeze the assets of any of its citizens but also to block some of their transactions.

    The most worrying thing is that this type of surveillance is becoming widespread in Western countries where private companies, such as the GAFA, are storing an incredible amount of data about you.

    The fact that the GAFA are now moving into online payment systems, and soon financial services, should alert you as a citizen.

    More and more people living in Western countries are facing censorship decisions by their banks that prohibit them from making certain transactions.

    In Greece, the country’s authorities had limited bank withdrawals to 60 euros per day for the country’s citizens in 2015 when the country was hit by a major economic crisis.

    This is just one example among many, but it shows why more and more people no longer believe in the current system.

    You too are among those who feel that it is not your responsibility to pay the consequences of the mistakes made time and again by rulers who do not live up to their commitments.

    With Bitcoin, you can carry out the transactions of your choice without any risk of censorship.

    Bitcoin also protects your anonymity since only the addresses of the participants in a transaction and the amount is made public.

    As long as you do not give the list of your addresses on the Bitcoin Blockchain, you remain anonymous and protected from the mass surveillance that is spreading around the world.

    Bitcoin Provides Access to Banking Services

    If you live in a developed country, opening a bank account may be a trivial matter. All you have to do is go to a local agency near you and give your identity document for opening an account.

    In the poorest or authoritarian countries, opening a bank account is impossible for many people.

    Many people are unable to provide identity documents to open such accounts.

    This is the case of political or economic refugees who have had to flee their country of origin and have lost everything in the process.

    People who manage to open bank accounts in these countries also run the risk of having all their assets frozen for purely arbitrary reasons.

    This is the case in Russia, Zimbabwe, and Venezuela, where governments hold the banking system in a tight grip.

    In these countries, the very high level of corruption of rulers makes the current monetary and financial system totally inefficient for people.

    Bitcoin gives them access to basic but essential banking services.

    With a simple phone and Internet connection, these populations can receive Bitcoins that no one is in a position to confiscate from them.

    Family members who have fled abroad can send them Bitcoins to enable them to survive on a daily basis.

    In Venezuela, the dictatorial regime of Nicolas Maduro has led to record inflation, leaving the population without any solution.

    To give you an idea of the problem faced by Venezuelans, the price of a coffee rose from 0.2 bolivars in 2017 to 30,000 bolivars in 2019.

    This represents inflation of almost 150,000% in just two years.

    Bitcoin is helping the Venezuelan population to survive in the face of Nicolas Maduro’s oppression.

    Venezuela has the highest rate of merchant adoption of Bitcoin as a means of payment in the world.

    It’s clearly no coincidence.

    Venezuelans are massively using Bitcoin to protect themselves from the irrational increase in the money supply of the bolivar decided by Nicolas Maduro.

    For Venezuelans, as well as millions of other people around the world, Bitcoin is already a Plan A. It is their only solution to survive.

    Bitcoin Protects What You Own

    According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, current prices are 212% higher than average prices in 1980. Thus, the U.S. dollar has experienced average inflation of 2.96% per year over the past 40 years.

    The real value of the U.S. dollar has declined steadily since 1980.

    An American must, therefore, have $312 in his possession in order for his buying power in 2019 to be equivalent to his buying power of $100 in 1980:

    In other words, the U.S. dollar of 2019 lets you buy fewer things than the U.S. dollar of 1980.

    To fully understand the loss of buying power that you are experiencing, this second graph shows the evolution of a $100 buying power over time since 1980:

    U.S. dollar’s value evolution over the last forty years clearly shows that you have no guarantee that 1 USD = 1 USD for the future.

    Bitcoin is available in finite quantity. The number of Bitcoins that will be put into circulation is 21 million.

    That’s a fact that everyone can verify.

    When you buy Bitcoin, whether you are in a rich country or a poor country, you have an essential guarantee:

    1 BTC of 2020 will always be equal to 1 BTC of 2100.

    You will still own one in 21 million Bitcoin in the future. What you own will not be arbitrarily devalued.

    Bitcoin is in fact increasingly seen as the best investment solution for the future by people in developed countries.

    Bitcoin Is No Longer a Plan B but a Plan A for Millions of People

    In Western countries, Bitcoin is mainly seen as a store of value at the moment. Because of its scarcity, decentralized nature and lack of a leader, Bitcoin is perfect for protecting what you own.

    Many therefore see in Bitcoin the system towards which the world must evolve in order to overcome the limitations of the current monetary and financial system.

    In countries living under corrupt rulers or dictators, Bitcoin is already more than just a Plan B.

    The pun is fun, but it diminishes the importance of Bitcoin for millions of people around the world.

    Bitcoin is a reality that helps millions of people survive.

    By building block after block, a more fairer world, Bitcoin is already making a huge difference and giving universal access to money to millions of people.

    It allows instantaneous non-censurable cross-border payments at reduced fees.

    Bitcoin is already playing a vital role in promoting the freedom of peoples in general.

    What I find most interesting is that we are only at the beginning of the Bitcoin revolution. The future is its own and Bitcoin will increasingly become a Plan A for new people in the years to come.

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  • Bitcoin Continues Evolving in the Right Direction With Taproot and the Schnorr’s Signatures

    Bitcoin Continues Evolving in the Right Direction With Taproot and the Schnorr’s Signatures

    These improvement proposals are important for the future of Bitcoin.

    Bitcoin belongs to all its users. The source code of the Bitcoin Blockchain is open source and its developments are made by developers who strongly believe in the potential of Bitcoin to build a better world for all in the future.

    The absence of a leader at the head of Bitcoin is an essential advantage to guarantee its fully democratic side. The absence of a leader making arbitrary decisions about the future of Bitcoin requires the Bitcoin Core developer community to work in a well-organized way to evolve the Bitcoin source code.

    In the well-defined process of Bitcoin source code evolution, one of the final steps before the Bitcoin Core software fork is the publication of changes as Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIP).

    After several months of work, the Bitcoin Core source code evolutions incorporating Taproot and the Schnorr’s signatures have just been proposed as BIP 340, 341 and 342.

    In this story, I will tell you about these evolutions that should be integrated into Bitcoin Core in the near future and explain why they are proposed and why they are going in the right direction for the future of Bitcoin.

    What Is a Schnorr Signature?

    A Schnorr signature is a digital signature produced by the Schnorr signature algorithm which was invented by Claus Schnorr in 1989. It is a digital signature scheme known for its simplicity.

    Schnorr signature algorithm provides efficient and short signatures.

    This algorithm is one of the first whose security was based on the intractability of certain discrete logarithm problems.

    Many consider Schnorr signature to be among the best cryptographic signatures available.

    Schnorr signature algorithm was protected by U.S. Patent 4995082A until now.

    This explains why Satoshi Nakamoto chose to use ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm) signatures for key management in the Bitcoin Blockchain.

    As the patent protecting the use of Schnorr signatures has just expired, their use has now fallen into the public domain.

    This prompted developers Pieter Wuille, Jonas Nick and Anthony Towns to look into its implementation within the Bitcoin Blockchain.

    Schnorr Signatures Will Make the Bitcoin Blockchain More Efficient

    Following this BIP regarding the integration of Schnorr signatures into Bitcoin, the developer community will now take the time to study the source code and engage in more concrete discussions with a view to making it available on the Bitcoin network via a soft fork.

    Schnorr signatures will globally reduce the size of the transactions on the Bitcoin Blockchain.

    In addition to this reduction, the integration of the Schnorr algorithm should make it possible to reduce the number of signatures required in specific complex cases equivalent to “smart contracts”.

    Furthermore, the Schnorr algorithm should pave the way for batch validation of all signatures in a block of transactions. This will make this validation faster.

    Finally, Schnorr signatures must make specific things possible, such as simple atomic swaps via adaptor signatures.

    To put it simply, Schnorr signatures go in the direction of improving the scalability of the Bitcoin Blockchain as well as its security.

    Taproot Improves Bitcoin Privacy

    Taproot is an enhancement to Script, which is the language for programming conditions in Bitcoin transactions. Its implementation within Bitcoin Core would bring several notable improvements to the network.

    Taproot first of all makes it possible to include only the conditions realized in a transaction.

    Unfulfilled conditions would no longer need to be included in the Bitcoin Blockchain, again reducing the size of transactions.

    Furthermore, Taproot would improve privacy on the Bitcoin Blockchain.

    Currently, within the Bitcoin Blockchain, each transaction completed reveals a certain amount of information:

    • Amounts committed.
    • Bitcoin addresses of the sender and recipient.
    • The type of transaction: single payment, multisig, atomic swap, opening of a payment channel with the Lightning Network, …

    By hiding the unfulfilled conditions of a transaction, Taproot will make the executed scripts indistinguishable from each other.

    Taproot therefore takes care to prevent that by using the type of a transaction, it is possible to deduce information about what users have done.

    With Taproot, a Bitcoin transaction will look like a simple public key among many others and therefore a simple signature on the Bitcoin Blockchain.

    A number of extension mechanisms are also included with Taproot to make future changes to the Bitcoin scripting language easier.

    Adding opcodes for example will be relatively simple in the future.

    Bitcoin Continues to Improve Privacy and Efficiency

    The evolution of Bitcoin may seem long to some people. However, it is a small price to pay to have a totally open Blockchain that is permissionless and trustless.

    Everyone can contribute to Bitcoin and participate in its evolution.

    It is an undeniable strength of Bitcoin that requires excellent organization and consensus within the community to validate the evolutions that will be integrated into the Bitcoin Blockchain.

    When evolutions need to be integrated, it is also necessary to make sure that they work well so as not to harm the proper functioning of Bitcoin Blockchain.

    Maintaining a great quality takes time but the most important thing is that Bitcoin keeps moving block after block in the right direction.

    In the coming weeks and months, the Bitcoin Core developer community will discuss BIP supporting Taproot integration and the Schnorr’s signatures.

    After various feedback, the likely integration of these changes will be done via a software fork of Bitcoin.

    Ultimately, Taproot and the Schnorr’s signatures will enable Bitcoin to improve privacy and efficiency, which will also result in greater scalability.

    These developments in Bitcoin will also help to silence criticism from Bitcoin’s competitors in the cryptocurrency industry claiming that Bitcoin’s technology is outdated and no longer evolving.

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