CBDCs or Bitcoin; Slavery or Freedom
Ahead of you, in the not-too-distant future, there lies an important choice….
Option one: You coalesce along with the masses into the grip of dystopian Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). In doing so you surrender your freedom to transact and instead accept tacit permission for every purchase you make and every activity you do. Slowly, this tacit permission will turn more explicit. You find your expenditure on certain items artificially restricted, your travel becomes more limited, your world gets steadily smaller, and the story ends with your de facto slavery.
Or…
Option two: You take the ‘Orange Pill’ and put the work in to properly understand how to use Bitcoin. You learn how to take proper self-custody to keep your wealth safe from the greedy purview of authoritarian Governments. You protect your privacy and run your own node to verify transactions for yourself. You become completely self-reliant, free, and sovereign before teaching your loved ones the same skills. Your purchasing power increases, your world expands, and your legacy becomes secured. The story continues…
But is the choice really this stark? Sounds a bit hyperbolic. Are CBDCs really going to be that bad?
Well, let’s take that Orange Pill and have a little look, shall we?
So, if you’ve been paying attention, you already know that fiat currencies are in big trouble. Their value continues to inflate away to nothing as Central Banks, in collusion with corrupt Governments, continue to expand the money supply to enrich themselves at everyone else’s expense.
Government spending has been out of control for a long time. Since 1970 the US Government has spent more than it has received in taxes in all but four years (1998 – 2001). The shortfall simply being plugged with debt borrowed from the privately owned Federal Reserve.
To put some context around this, consider that the US national debt recently reached somewhere in the region of $34.5 trillion. Since June last year this number has been increasing by $1 trillion every 100 days. At the current rate it will reach $35 trillion before the end of April.
The scariest part is that this debt comes with interest, and that interest needs to be serviced for the Government not to completely default. Ever wondered why you seem to pay a hell of a lot in taxes but see very little money being spent on things like education, healthcare, or other essential services in your community? Consider that it might be because your government is so indebted that their interest payments alone accounts for a whopping 35% of all the tax they collect from us!
To summarise, we have a situation whereby the Government spends more than it collects in taxes every year which perpetually increases its overall debt burden. To compound the problem, the interest on this debt burden accounts for more and more of the total tax collected. As more of these taxes are consumed simply with interest payments, the Government is left with no choice but to take on even more debt.
TLDR; Your Government is completely insolvent to the point where even Sam Bankman Fried would start getting a little nervous.
Its an unsustainable situation. But how does it all end? Well historically Governments that become so heavily indebted have only a few options available to them. They could outright default, they could devalue the currency either overtly or via rampant inflation or they could restructure the debt inflicting losses on creditors. Whatever shape the collapse takes, the economic costs are likely to be severe resulting in a far worse quality of life for most of the population.
So, you could say that Governments all around the world have backed themselves into a corner. But as with all problems that your government creates, they will of course deflect responsibility and instead portray themselves as the only ones with a viable solution. By now, most of us have learned that when the Government offers a solution to something, it pays to be wary.
And what is the solution they are going to present when the FIAT currency experiment implodes? You can bet your worthless dollar it’s going to be a Central Bank Digital Currency.
Government solutions should make you suspicious. How often in recent memory has your government come up with a clear solution to a problem that resulted in you enjoying an improved standard of living?
Yeah, that’s what we thought…
So, what do they have in store for you if you adopt their pernicious Central Bank Digital Currency? Financial stability? Improved payments and a fairer monetary system? Of course not. CBDCs will allow central banks and governments to retain the power to create money out of thin air, and they will continue to use this power to enrich themselves at your expense through debasement and debt. They will claim that CBDCs will offer more inclusion, faster payments, and more convenience. The reality however is far more sinister.
Given that most payments you make in fiat currency are already done digitally, the first thing you might question is what is actually changing? Well, it’s almost certain that CBDCs won’t be at all interoperable with cash, they will be digital only. The days of making private payments will cease to exist. CBDCs will give Central Banks and Governments complete omnipotence when it comes to observing every little detail of your financial life. If you sit and consider this properly you come to realise that this isn’t just about tracking your money, it’s about tracking you! Where you’ve been, who you do business with, your interests, your political leanings, your diet. Everything down to your favourite brand of underwear
If this wasn’t dystopian enough, consider that CBDCs will also be far more programmable than previous incarnations of fiat currency. What does this mean for the unfortunate user of these central bank “consumption coupons”? Well, it means the Central Banks and their accomplice governments will have far more levers to pull when it comes to curtailing your freedom and controlling your behaviour.
They say it themselves. A programmable CBDC will allow government agencies and private sector players to deliver targeted policy functions via ‘consumption coupons’ that have precise rules about what they can be spent on and who can use them.
Let’s consider what a ‘CBDC future’ might look like…
Perhaps your government, in their infinite wisdom, decides that cow farts are melting the polar ice caps and the best way to address this is to reduce the consumption of meat per capita. “Sorry sir, you have exceeded your red meat quota this month. Payment declined”.
Or perhaps your government decides that they need to limit your freedom of movement in response to a ‘pandemic’ or because they want to reduce oil consumption. “Sorry sir, your mileage this month has exceeded your quota. You cannot purchase more fuel until next month”.
Maybe you plan on saving for a house deposit or for your kid’s education? Well, I wouldn’t count on prudence saving you. Your Government could very well decide to put an expiry date on your ‘consumption coupons’ because they have decided it is essential to ‘StImUlAtE tHe EcOnOmy’. You don’t need to save for your future, you are a drone, you’re only here to work and consume.
Oh, and it should go without saying…Don’t even think about donating to an anti-government protest or criticising your government on social media if you disagree with these policies. You will simply be excluded from economic life altogether. You had better toe the line!
Before CBDCs, Governments would have to convince their populations that these policies made sense and were in their best interest. But with a CBDC in place there is no need, they can simply limit what you’re allowed to spend your ‘consumption coupons’ on and indirectly control your behaviour that way. If you grant governments and central banks this kind of absolute power, then it will corrupt them absolutely. CBDCs will give them complete and total surveillance and control.
For a moment, let’s consider that time = money. You of course work hard and exchange your time and labour to accrue said money. Imagine now, that you worked for 5 years to save for a purchase you had been dreaming of only to find out that the Government has decided you are not permitted to buy it. Sure, the CBDC will still be in your ‘wallet’. They haven’t stolen your ‘money’. It’s far worse…. They have stolen your time. The only asset you can never acquire more of.
Slavery, just with extra steps.
The obvious choice then for anyone seeking to maintain any semblance of freedom and dignity is to adopt Bitcoin. In stark contrast to CBDCs Bitcoin is completely permissionless and any transactions you make are unstoppable and completely censorship resistant. If that sounds like a breath of fresh air, that’s because it is. Most people alive today have never had the opportunity to be this sovereign and this autonomous.
With Bitcoin no state or central bank can debase your savings, and nobody can dictate how you live your life. You can transact globally, and your wealth will be able to transcend borders. Bitcoin puts you back in control of your life.
If CBDCs are slave money, then Bitcoin is freedom money.
Adopt Bitcoin.
“OK cool, so I just need to buy some Bitcoin, right?”
Well Satoshi did do a lot of the heavy lifting for us by creating Bitcoin, but you need to do more than just buy it. You see like almost anything worth having in life, reclaiming your sovereignty will require some effort on your part. Freedom doesn’t come for free. Bitcoin is an incredibly powerful tool that will allow you to be your own bank. The thing with powerful tools is, it’s only safe to use them after a little training.
You see simply buying Bitcoin on an exchange or buying a share in a Bitcoin ETF isn’t enough to set you free. Sure, you might benefit from the price appreciation but consider everything we have just described about banks, governments and CBDCs. If your Bitcoin is under 3rd party custody, then you are still connected to that ailing and corrupt legacy system. You don’t think your government would confiscate your corn under the guise of some ‘emergency’? Well in that case you’re far more trusting than us.
In our opinion, for you to properly reclaim your financial freedom there’s a few essential things that you should learn so that you can wield Bitcoin as the powerful weapon that it is:
1) Taking Self-Custody – To be truly free you cannot rely on a 3rd party. You must be your own bank.
2) Coin Control – Learn how to get comfortable making transactions. Learn about UTXOs and fees.
3) Privacy – Buy Non-KYC Bitcoin to maintain your anonymity and learn CoinJoins for forward privacy.
4) Verify Don’t Trust – Run your own Bitcoin node and verify the network for yourself.
Given you’re likely to be using sound money to plan for your future you may also consider how many other people in your family should gain this kind of knowledge in the event of your absence. Passing down wealth to your heirs is nice. Passing down the skills and knowledge they need to claim their freedom? That’s essential!
This stuff is new to a lot of people but don’t let that put you off, it’s easier to learn than you think. With our expert 1 to 1 guidance, we can get you up to speed in just a few sessions and give you the confidence to use Bitcoin for its ultimate use case: setting you and your family free.
Learn from our 25 years of cybersecurity expertise
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