These two guys just explained Money, Inflation and Bitcoin. (Bet The Fed’s just blacklisted ‘em.)
I listened for 2 hrs to Tom Bilyeu and Robert Breedlove(@Breedlove22) riff on Money, Bitcoin, banks & govt.
SIMPLEST EXPLANATION I’ve ever heard.
8 BIG TAKEAWAYS:
1️⃣ 10 million books produced over 500 yrs BEFORE printing press. 10 million produced in just 10 yrs AFTER.
Now individuals could relate directly to God. The Church no longer needed.
When The Church finally realized printing press’ threat to their power, they tried to kill it.
TOO LATE.
Printers had already started making books on How to Build Your Own Printing Press.
Bitcoin’s significance comparable to Printing Press. Both:
- Psycho-tech’s
- Not pure inventions, but a cobbling of existing inventions
- Tools that can free individuals from central control
2️⃣ Austrian economics school definition of Money: A universal medium of exchange
For any asset to be considered Money, it has to be:
- Divisible — eg you can split it into useful pieces
- Portable — can move it around easily
- Durable — it doesn’t decay
- Recognizable — anywhere
- Scarce — demand outstrips supply
Historically, most trusted form: Gold (because it was Scarcest).
But Gold, while Portable, is physical and heavy.
And while Scarce, we’re still able to to add to Total Amount of it by mining.
Bitcoin has inside track to replace Gold, because:
- Not physical — low cost of portability
- Total supply fixed (21 million BTC) — written into the code, can’t be changed
- Good track record: For 13 yrs, has consistently produced 1 new block/10 minutes.
3️⃣ When one organisation gets a monopoly over the supply of money, it has the ability to pick winners and losers in the economy.
For over a century, The Fed (backed by Washington) has had this power (& now it’s on steroids).
- Inflation = Legalised Counterfeiting • Counterfeiting = Criminalised Inflation
4️⃣ The Fed is stealing from the Productive & rewarding the Unproductive.
The number of $$$ in circulation is set on a single SQL server & controlled by just a few individuals. They’ve been inflating the number for decades.
This is INFLATION. Allows The Fed to dilute real wealth of $$$-holders (the poor, retirees, fixed-incomes) & transfer to Asset-holders (real estate, stocks, big corps, legal entities backed by law).
Example: House prices are rising, but are house VALUES? (The house hasn’t really changed.)
Rather, The Fed is really REDUCING your SALARY.
5️⃣ People often confuse Money SUPPLY with Economic Value.
The amount of $$$ (and of BTC) in circulation is finite at any one time.
But the WEALTH create-able with that supply is potentially INFINITE — constrained only by human ingenuity.
1 BTC currently divisible into 100 million “satoshis” (parallel: cents)
Bitcoin code includes provision for still greater divisibility.
Eg: If progressive wealth creation results in 1 satoshi = 1 car, we can split satoshi’s down further to levels useful for buying an apple.
6️⃣ We don’t really have a capitalist system, and haven’t for some time.
We have a State-Marginalised capitalist system.
7️⃣ We are probably looking at the gradual demise of the nation-state.
GOOD THING? Tom Bilyeu: “Most people fear responsibility. Do they want individual sovereignty? I’m not sure I want full control of my BTC.”
Robert Breedlove: Multi-sig provides reduced level of control. Gets around the $5 wrench problem.
(Someone with a $5 wrench can threaten you until you hand over your BTC keys, but not multiple people.)
8️⃣ Useful books:
- The Sovereign Individual (Davidson, Rees-Mogg) • The Creature From Jekyll Island (G Edward Griffin) • Dishonest Money: Financing the Road to Ruin (Plummer)
➡️ Link to the conversation: https://youtu.be/d_34YjXAU5Y
