It feels like this year is going by so fast, doesn’t it? I can hardly believe it’s already June. Everyone is in vacation mode and ready to relax by the pool and forget about the daily grind of work and taking care of a family.
I totally get the sentiment. Who doesn’t want to stop thinking about wallet-crushing inflation, high interest rates, credit card debt, and the feeling that no matter what you do, you’re not getting anywhere in life? It almost feels like the whole system is rigged against you, right?
Well, it is, to be honest, but that’s a story for another time. The powers that be who want you to be fat, happy and stupid have largely succeeded in that mission. Now that they have managed to sedate the population, they can literally do whatever they want and get away with it with impunity.
The point is that their arrogance got to them. The Federal Reserve and its zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) have screwed things up, to the detriment of the American people and the federal government.
Before the 2020 pandemic, the government struggled to keep inflation around 2 percent. Certain economic factors, such as improved technology, a declining birth rate, the retirement of baby boomers and globalization, caused inflation to trend downward over time.
The Federal Reserve, in its infinite wisdom and constant concern about deflation, kept lowering interest rates to stimulate borrowing and lending in the U.S. economy. It worked for a while, until the Great Financial Crisis (GFC) hit in 2008.
The increased borrowing and lending overheated the housing market and almost brought down the world economy, but fortunately we had the “powerful” government to step in and solve a problem of their own creation. That said, you would think they would have learned their lesson and gotten their financial house in order.
It’s the government, of course not! They did nothing of the sort, what they did was continue their spending spree during the 2020 pandemic. It didn’t matter which political party was in power, spending just kept rising.
Did you know that former President Trump added $8.4 trillion in national debt during his tenure and President Biden isn’t doing much better, now that total debt appears to be around $7.9-$8 trillion? Needless to say, the government is bankrupt and living on borrowed time.
Whoever “wins” the election will be the captain of a sinking ship. Medicare and Social Security are broken and completely unaffordable, but politicians dare not tell the millions of Americans who have “paid in” their entire working lives that there is no pot of money set aside for them and that it was just a complicated tax system to fund the government.
You are NOT entitled to social security benefits, I hope you know that by now. If the government tells you that you won’t get Social Security or Medicare, there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. There are no lawsuits you can file to force the government to give you your money back or elect the “right” congressman to fix things. Once the government taxes your paycheck, that money is GONE FOREVER.
You can’t trust the government to keep its end of the bargain or not to devalue the currency and destroy your quality of life. With a government like this, why would you trust them with anything? Self-custody of assets is going to determine the winners and losers over the next 5-10 years.
Storm clouds are gathering
I don’t know about you, but I have a disturbing feeling that we are on the brink of something big. It’s going to be a paradigm shift for the entire world. If you look over the horizon, you will see all the pieces falling into place. Just look what happens:
The US government is $34 trillion in debt with no end in sight.
Israel bombs the Iranian army in Syria
The expansion and de-dollarization of the BRICS countries is underway
Global birth rate below replacement level
All over the world there is open hostility or simmering tensions that are about to erupt openly. I’m not sure if this is how the world felt before World War II, but it certainly feels like the world is falling apart at the seams. With all this going on, how can you trust that the current dollar-based system will protect your hard-earned wealth?
Nothing new under the sun
If you have large amounts of dollars in the bank, your wealth is at risk. The banks can confiscate or severely restrict your access to your money, especially during a bank run or other unforeseen crisis. This is exactly what happened in 2013 during the euro crisis.
During this time the two largest banks in Cyprus were in trouble and needed a bailout from the European Union. The Cypriot government was desperate and the EU knew it, so in classic mafia fashion they insisted on bailing the bank out using customer money!!
It can’t get worse than these people. According to a 2018 study 55 percent of households with more than $100,000 in deposits experienced immediate financial loss and 28 percent experienced a bail-in of deposits.
If you think this can’t happen to you, think again. I bet the Cypriots thought it couldn’t happen to them, but it did. This is not the time to be complacent and think that everything is fine. If you are a Bitcoiner, you understand the world we live in now.
This is why self-management of your assets, primarily Bitcoin, is a must if you want to survive economic armageddon with your wealth intact.
Self-guardianship is the best tool for economic freedom
Satoshi created Bitcoin and gave us the monetary policy we need to change the course of humanity from endless fiat wars and a dystopian surveillance state to a bright orange future where human potential can flourish.
In addition to creating a fair and just monetary system, Satoshi gave us the ability to control our wealth without the need for an intermediary like a bank. A simple Bitcoin wallet address and your private key are all you need to protect your wealth from being seized by a malicious third party. This is truly revolutionary, I mean this is a real 1776 moment in history that was shot back on January 3, 2009.
Self-custody gives you the opportunity to move your assets across the border and start over in a new place if the need arises. You can’t do that with gold, you can’t do that with silver, you can’t do that with your 401k or the brand new shiny Bitcoin ETFs.
Not your keys, not your coin is the mantra that should be drilled into the head of every new person entering Bitcoin. Trusting a custodian to hold your Bitcoin wealth is as risky as keeping money in the bank.
There is so much educational material and Bitcoiners willing to help people new to Bitcoin that it is simply unacceptable for anyone to hold any amount of Bitcoin on an exchange. If a majority of Bitcoin holders are holding their coins on an exchange or buying a Bitcoin ETF instead of the real thing, what are we doing here? It’s self-custody or bust. This is the mission that lies before us. Are you ready, anonymous?
This is a guest post by Robert Hall. The opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.