TD₿: Bitcoin is Not Backed by Nothing by Parker Lewis
TL;DR Bitcoin is backed by the credibility of its monetary properties.
Hey Bitcoiners,
The topic on a lot of Bitcoiners’ minds today is the idea of Bitcoin and its intrinsic value after Geopolitical Strategist and Author Peter Zeihan went on Joe Rogan and pandered the same tired FUD that has plagued Bitcoin for many years now.
It’s actually impressive how much nonsense and misinformation Peter packed into so little time when attempting to explain his views on why Bitcoin will go to zero. Swan Managing Director Alex Stanczyk said it well…
When it comes down to it, the problem that Peter seems to have is threefold 1.) He is intellectually dishonest and/or lazy and refuses to put in the work to understand Bitcoin, 2.) He has a massive ego which prevents him from saying, “I don’t know” when he knows nothing about a subject, and 3.) He has fiat brain.
He has fiat brain in that he thinks that a healthy economy requires an inflationary currency. Said differently, he has drunk the Keynesian kool-aid and believes that the money supply needs to expand, or more units of money are required, to achieve more economic growth.
Of course, this flies in both the face of reason and history. First off, we’ve had an inflationary fiat currency regime since 1971 in particular. How’s that going for us? Our infrastructure is crumbling, wealth inequality has exploded, economic growth has stagnated, and capital investment is drying up. Our society hasn’t been this hopeless, nihilistic, and divided in a long time. Just look into the eyes of a young person today, and you can see it. Consequently, it’s no surprise that labor productivity is in the gutter.
Secondly, what actually creates real economic growth isn’t inflationary monetary policies, it’s the ability of households and businesses to SAVE and INVEST those savings. When you have an inflationary currency that gets continuously diluted by a group of insiders with a money printer, well, individuals can’t save. And if people can’t save, then they don’t invest in new innovations that have the potential to change the world for the better.
It’s no coincidence that some of the greatest inventions in human history such as the telephone, the light bulb, the internal combustion engine, and the automobile, were all invented in times of sound money.
By having sound money that can't be inflated away, an economy can accumulate savings. People can then begin to think more long-term about how to build the future they want to see. This leads to investing their savings in new ideas and long-term projects that can lead to new inventions, and new inventions are BY FAR the largest driver of economic growth over the long term.
This is partly why Bitcoin has value. It allows individuals to save free of debasement and censorship, which drives investment and economic growth. Thus, Bitcoin’s value is backed by the credibility of its monetary properties.
Parker Lewis wrote a good blog post that debunks the common FUD that “Bitcoin is Not Backed by Nothing.” (09/27/2019)
It’s 2023 — I really thought that Bitcoin would have better critics by now.
Tick tock next block,
Sam Callahan
Sign up for Swan and receive $10 in free bitcoin today.
Quote of the Day
“Bitcoin: make saving money cool again.” - Stephan Livera, Host of the Stephan Livera Podcast and Managing Director at Swan International
Job of the Day
Lipa is looking for a Mobile Engineer to join them on their mission and build a self-custodial Bitcoin Lightning wallet for Android and iOS and develop an app optimized for businesses making it simple to receive Bitcoin Lightning payments
Not your particular skillset? Check out all the Bitcoin jobs at bitcoinerjobs.com.
Featured Event
Tuesday — come to the Bitcoin Socratic Seminar by BitDevs.Berlin from 7:00-9:00 pm at FULMO. This is a monthly Socratic Seminar event that is formatted to foster debate, information sharing, and lively discussion. Come talk Bitcoin and Lightning!
Not in town for this? Check out all the Bitcoin events at bitcoinerevents.com.
Meme of the Day
