Tag Archives: bitcoin

What to Buy in 2025? My Thoughts on Global Investing

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Quick Take:
International markets are finally outperforming the U.S. in 2025, with VXUS up 25% versus the S&P 500’s 13%. But much of that gain is tied to a weakening dollar and global money printing — not just fundamentals. I also see potential in small-cap value stocks and India as a long-term growth story. – Not financial advice!

I was replying with a long comment to a YouTube video about investing, and it turned into something worth sharing here. I’ve cleaned it up a bit to make it flow like a proper post — but the ideas are the same: how I’m thinking about markets right now and where opportunities might lie.

When people ask me what to buy, I always start with one key principle:
focus on total return, not dividends.

Dividends are nice, but they’re just one piece of the puzzle. What really matters is total return — the combination of price growth plus dividends. That’s what grows your wealth over time.

International Markets Are Finally Waking Up

In November 2024 a friend told me what a dog his internationl stocks were and said he was going to sell them adn buy all S&P 500 I mentioned to him the idea of reversion to the mean While I was rewarded quickly, after years of underperformance, international markets have been on an absolute tear in 2025.

  • VXUS — the total international ETF (about 25% emerging markets) — is up roughly 25% year to date.
  • VWO, which tracks only emerging markets, is up around 21%.
  • Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (VOO) is up just 13% this year.

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen this kind of outperformance from non-U.S. stocks. But before we get too excited, it’s worth asking why.

Factors Driving International Resurgence

Several factors have driven the recent resurgence in international markets.
Concerns about the U.S. trade war and tariffs have pushed investor attention abroad, while a weaker U.S. dollar has amplified gains for dollar-based investors holding foreign assets.

The U.S. Dollar Index has declined roughly 9% this year, giving a lift to unhedged international equities.

That currency impact is easy to see when comparing VXUS to hedged strategies.
For example:

  • Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF (DBEF) and
  • iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE ETF (HEFA)

are both up about 11.4% this year — solid returns, but well below the 25% gains seen in unhedged funds like VXUS.

In other words, a large portion of the international rally is being driven by the decline in the U.S. dollar, not just by improving fundamentals abroad.

👉 You can read more about this dynamic in a recent ETF.com article here:
“VXUS Tops $100B as ETF Investors Embrace International Stocks”

Inflation, Money Printing, and “Bigger” Returns

I suspect that in the future, the stock market’s returns might look higher than historical averages — not necessarily because companies are more productive, but because money printing and inflation are inflating nominal returns.

Historically, the S&P 500 returned about 11% per year, with maybe 3% of that driven by inflation and monetary expansion.
If we enter a world where inflation runs closer to 7%, then even if the real return stays about the same (around 8%), the headline number could look like 15% annual returns.

Obviously, that’s not guaranteed — just a thought experiment. But it’s a good reminder that higher nominal returns don’t always mean higher real returns.

Be Greedy When Others Are Fearful

Warren Buffett’s old rule still applies:

“Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.”

So what are investors fearful of right now?
Small-cap stocks.

  • VIOV (small-cap value ETF) is up only 2% this year.
  • VB (small-cap blend) is up around 6.5% year to date, and about 52% over the past 5 years.
  • The S&P 500, by comparison, is up 90% over that same period.

Historically, small caps have outperformed large caps over the long term — and markets tend to revert to the mean. That doesn’t mean small caps will outperform next year, but it might be time to start paying attention to them again.

A Closer Look at India

One specific market I’ve been watching is India, through the INDA ETF. I’ve personally allocated about 1% of my portfolio there. While it is actually -1% for the year that adds to it’s intregue! As I noted you want to consider buying the losers as they will likely revert to their mean higher returns.

I’ve traveled to India and work with suppliers there who produce castings and tubing. The country reminds me a lot of where China was a couple of decades ago — rapid growth, huge labor pool, and rising industrial capacity.

Here’s a quick comparison:

  • Average income in India: about $2,000 per year
  • Average income in China: about $15,000 per year

India also has another advantage — it’s a democracy, politically more aligned with the U.S., and open to global capital and trade. That combination of low base income (meaning huge growth potential) and political stability makes India a fascinating market to watch over the next decade.

Wrapping It Up

So, what should you buy?
That depends on your goals — but here are the themes I’m watching:

  • International markets, especially emerging economies
  • Small-cap value stocks that have been left behind
  • And long-term growth plays like India

Just remember — higher returns on paper may reflect inflation, not real productivity. Always think in terms of real value creation, not just nominal gains.

And, of course, this isn’t financial advice — just my perspective on how I’m thinking about global investing in 2025.

What do you think? Are you adding international exposure or doubling down on U.S. stocks?
Share your thoughts below — I love reading different perspectives on where people see opportunity.

My Bitcoin Presentation

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Here’s an AI summary of the bitcoin presentaiton I’ve given 2x now and am set to give agian in the future. You can find the video here.

1. The Problem: Broken Money

  • Money is supposed to store value from your labor, but inflation erodes that value over time.
  • Fiat money used to be backed by gold until 1971; now it’s backed by government trust and military power (“money backed by bombs”).
  • Governments print trillions, causing inflation and currency devaluation.
  • Inflation isn’t caused by parties or policies — it’s caused by money printing.
  • History (Roman Empire, etc.) shows debasing currency leads to collapse.

2. The Solution: Bitcoin

  • Fixed supply: 21 million coins — no one can print more.
  • Divisible: Each Bitcoin has 100 million satoshis (smallest unit).
  • Scarcity = preserved value.
  • Blockchain: Decentralized public ledger validating transactions without banks.
  • Mining: Miners verify transactions, earn fees, and newly unlocked Bitcoin (currently 3.125 BTC every ~10 minutes).

3. Why Bitcoin Is Unique

  • Fair launch: No pre-mine or early insider advantage; Satoshi mined alongside others.
  • Other coins (altcoins): Often pre-mined, centrally controlled, and solve fake problems — more like unregistered securities.
  • Bitcoin solves one problem — store of value.

4. How to Buy Bitcoin

  • Easiest: Through Bitcoin ETFs on Fidelity, Schwab (not Vanguard).
  • Direct ownership: Strike, River, or Cash App (low fees, only Bitcoin).
  • Avoid: Apps like Robinhood, PayPal, Coinbase — too many distracting altcoins.

5. Future Potential & Valuation

  • Total global assets ≈ $750 trillion; “monetary premium” (store-of-value demand) ≈ $273 trillion.
  • If Bitcoin absorbs that, price = ~$13 million per BTC.
  • At $100,000 today, even small investments could have massive upside (e.g., $10k → $1.3M).
  • Volatile, but long-term risk/reward is asymmetric.

6. Adoption Trends

  • Governments adopting: El Salvador (legal tender), Bhutan, Pakistan, some U.S. states (Texas, NH, Arizona).
  • Companies holding Bitcoin: Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), Tesla, Block, Marathon, Coinbase, etc.
  • U.S. forming a “Bitcoin strategic reserve.”

7. Final Takeaways

  • Fiat money causes many global problems; Bitcoin fixes the root issue — sound money.
  • Start small, invest what you can afford to lose.
  • Learn more and grow your understanding — treat dips as opportunities.
  • Key message: Broken money → broken world. Bitcoin → fixed money → potential for a better system.

Is Bitcoin a Ponzi Scheme?

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People often ask me that question when I’m giving a bitcoin presentation or just talking about it one on one. The comparison comes up because Bitcoin is new, people don’t understand it, it has gone up a lot in value, and skeptics assume that must mean someone is being tricked. But to answer it clearly, we need to define what a Ponzi actually is.

A Ponzi scheme is a fraud where early participants are paid “returns” using money from later participants. There’s no productive asset behind it—just cash shuffling from newcomers to old-timers until the inflows slow down and the scheme collapses. Hallmarks of a Ponzi are:

  • Promised guaranteed returns regardless of the market.
  • No underlying value creation.
  • Dependence on new entrants to keep funding old ones.

By that definition, Bitcoin simply doesn’t fit. Bitcoin doesn’t promise anyone a return. It doesn’t pay holders just for owning it. There is no central operator taking money from new buyers to pay old ones. Instead, Bitcoin is an open, neutral monetary network. Its value is set transparently by the market. People buy it because they believe in its properties—scarcity, portability, censorship resistance—not because they’re promised payouts.

Ironically, the system that does mirror a Ponzi structure is Social Security. Today’s workers don’t have their contributions saved for their own retirement. Their payroll taxes are immediately used to pay current retirees. The system only holds up as long as new workers keep entering to fund those already drawing benefits. In other words:

  • New entrants (workers) pay.
  • Old entrants (retirees) benefit.

That is the definition of a Ponzi-like structure. And unlike Bitcoin, which can run indefinitely on code and math, Social Security’s days are limited. Demographics are shifting—fewer young workers, more retirees—and that math simply doesn’t work forever. The only thing keeping it afloat today is government borrowing and taxation authority.

👉 Bottom line: Bitcoin is not a Ponzi. It’s voluntary, transparent, and sustainable. Social Security, on the other hand, is the true Ponzi—and its expiration date is nearing!

Bitcoin, Deflation, and the Myth of “Useless Money” – (People Won’t Spend Bitcoin Because it’s TOO Valuable????)

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A common fear I hear about Bitcoin goes something like this: “If it becomes so valuable in the future, people will never spend it. They’ll just hoard it forever — and that means it can’t work as money.”

But let’s pause. That argument assumes that money needs to lose value in order to be useful — that people will only spend if their savings are constantly melting. Does that really make sense?

People Already Save

In reality, people save no matter what. Even with inflationary dollars, households and businesses don’t spend every cent. They put money aside — but because the dollar steadily loses value, they are forced to search for other stores of value:

  • Stocks
  • Bonds
  • Real estate
  • Gold
  • Collectibles

This isn’t a feature. It’s a problem. The constant need to escape a leaky dollar creates bubbles, misallocates capital, and makes financial life complicated for everyone.

Take housing, for example. When money loses value, homes become more than shelter — they turn into financial assets. People don’t just buy houses to live in them; they buy them as inflation hedges. That means families looking for a roof over their heads end up competing with investors and savers desperate to preserve wealth. Prices get bid up far beyond the utility value of the home, making affordability worse and turning what should be a basic necessity into a speculative storehouse for capital.

Deflationary Money Doesn’t Paralyze Spending

Critics imagine that if money gains value over time, nobody will use it. But people already spend under deflationary conditions — technology proves this. Everyone knows next year’s phone or TV will be cheaper and better, yet they still buy today. Why? Because they value the use and enjoyment now, not just later.

The same applies to Bitcoin. Once mature, it will likely appreciate at roughly the rate of productivity growth (similar to a low-yield bond). People will hold it to store value — and still spend it when a purchase is worth more than waiting.

Flipping the Narrative

Inflationary money forces people into risky, complex alternatives just to save. Hard money that holds or grows its value removes those distortions. Contrary to the fear, deflationary money won’t break the economy — it may actually fix many of the problems caused by inflationary systems.

And here’s the real irony: many critics already suspect Bitcoin could become extremely valuable — that’s why they worry no one will spend it. But at the same time, they refuse to buy any today. They recognize the upside, but fear keeps them paralyzed on the sidelines.

Conclusion

In a Bitcoin world, homes could go back to being homes, not savings accounts. People could save without speculation, spend without fear of losing purchasing power, and invest in businesses for growth rather than sheltering from inflation. That’s not “useless money.” That’s money finally doing its job.

From 3% to 10%: STRC and STRD Show How Bitcoin-Backed Preferreds Beat High-Yield Accounts

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Money market funds have quietly become a $7.7 trillion behemoth. They’re the go-to “safe yield” for investors and savers alike. But with the Federal Reserve now in an easing cycle, those yields — currently around 3.5%–4% — are headed lower.

That’s where Strategy’s Bitcoin-backed perpetual preferreds come in. While most people know Strategy (MSTR) as the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, fewer realize that it has built a full yield curve of preferred instruments, each engineered for different investors.

Where These Instruments Sit in the Capital Stack

Most senior → Debt (convertible notes) → STRF (Strife) → STRC (Stretch) → STRK (Strike) → STRD (Stride) → Common (MSTR) → most junior / volatile.

The Rationale: Building a Bitcoin Yield Curve

  • STRF (Strife): Senior, cumulative, fixed dividend, long-duration. Currently yielding about 9%.
  • STRC (Stretch): Senior to STRD and STRK. Variable monthly dividend, engineered to trade around $99–$101, currently yielding about 10.25%.
  • STRK (Strike): Convertible hybrid with both dividend and equity-conversion features. Not my focus here, but it’s an important part of the structure.
  • STRD (Stride): Junior high-yield, fixed 10% dividend, currently yielding about 12.7% due to market pricing in more perceived risk. Functionally similar to STRF, except dividends are non-cumulative (can technically be skipped). That said, I believe skipping would be highly unlikely, as it would damage trust and Strategy’s ability to raise future capital. Dividends are paid quarterly.

Visualizing the Yields

Here’s how these instruments compare against traditional money markets:

  • Money Market (green): conservative baseline at ~3.5–4%.
  • STRF (orange): senior, stable preferred with ~9%.
  • STRC (orange): short, steady instrument at ~10.25%, engineered to trade near $100.
  • STRD (orange): dynamic junior instrument at ~12.7%.

Why I Prefer STRC and STRD

I’m drawn most to STRC and STRD.

  • STRC is designed to be the least volatile of the group, with a monthly payout and mechanisms (ATM issuance, variable rate, call option) that help stabilize its price.
  • STRD is the high-yield gear, juiced by its junior position in the stack. While the market demands extra yield for perceived risk, I personally think that risk is overstated given Strategy’s Bitcoin reserves and incentives to maintain dividend trust.

Together, they cover two ends of the spectrum: steady monthly yield vs. higher-octane quarterly yield.

A Practical Emergency Fund Example

Suppose you have a $10,000 emergency fund.

  • All in Money Market: $10,000 × 4% ≈ $400/year.
  • Blend with STRC: Keep $7,500 in money markets (=$300/year) and put $2,500 into STRC (=$256/year).
    • Total = $556/year — a 39% boost without overcommitting.

I wouldn’t put my entire emergency fund into a new instrument like STRC — safety and liquidity should come first. But even a modest allocation can noticeably lift your yield while still keeping most reserves conservative.

Closing Thought

Strategy is essentially pioneering a new financial system built on Bitcoin collateral. If they can consistently pay these dividends — even through Bitcoin downturns — it would be revolutionary. It would prove that Bitcoin isn’t just “digital gold,” but the foundation for a new class of yield-bearing, creditworthy instruments.

Here are 2 videos of when STRC and STRD were initially offered. They offer a lot of information about how these work. 

Strategy’s Stride STRD Perpetual Preferred Stock IPO Backed by Bitcoin | Michael Saylor and Phong Le

Strategy’s Stretch STRC Perpetual Preferred Stock IPO Backed by Bitcoin | Michael Saylor & Phong Le

Bitcoin, Deflation, and the Myth of “Useless Money” – Why would people spend bitcoin if it keeps gaining value?

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Bitcoin, Deflation, and the Myth of “Useless Money”

A common fear I hear about Bitcoin goes something like this: “If it becomes so valuable in the future, people will never spend it. They’ll just hoard it forever — and that means it can’t work as money.”

But let’s pause. That argument assumes that money needs to lose value in order to be useful — that people will only spend if their savings are constantly melting. Does that really make sense?

People Already Save

In reality, people save no matter what. Even with inflationary dollars, households and businesses don’t spend every cent. They put money aside — but because the dollar steadily loses value, they are forced to search for other stores of value:

  • Stocks
  • Bonds
  • Real estate
  • Gold
  • Collectibles

This isn’t a feature. It’s a problem. The constant need to escape a leaky dollar creates bubbles, misallocates capital, and makes financial life complicated for everyone.

Take housing, for example. When money loses value, homes become more than shelter — they turn into financial assets. People don’t just buy houses to live in them; they buy them as inflation hedges. That means families looking for a roof over their heads end up competing with investors and savers desperate to preserve wealth. Prices get bid up far beyond the utility value of the home, making affordability worse and turning what should be a basic necessity into a speculative storehouse for capital.

Deflationary Money Doesn’t Paralyze Spending

Critics imagine that if money gains value over time, nobody will use it. But people already spend under deflationary conditions — technology proves this. Everyone knows next year’s phone or TV will be cheaper and better, yet they still buy today. Why? Because they value the use and enjoyment now, not just later.

The same applies to Bitcoin. Once mature, it will likely appreciate at roughly the rate of productivity growth (similar to a low-yield bond). People will hold it to store value — and still spend it when a purchase is worth more than waiting.

Flipping the Narrative

Inflationary money forces people into risky, complex alternatives just to save. Hard money that holds or grows its value removes those distortions. Contrary to the fear, deflationary money won’t break the economy — it may actually fix many of the problems caused by inflationary systems.

And here’s the real irony: many critics already suspect Bitcoin could become extremely valuable — that’s why they worry no one will spend it. But at the same time, they refuse to buy any today. They recognize the upside, but fear keeps them paralyzed on the sidelines.

Conclusion

In a Bitcoin world, homes could go back to being homes, not savings accounts. People could save without speculation, spend without fear of losing purchasing power, and invest in businesses for growth rather than sheltering from inflation. That’s not “useless money.” That’s money finally doing its job.

For further reading on this read The Price of Tomorrow: Why Deflation is the Key to an Abundant Future – Jeff Booth

Bitcoin and the Triffin Dilemma: Why Wages Would Adjust Fairly Under a Neutral Money

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Most people don’t realize that many of the economic problems facing Americans today trace back to something called the Triffin dilemma. Politicians like Trump rage about trade deficits or promise to bring back jobs, but they rarely understand the underlying monetary system that makes those promises impossible to keep. And because they don’t understand it, millions of middle-aged workers in the U.S. are left angry and disillusioned.

But here’s the good news: the problem is solvable. And Bitcoin, combined with Buckminster Fuller’s vision of a “world accounting system,” offers a way forward.

The Triffin Dilemma in Plain English

Robert Triffin pointed out a paradox in the 1960s: if one country’s currency becomes the world’s reserve currency, that country must constantly supply it to the rest of the world. For the U.S., that means running trade deficits and flooding the globe with dollars.

The catch is that what looks good globally causes pain domestically. To meet the world’s demand for dollars, the U.S. must run deficits, borrow more, and tolerate an overvalued dollar. That makes American exports less competitive, hollows out manufacturing, and weakens wage growth.

The Cost of Supplying the World with Dollars

To keep the global economy running on dollars, the U.S. has to keep sending them out. There are only two main ways that happens: by running trade deficits (importing more than we export) or by borrowing (issuing Treasuries that foreigners buy with their surplus dollars). Both of these mechanisms keep the world awash in dollar liquidity — but they impose heavy costs on American workers.

  • Persistent deficits mean more borrowing. Every trade deficit eventually gets financed with U.S. debt. Foreign governments and investors recycle the dollars they earn back into U.S. Treasuries. The system keeps spinning, but America’s national debt climbs ever higher.
  • Global demand keeps the dollar strong. Because the world needs dollars, our currency stays overvalued compared to others. A strong dollar makes imports cheap (which feels good for consumers at Walmart) but makes American exports expensive (which is brutal for manufacturers trying to compete abroad).
  • Manufacturing gets hollowed out. When American goods are too expensive, factories lose business. Over time, companies either shut down or relocate production overseas. Entire industries migrate abroad, leaving behind shuttered plants and devastated communities.

Take steel as a concrete example. In the late 20th century, global demand for dollars, combined with cheaper steel production in Asia, kept the U.S. dollar strong and U.S. steel prices uncompetitive. By the 1980s and 1990s, iconic steel towns in Pennsylvania and Ohio watched mills close. Workers who once earned solid middle-class wages saw their jobs vanish, and many never found work at the same pay level again.

  • Wages stagnate. With fewer competitive industries at home, American workers lose bargaining power. They’re forced to compete against cheaper labor abroad, and wage growth flatlines. Meanwhile, the cost of living — housing, healthcare, education — keeps climbing. The result is the frustration many middle-aged Americans feel today: they’ve worked hard their whole lives, yet the system seems rigged against them.

In short: to supply the world with dollars, America borrows, tolerates an overvalued currency, and sacrifices its own competitiveness. The global dollar system helps keep international trade flowing, but it extracts its pound of flesh from U.S. workers.

Figure 1: Global demand for dollars keeps the dollar strong, which makes imports cheap but exports uncompetitive — hollowing out U.S. manufacturing and holding down wages.

Why Trump (and Most Politicians) Miss the Point

Trump recognizes that something is broken — but his diagnosis is shallow. He blames foreign countries, bad trade deals, and weak leaders. His answer is tariffs and protectionism.

But the deeper issue is that America can’t stop running deficits without undermining the very system that makes the dollar the global reserve. The Triffin dilemma locks us in. Protectionism only papers over the problem temporarily.

How Wages Would “Automatically Adjust” Under Bitcoin

Now imagine a world where global trade is denominated in Bitcoin, a money no government can print or devalue.

  1. High Productivity Raises Wages Locally
    If Country A is extremely productive, it earns more Bitcoin. Workers there see higher wages in BTC terms.
  2. Prices Rise in the Productive Country
    With higher wages, local goods get more expensive relative to other countries.
  3. Trade Shifts
    Other countries stop buying from Country A and look to Country B or C, where wages are lower and goods are cheaper.
  4. Jobs Move, Wages Rebalance
    Jobs flow out of the high-wage country into lower-wage ones. Wages in the expensive country stabilize or even fall, while wages in cheaper countries rise.

The result: wages “automatically” adjust across borders to reflect real productivity, not the games governments play with currency printing or manipulation.

Figure 2: Under a Bitcoin-based system, wages and trade flows automatically rebalance. High wages make exports more expensive, shifting jobs abroad until global wages reflect true productivity.

Why Fiat Prevents This Natural Balance

In today’s fiat system, governments intervene to block this natural adjustment. They devalue their currencies to keep exports cheap, trapping workers in low wages and preventing global wage convergence.

Meanwhile, American workers face the opposite problem: a strong dollar that prices them out of global competition. The Triffin dilemma ensures the imbalance persists.

“Isn’t It Just Greedy Companies Suppressing Wages?”

A common belief is that big U.S. companies are the real villains — trillion-dollar firms posting record profits while holding wages flat, outsourcing jobs, or using H1B visas to bring in cheaper labor. There’s truth in that frustration, and yes, there is abuse in how the visa system is used.

Consider this example: if an American worker expects $80,000 but a skilled H1B worker is willing to accept $50,000, the company has a clear incentive to hire the cheaper worker. To Americans, this feels like wage suppression. But for the H1B worker, it’s a huge win. That $50,000 U.S. salary might translate into the equivalent of $150,000 back home, especially if they can send $10,000 to family abroad where the cost of living is far lower.

So while it looks like companies are simply greedy, they’re really responding to the incentives of a distorted global money system. With the dollar overvalued and global trade imbalances baked in, U.S. labor is structurally overpriced compared to the rest of the world. Companies are not the root cause — they’re just playing the game according to the rules we’ve set.

In a Bitcoin-based system, the game changes. Wages would adjust across borders automatically, not through currency manipulation or immigration loopholes. Companies would still seek efficiency, but the playing field would be leveled: wages in every country would reflect true productivity, not fiat distortions.

Figure 3: Under fiat money, companies are incentivized to outsource, use H1B labor, and suppress wages. Under Bitcoin, wages converge globally based on real productivity, not manipulated exchange rates.

Fuller’s Dream of a World Accounting System

Buckminster Fuller envisioned a future where humanity had a scientific, global accounting system that measured real wealth and resources instead of manipulating national ledgers.

Bitcoin is a step in that direction. It’s transparent, borderless, and immune to political distortion. A Bitcoin-based world economy would essentially run on Fuller’s “world accounting system,” with wages, trade, and prices reflecting true productivity instead of central bank policy.

The Takeaway

The middle-aged frustration in America isn’t just about lost jobs or bad politicians. It’s about being trapped inside the Triffin dilemma — a system where the U.S. must sacrifice its workers to supply the world with dollars.

Bitcoin offers a way out: a neutral, global money where wages naturally rebalance, trade adjusts fairly, and no single country bears the impossible burden of being the world’s reserve.

It’s not just a monetary upgrade — it’s the foundation for a more honest accounting system for the entire world.

How Long Can You Ignore Bitcoin?

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Bitcoin doesn’t need you. But maybe—just maybe—you need Bitcoin.

Every cycle, new people show up thinking they’ve discovered something revolutionary—whether it’s questioning Bitcoin’s energy use, proposing faster payment layers, or trying to “fix” volatility. But every idea you’ve had about Bitcoin… has already been debated, attacked, memed, improved, or discarded years ago. The Bitcoin rabbit hole is deep, and it’s been dug for over 15 years by some of the most paranoid, visionary, and relentless minds on the planet.

Bitcoin isn’t some niche internet plaything anymore. It’s now held on balance sheets, integrated into national energy grids, and embedded in the financial strategies of countries and corporations alike. And yet, most people still ignore it—until they can’t.

How long can you ignore a monetary network that’s eating inflation, resisting censorship, and refusing to die?

Bitcoin doesn’t wait. It doesn’t care if you “believe” in it. It just keeps producing blocks every 10 minutes, no matter what. The longer you delay engaging with it, the more ground you lose—not just financially, but intellectually. Because by the time you show up with your “fresh” take, there’s already a thousand-page thread archived on Bitcointalk dismantling it.

Bitcoin doesn’t need you. But maybe—just maybe—you need Bitcoin.

🧠 Common Questions (Yes, They’ve Already Been Answered)

Before you leave a comment or dismiss Bitcoin entirely, check below—your question has probably been asked, answered, and refined for years. But if it hasn’t, ask! The Bitcoin rabbit hole only gets deeper when you engage.

🔒 1. What about quantum computing?

Won’t it break Bitcoin?

⚡ 2. Why is Bitcoin so slow and expensive?

Visa is faster. Why would I use this?

🌱 3. Isn’t Bitcoin bad for the environment?

It uses more energy than countries!

📉 4. Isn’t Bitcoin too volatile to be money?

I can’t buy groceries with it!

🪙 5. Can’t someone just make a better Bitcoin?

Isn’t tech supposed to improve over time?

🧠 6. Isn’t this all just speculative gambling?

Feels like tulips and meme coins.

💬 Got More Questions?

Drop them in the comments or send me a message—I’m always open to honest discussion. But I strongly encourage you to do a little digging first. Chances are, someone’s already asked your exact question… and the answer is better than you’d expect.

Start here. Stay curious. See where it leads. 🟠

Bitcoin Is Not an Investment — It’s a Revolution (Synthesis of Jack Mallers’ Talk at Bitcoin Prague 2025)

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🎯 Final Word: Choose Ethical Money

Bitcoin is not just about beating inflation or outperforming Wall Street.
It’s about dignity. It’s about sovereignty.
It’s about creating a world where value can’t be stolen.

So the next time someone asks what Bitcoin is, tell them this:

It’s not an investment. It’s a revolution.

Why the youth are turning to math instead of politicians to fix what was broken before they were born.

“If we could just print money, why is there poverty, war, and hunger?”
— Jack Mallers

👋 Jack Mallers Is Saying What I’ve Been Trying to Say

Every once in a while, someone steps up and articulates your beliefs more clearly, more passionately, and more publicly than you could yourself.

That’s what Jack Mallers did in his recent keynote.
He didn’t just explain Bitcoin — he captured the emotional, moral, and generational reasons I’ve written about on my blog:

We aren’t just investing in Bitcoin.
We’re opting out of a broken system.
We’re building something better.

If you’ve read my post “Why I Support Bitcoin: A Personal Journey Through the Global Failure of Fiat”, you know I believe the fiat money system is robbing our generation of hope, stability, and purpose. Mallers echoes that — and then takes it even further.

This summary breaks down his talk. It’s one of the clearest cases I’ve seen for Bitcoin as a moral revolution, not a financial asset.

🧠 Mallers’ Core Thesis: Bitcoin Is a Moral Revolution

Not a speculative asset. Not a tech fad. Not a hedge fund toy.

🧨 Bitcoin is an ethical, generational response to a broken fiat system that’s hollowed out society.

🚨 A Generation in Crisis

Millennials and Gen Z were told to go to college — and walked away with six-figure debt.
We were told the economy is booming — while we’re priced out of homes.
We were told to “just work hard” — while real wages stagnate and healthcare bankrupts families.

The data speaks volumes:

  • Youth suicide and overdose deaths are rising.
  • Obesity, divorce, and depression all spike post-1971 — the year the U.S. left the gold standard.
  • Young adults living with parents now exceeds levels from the Great Depression.

This is not normal. And deep down, we all know it.

🏦 The System Was Designed to Exploit

Jack Mallers walks us through the rot:

  • Bretton Woods (1944): U.S. dollar is pegged to gold.
  • Nixon Shock (1971): That peg is severed. Money becomes paper.
  • Petrodollar (1974): The dollar’s global dominance is enforced by oil deals and military might.

The U.S. prints money. The world ships us real goods.
We don’t produce — we consume.
We don’t export labor — we export inflation, instability, and war.

“Fiat currency is a moral violation,” Mallers says. “It’s time travel. You’re spending your kids’ future without their consent.”

⚖️ The Triffin Dilemma: Why the Middle Class Had to Die

Economist Robert Triffin warned that a nation with the global reserve currency must choose between:

  • Domestic stability
  • Global demand

America chose global demand.

The result?
We shipped jobs overseas.
We poisoned our food.
We hollowed out our towns and our families.
We replaced meaningful work with dependency — then blamed the poor for being poor.

And it was on purpose.

“They knew,” Mallers reminds us. “This wasn’t an accident. It was the cost of empire.”

⚰️ 50 Years of Consequences

Mallers lays it out plainly: when you debase money, you debase everything else.

  • 📉 Wages stagnated while assets inflated.
  • 🍔 Diets worsened as processed food replaced real nutrition.
  • 💊 Mental health and family formation collapsed.
  • 🧱 Hard work stopped paying off.

“All of this started in 1971,” he says again and again. “That’s weird, isn’t it?”

🔐 Bitcoin: A Peaceful Revolution Built on Math

Against this backdrop, Bitcoin isn’t just a shiny asset — it’s a moral tool.

It’s a response to a system built on theft, control, and decay.

Bitcoin’s moral code:

  • You shall not inflate.
  • You shall not confiscate.
  • You shall not censor.
  • You shall not counterfeit.

Unlike fiat, Bitcoin is enforced by math, not military.
Private keys are stronger than guns.
You can steal a house. You can loot a bank.
But you can’t steal 256-bit encryption locked in someone’s mind.

“Bitcoiners are Bitcoin,” Mallers says. “Before it’s a network, it’s a movement. Before it’s code, it’s ethics.”

💡 The Future Isn’t Given — It’s Built

We didn’t ask for this system.
We didn’t choose to be born into debt and decay.
But we get to choose what comes next.

Bitcoin is the latest chapter in the story of human innovation.
Like fire, the printing press, the computer — it’s a tool to reclaim our agency.
It lets us opt out of a system that exploits us and build one based on fairness and freedom.

“After you wipe your last tear,” Mallers asks, “what do you want to do?”

🎯 Final Word: Choose Ethical Money

Bitcoin is not just about beating inflation or outperforming Wall Street.
It’s about dignity. It’s about sovereignty.
It’s about creating a world where value can’t be stolen.

So the next time someone asks what Bitcoin is, tell them this:

It’s not an investment. It’s a revolution.

Join the Revolution!

Analysis of – Geo-Strategy #3: How Empire is Destroying America

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You Were So Close: Where the Anti-Empire Analysis Misses Bitcoin’s Role as the Fix

A year old video titled Geo-Strategy #3: How Empire is Destroying America delivers a sharp, compelling critique of the United States’ transformation from a productive manufacturing economy into a hollowed-out empire addicted to easy money, foreign capital, and speculative finance. The lecturer nails several things before they happened:

  • Trump won
  • The U.S. dropped bombs on Iran (June 21, 2025).
  • Empire—not capitalism alone—is the real structural disease.

So far, so good.

But here’s where it falls short: when it comes to solutions, the analysis stops at nostalgia. It groups Bitcoin in with the broader financialized, speculative mindset of the current era—instead of recognizing it as the clearest path out of the collapsing fiat-imperial system.

What the Video Gets Right

1. The Shift to Financialization Was a Disaster
The U.S. economy went from 40% of profits coming from manufacturing to only 10%. Meanwhile, financial services ballooned to 40% of profits but employ only 5% of the workforce. It’s not a real economy anymore—it’s rent-seeking on a grand scale.

2. Empire Crowds Out Domestic Prosperity
As the video rightly says: the U.S. has 800+ overseas bases, trillions in defense spending, and a growing dependency on foreign goods. Meanwhile, infrastructure decays, wages stagnate, and people struggle to own homes.

3. Easy Money Has Warped the Psyche
He astutely observes that young people have a speculative mindset. They want to gamble their way to freedom because working hard for 40 years no longer gets you a house or family. The fiat system broke the ladder.

4. Empires Collapse from Hubris
Rome did it. So did Britain. The U.S. has reached a point where it can’t imagine losing, but is too bloated and fragile to truly win.

What the Video Misses Entirely

Bitcoin isn’t a symptom of decline. It’s the cure.

Here’s where the logic fails: Bitcoin gets lumped in with real estate speculation, meme stocks, and Wall Street grifting. That’s a category error.

Bitcoin is:

  • Not tied to Wall Street.
  • Not controlled by central banks.
  • Not created through debt.

It is, in fact, everything the empire cannot print, inflate, or manipulate.

If fiat money is what powers the empire’s global dominance and fiscal addiction, then Bitcoin is the tool that cuts the cord. It’s what lets young people store value, opt out of inflation, and build sovereign systems outside elite capture.

The Real Problem: Fiat, Not Just Empire

Let’s go one layer deeper:

  • Empire needs fiat to fund wars, bailouts, and pensions.
  • Fiat needs empire to enforce its global dominance (petrodollar system, SWIFT sanctions, military threats).

It’s a closed loop. And Bitcoin breaks it.

Bitcoin is the only monetary system with no central issuer, no forced trust, no inflationary mandate, and no border. It’s not speculative escapism. It’s the foundation for a post-imperial world.

Final Thought

The lecturer in Geo-Strategy #3 is brave and accurate in his breakdown of how empire is destroying America. But like many critics, he sees the collapse clearly yet misses the exit sign flashing in orange behind him:

Bitcoin isn’t the distraction. It’s the lifeboat.