inflation

Bitcoin is now synthetically created, through options, derivatives, & ETF. Does that mean it’s endless, just like all the US dollars? Legend has it that Satoshi Nakamoto (creator of the Bitcoin universe) decreed there can only be 21 million bitcoins ever, until the end of time. Stop laughing – people actually believe this. It underpins the entire idea that Bitcoin is valuable and could be worth $100,000 each or $1 million each. Or worth whatever someone wakes up tomorrow and decides for themselves.

Just 21 million? Not so fast. Yahoo Personal Finance (link below, seldom known for deep insights into money) has come to a startling and simple conclusion: We – the holders and traders of Bitcoin – can make the supply infinite. We are creating new “synthetic” Bitcoins with all the usual Wall Street approved chicanery: Bitcoin exchange trade funds, futures, swaps, derivatives. And the big enchilada – cryptocurrency banks which keep your Bitcoin in a "safe" wallet while lending Bitcoin to somebody else doesn't have any. This what banks do with your checking and savings accounts, which creates "synthetic dollars", too.

Are your eyes glazing over yet?

The amount of US dollars roaming the world in the wild at any given moment is a matter of debate. But it’s huge, and it’s always growing. Because of the american government keeps printing more, issuing treasury bills and all of the clever Wall Street hustles noted. Nobody pretends the US dollar is in any way fixed in quantity. Dollar Inflation seems to be INFINITE. Reality check: America bought Alaska for just $7 million. Don’t try and figure out what it’s worth using one of those ridiculous online “inflation calculators”. They say it’s just $140 million, and they are hysterically wrong. Even without the buildings, roads and ports – just the land alone – Alaska is worth $3.5 TRILLION ($8,375 avg per acre, multiplied by 425 million acres).

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong (COIN, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, market cap $50 billion +/-) is desperate to get the 2026 Clarity bill passed. This is understandable - he helped write it. And Mr. Armstrong has said he’d rather have no bill at all, rather than “a bad one”. The Clarity bill exempts Bitcoin (and every other crypto currency) from regulation like stocks.

Just imagine the gazillions of synthetic Bitcoins that will come pouring out these companies if they get their way. That could make the US dollar look like the safest bet.

I’m just sayin’ . . .

Bitcoin's 'Infinite' Paper Supply — Not Wall Street — Is The Real Problem, Says Analyst

Have precious metals reached their top? The meteoric climb in precious metals has experienced a significant pullback in the last 24 hours.  First, one wonders what caused this event, and secondly, do we believe this is a much needed correction, or a pause in a market that will continue to climb?  

Partisan Politics: The Ultimate Smokescreen? The Left demonizes the Right. The Right demonizes the Left. The media, for the most part, only stokes this rivalry. Both sides are up in arms, believing that they have to keep the other side from winning at all costs.

Meanwhile, governments and central banks everywhere keep issuing more money, devaluing its purchasing power in the process (causing inflation). They do this to finance wars, to bail out banks, to fund massive bureaucracies and social programs and/or to stimulate the economy. They do this regardless of which party is in power.

And they do it because they can. Because our money used to be backed by gold or other scarce commodities, now it’s backed by nothing. Therefore its supply can be inflated at will (and this is what the original meaning of the word inflation alludes to).

I don’t think they do it out of malice. They likely often have the best intentions, and entire economic theories have been created and are espoused by Nobel-winning economists and academics to justify why they do it. But at the end of the day, the power to issue money out of thin air is just too great for any person or group to wield responsibly. It inevitably gets misused and abused.

And it has disastrous consequences. Most people around the world are getting poorer in real terms, regardless of how hard they work, because their purchasing power is being inexorably eroded. And most people don’t fully realize that this is what’s happening. They intuit that something’s fundamentally very wrong, but don’t really know what it is. Stress, depression, anger, frustration and despair run rampant, and are usually misdirected.

And so governments of every stripe and their central banks keep diluting everyone’s purchasing power, effectively stealing our time and energy. You work to earn money, and the money you earn buys you less and less over time. This isn’t an accident, and it isn’t because of corporate greed, or because illegal immigrants are taking what’s yours. It’s the result of deliberate governmental monetary policy, and it’s a global phenomenon.

And they get to keep doing this because almost everyone is too busy fighting the other side to even notice or understand that it’s happening.