Imagine your currency suddenly losing 96-98% of its value. People rushing to the grocery stores to buy whatever they can before the rest of their currency goes to shit. Increase in crime and violence everywhere as people try to survive. Well that’s exactly what happened in Venezuela and Zimbabwe a few years ago.
A variety of sources affect a country's monetary value; irresponsible printing of money supply, excessive regulation, even increases in commodity prices, just to name a few. But that is not the point of this article, this article is on how we can protect ourselves from irresponsible government.
If you’re saying to yourself, “This won’t happen in my country. I live in a country with a responsible government that looks out for my best interest”, let’s cut the bullshit and save the stories of Santa Claus and the tooth fairy for the children. Government are run by people and if you haven’t been living under a rock, you’ll notice that sometimes people in power fuck things up for the rest (mostly the poor). Whether it be for power, greed, or stupidity, it happens. This maybe not your government today, but what about the next election or the one after that.
Here's a list of some examples:
Yugoslavia 1993 – 1994
Soviet Union 1992
How about some examples of irresponsible government/banks that has affected your life (2008: American mortgage crisis) and possibly your future (2017: America's gross federal debt $10 trillion and growing)
How does having bitcoin help?
Bitcoin helps take away some control over the economy from the small group in power and gives it back to the people. Banks have been allowed to dictate the rules that benefit themselves and fund governments that help keep these regulations in place. Let's go back to the mortgage crisis of 2008: banks were blamed, no one was arrested, millions of lives destroyed, government bailed out the banks and taxpayers were handed the bill. The more money we keep in the banks, the more control they will have over the government.
For instance, you lent money to your brother-in-law and find out he actually using it to gamble. He loses it all and asks you for more money. Like any sane person, you tell him to fuck off. However, your wife insists on helping her brother and lends him more money from your shared account. Is this a good metaphor for the mortgage crisis or the story of my life? I'll let you decide, but you bet your ass I have a separate bank account.
But without the banks, how would I get a loan?
In the future, we will have a shared economy with bitcoin and smart contracts:
A smart contract is a “computerized transaction protocol that executes the terms of a contract.” Example: A smart contract is created for a loan which states the interest rates and documents needed from the borrower. After the borrower has uploaded what is needed for approval let's say: a deposit (example: 20% of the loan), credit score, proof of salary, etc. Lenders around the world, who accept the agreement from the smart contract, would place their bitcoins on the smart contract for the borrower, and receive their bitcoin back with interest according to the smart contract’s agreed upon period.
If you think this will never happen, think of gofundme.com or kickstarter.com, which involves people giving away money for FREE! Of course, this may not happen for many years. For example: The first video sharing website started in 1997. No, it was not called youtube.com, it was called shareyourworld.com. The problem was that the internet and technology wasn't ready for it yet and the website closed down.
However technology never stops advancing
Think of when the internet first became live in 1991. The majority of people laughed at how slow it was and how it would never amount to anything. Only a hand full of hardcore supporters worked on it, believed in it and it grew slowly. But as the technology grew, more and more people got involved. Bitcoin is in its beginning stages just like when the internet started. It needs to mature and become more accepted as a means of financial transactions before we can move on to the next stage else we'll just have more shareyourworld.com flops.
What about the other cyptocurrencies (also known as altcoins)?
Other cyptocurriencies are important to this revolution, however bitcoin has the advantage of being the first successful implementation of blockchain technology and is the most well known cryptocurrency in the world. It is also supported by more exchanges and hardware/software than the other altcoins and bitcoin is the main cryptocurrency used to trade for other altcoins. Therefore, when the price of bitcoin grows/shrinks, the majority of altcoins follow suit. (This may change in the future)
Why not just keep gold?
According to Forbes, "more than 1 in 4 millennials prefer Bitcoin to stocks: 27% of whom said they would prefer to own $1,000 of Bitcoin over $1,000 in stocks. The number was even higher for male millennials—38% of whom said they prefer Bitcoin". Millienials are the future. Millienials are the ones buying bitcoin. Do you want to have gold when the last dinosaur who believes in gold dies?
So what should I do now?
I don't suggest selling all your possessions to buy bitcoin, because just like starting a business or explaining to your fiancée that wedding rings are pointless, there's risk involved. I think of bitcoin as an investment for myself and everyone's future. Purchasing this technology is like having a stock in a company you believe in. Would you put all your money in one stock? No, but a good portfolio is diversified. (Note: This is just my opinion and not financial advice)
Albert Einstein stated, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." and if nothing is done to try and prevent corruption, then it will persist. I'm not saying adopting bitcoin going to 100% succeed, but this could be the chance to make a change, not just for one country, but for the entire world. If we let this fail without giving it a shot, then we may well deserve what’s coming to us.
I hope you enjoyed this article. I would love any feedback or if you just want to troll me (man, am I asking for it), please write a comment.