The Dollar Vigilante (TDV) began with a concept in mind.
In the 1970s there was something called bond vigilantes. George Soros was one of them and was actually one of the (fairly) good guys back then. I've written how he was corrupted by power and is now a bad guy here.
Back then, the good guys kept governments and central banks somewhat restrained by shorting (selling) government debt (bonds) whenever they felt like the government was going into too much debt or if they felt the central bank was printing too much money.
If I was younger and the internet existed in the 1970s I would have been called The Bond Vigilante.
But, a funny thing happened on the way to where we are today. Governments went into unbelievably more debt AND the central banks printed money at unheard of rates to buy the bonds themselves.
This eliminated the ability of bond vigilantes to keep governments and central banks in check. As well, all those who had attained massive wealth lost any interest in restraining governments and central banks and now support them going into more debt and printing more money as it enriches the elites.
Seeing this, I began to call myself The Dollar Vigilante and the idea was that the only way to restrain and fight this system now is to sell the fiat currencies, like the US dollar, themselves (and it just so happened it is also the best way to salvage your assets and make money in this environment as we have shown making 200% in the last year at the TDV portfolio).
The question soon became, however, "sell your dollars for what?"
Gold and silver were obvious choices. But when asked, "What will replace the dollar as currency?" my answer, in 2010, was "I'm sure the free market will come up with something."
Then I discovered bitcoin in 2011 and my first thought was, "They already have!"
It's been five years since and bitcoin has grown massively in terms of value and usage. And, new services come on stream every day which further the usability of bitcoin, like bitcoin ATM/debit cards such as E-coin/Wirex or Coinbase's Shift card, to name a few.
But, bitcoin still isn't what you would call mainstream. 99%+ of people you meet on the street have barely heard of it, much less use it actively. That will change over time, of course, but currently it is not gaining massive mainstream adoption.
That leads to the question that has been asked for years, "What will it take for a cryptocurrency to gain rapid, mass adoption?"
The first currency that I have seen that has that potential is Steem.
WHY COULD STEEM BE THE CRYPTO TO CRACK THE MAINSTREAM BARRIER?
Steem is very, very young, so this is highly speculative. It is not a sure thing by any means.
However, if Steem, through the platform, Steemit, can gain massive market share in social media... which is absolutely possible... Steem could be the gateway drug to get the public into cryptocurrencies.
How? Well, one of the biggest barriers to adoption is the question of how to get cryptocurrencies easily into the hands of the masses.
With bitcoin, still to this day, it is somewhat of a process. Unless your employer or client already have bitcoin and have expressed a desire to pay you in bitcoin, the main way to attain bitcoin is to go through the process of opening an account on an exchange (which sometimes, especially in the US, can be as difficult as opening a bank account), transferring in funds and then understanding how to trade dollars for bitcoin on the exchange.
Most people, dumbed down by the government "schools" (indoctrination camps) and fed thousands of hours of propaganda via television programming (and it's called programming for a reason) and other entertainment, have little to no ability to think. They mostly are only able to repeat what they were taught in school and to parrot the information they see in the media.
For them, trying to even understand what bitcoin is and go through the process to acquire it is far beyond their capability.
And, that's where Steem comes in.
If Steemit and other social media platforms yet to come, which are based on the Steem currency, gain widespread adoption (and I see no reason why they won't if the currency can continue to function) then we will see millions, if not tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of people on these platforms.
They'll be attracted by their favorite celebrities who will eventually find their way onto Steem after they find out they can make money for posting their content, rather than posting to Facebook or Twitter, where the platform itself makes money from their audience.
Once on Steemit (or other iterations, like a Steem backed Twitter which I'm sure is in the works), they'll notice that their activity is generating them something called "Steem dollars". For most it might just be a few dollars worth over time, but they will notice it.
At that point they will want to know what they can do with these Steem dollars.
And, just right there, the problem with getting the currency into the hands of the masses is solved.
While 99% of regular people may not own any bitcoin, over time, perhaps 10-20% of the general populace will have at least a few dollars of Steem. Driven by self-interest they'll actually spend some time to figure out what they can do with it.
One of the first things they will notice is that they can trade it for bitcoin.
And then, voila. Everyone has some bitcoin... and Steem would have its own market too.
And before you know it, the general populace has been exposed to cryptocurrencies.
From there, as many know, people begin to realize the value of having these currencies and eventually, over time, they begin to use cryptos regularly. You owe your neighbor $20 on a football bet? The question will soon be asked, "Do you take Steem or bitcoin? It's easier for me to transfer it that way rather than walking over to your house and paying you with cash."
In that way, you can foresee, that Steem could be the way that cryptocurrencies get integrated in the lives of every day people.
WILL IT HAPPEN?
WILL Steem become the gateway drug to cryptocurrencies? It is far too early to answer that question. It is only a few months old and there is a long way to go before it does (but a long way, in today's realtime, instant world, can be months, not years).
CAN Steem end up being the gateway drug to cryptocurrencies? Absolutely!
And that's why I'm here.
The Dollar Vigilante wants to see the entire world move to non-government/central bank currencies which will quickly see the collapse of central banks and big government, leading the world to peace and prosperity like we've never known it.
I will be anywhere where there is a glimmer of hope of that happening... and I'll be here at Steemit either until it succeeds in that goal or until it fails and we then look to the next thing that could rid the world of central banks and governments.
In other words, I'm here until the end.