Originally published at: https://gizadeathstar.com/2024/09/so-much-for-crypto-currency-freedom-its-time-for-cash/
Last Wednesday I blogged about the connection between central bank digital currencies and so-called “free energy” and the suspicious and hardly coincidental murders and deaths that accompany inventors who make 'free energy" claims or develop such devices. But before one reaches that level, there is the whole issue of freedom and privacy associated with any…
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Cryptocurrency has never appealed to me as an asset or an investment. I feel the same way about most jewelry such as diamonds even though many would disagree. Fertile land with good sun orientation and land with water rights or water access is priceless.
I would rather own sovereign debt than crypto.
The trading and churning of crypto has the feel of something for nothing which has bad karma.
Financial intermediaries should be subject to a level playing field with respect to what customer ID or insurance requirements apply.
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Just yesterday, I saw an interview about monetary and economic trends, and cryptocurrency came up. Interviewer (West Coast American) and interviewee (British in the Cayman Islands) were both well-off tech enthusiast / entrepreneur types, but the interviewer was worried about the implications of a surveilled digital currency.
The interviewee’s attitude was: (a) the government already surveils everything you do, and (b) Bitcoin specifically is the magic escape route out of the ever-inflating official currency systems. Listening to this guy truly shocked me . . . In some circles, there’s a blind, cult-like faith in Bitcoin that I can’t wrap my head around.
Now, the Binance article doesn’t say whether the seized cryptocurrencies included Bitcoins, so I can’t tell if any of those magically “transparent,” “uncounterfeitable,” and “uninflatable” Bitcoins were involved. Regardless, I’m still waiting for somebody – anybody – to answer these questions:
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Given quantum computing, artificial intelligence, old-fashioned human spies and thieves, and the continual hacking incidents involving banks and other “secure” systems, why should I believe there can be an unhackable digital system?
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What happens to your cryptocurrency if the electric grid goes down or gets fried?
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In known human history, can you give me an example of a widely used currency that was not either controlled or manipulated by a government, bankers, or organized crime?
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If Bitcoin is truly a viable way to “opt out of the system,” how come one of the first questions on a U.S. tax return is “did you: (a) receive (as a reward, award, or payment for property or services); or (b) sell, exchange, or otherwise dispose of a digital asset (or a financial interest in a digital asset)”? [Look up their definition of “digital asset”; it includes cryptocurrencies.]
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The value of Bitcoin fluctuates based on demand. Imagine that, in the future, one or more of the world’s major governments wants you to use its own officially sanctioned digital currency and therefore makes Bitcoin illegal or puts a 30% tax on all Bitcoin transactions. What would happen to the value of Bitcoin then?
Sorry for the rant, but sometimes the naivete around this subject really gets to me.
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This would be a problem, also for traditional banking.
I don’t have anything invested in crypto coins, inflation is bad with the dollar but may be these coins are no better.
Best investments are steel and copper.
Intriguing thought:… crypto-currencies as connected to or being bad karma… I like the idea and will have to think about it.
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Very true . . . which is another argument in favor of not getting rid of physical cash, since it’s possible to hold physical cash outside a bank account.
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Especially coins made of precious metals that still have value even if currency systems collapse.
I’m uncertain how stable the U.S. dollar and other major currencies like the Euro and British pound are going to be over the next few decades.
Cryptocurrency in theory seems to have some positive potential. If any coins with that prove to be any more stable than other currencies over many years seems worth considering using that, but there certainly are risks with anything.
The main question is what people will be willing to accept as a payment for goods/services.
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Parts of California are without a electricity in last 24hr. Lots of opportunities for crypto fraud. This may be a common occurence in not so distant future.
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How would crypto fraud be committed without electricity?
Good question, maybe big players have power generators, near mining crypto centers, but avarage consumer,not so much.?
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That would make sense if the grid is down for few days then maybe off-grid system could commit fraud.
Many people may not have generators or battery will run out in a day or two.
The cryptographic keys for coins are supposedly safe with a “hard wallet” drive that doesn’t need to be connected to the grid but the coins aren’t technically maintained in the wallet they are in the blockchain grid system so confusing.
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Crypto is bad karma because it:
Encourages a casino mentality with minimum value to society; enables criminal activity (money laundering and ransom ware); consumes energy at a rate disproportionate to its fluctuating value; is gimmicky and there is practically no legal recourse for scams.
FYI. Civil asset forfeiture is subject to the Excessive Fines Clause, Eight Amendment. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Timbs v. Indiana.
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It wasn’t bad when it started 
The NSA and CIA were never going to allow an independent crypto platform to emerge. Their asset price ponzi scheme bubble requires full price control of any investible asset.
Today they are losing control of gold price and soon it will be the oil market. The world will finally know what free market economics and price discovery actually means.
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Maybe on the BRICS side of the equation.
There will be at least two major political/economic systems:
Industrial Capitalism vs. Financial Capitalism.
Building vs Extraction.
Owning vs Renting.
100% vs .01%.
Then, there are the Breakaways…
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The Shadow Dollar That’s Fueling the Financial Underworld. WSJ -Cryptocurrency Tether enables a parallel economy
Paywall
“A giant unregulated currency is undermining America’s fight against arms dealers, sanctions busters and scammers. Almost as much money flowed through its network last year as through Visa cards. And it has recently minted more profit than BlackRock, with a tiny fraction of the workforce.
Its name: Tether. The cryptocurrency has grown into an important cog in the global financial system, with as much as $190 billion changing hands daily.
In essence, tether is a digital U.S. dollar—though one privately controlled on the British Virgin Islands”
My speculation is that governments will boost their currencies by teaming with strong crypto currency companies. They will leverage the relationship. FTX crashed and burned but the strategy still applies. — Eventually cryptocurrency will be more regulated and will become an option on the financial engineering dashboard.
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You’re right. I’m hearing echoes of something similar with Ripple. This sounds like worse than the current federal reserve system.
I am confident that block-chain, however you name it, will be the currency of the future, if not in use now. Pretty sure there is chaos in the back room.
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I would agree with your supposition @justawhoaman if not for central banks all over the world buying gold like mad. They smell the chaos in this new endeavor called block chain or crypto.
Interesting info @aurajenn as far as British V.I. and crypto shadow market.
Thats why I think and maintain my position, that there is a so do speak “crypto” war brewing in Anglo-American alliance.
Somebody is trying to ignite civil unrest in UK, as a punishment for trying to outmaneuver Americans in shaping new financial system based on CBDC.
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I think it is a done deal in the US - a block chain is in effect, call it CBDC, whatever. We are currently dealing with FRN’s that are IOU’s but I don’t think the Federal Reserve is all that “healthy” any more. Remember, we are talking a group of financiers that might have bet on the wrong horses in this age of Clown Shows. It is all Disney: the media, NASA, especially the Political arena (or should I say Colliseum?). Once everyone sees the man behind the curtain, I hope the period of total freak out and chaos is short. Whenever it happens, hang on to your shorts… worldwide.
Everyone is buying up gold because this blockchain is based on it.
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As long as its not this:
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