Traditional investors are confounded by the yields available in crypto. We earn next to nothing on traditional dollars but earn 5%+ on crypto dollars. I can imagine traditional investors look in from the outside and think “this is too good to be true!”, “Those bright shiny lights in the distance are going to blow up … More SM (ed. 14) Crypto yields are sucking in trad-fi
Stablecoins are an important and revealing innovation. With deep liquidity, lightning-fast settlement, and dramatic user growth these crypto USDs pose important questions for regulators and traditional financial markets. TLDR: Stablecoins present both challenges and opportunities to regulators, the financial system, and investors. The unfolding regulation of these instruments provides insights for the clash between centralized … More SM (ed. 13): Stablecoins - bitcoin’s Pandora’s box
The South African government is attempting to apply capital control regulations to the crypto industry. These regulations are an apartheid government relic and are difficult to apply to crypto. Bitcoin’s decentralized, permissionless and censorship resistant technology will find ways to circumvent regressive regulations. If government undertakes the large administrative burden required to execute these policies … More SMM: (ed.12) Illegitimate government policies raise self-custody imperative
Today, bitcoin is idiosyncratic to traditional financial markets. Unlike bonds, equity and property, bitcoin’s returns are uncorrelated with economic growth, inflation, or risk premia. Bitcoin is related to these variables insofar as unsound money makes sound money more attractive, but no observable correlation exists. As a result, it can be tricky to position bitcoin in … More SMM: (ed.9) When bitcoin is fundamental & legacy markets are idiosyncratic
A short personal reflection on leverage. TLDR: I’ve grappled with the hypocrisy of a sound money activist utilising debt and decided to leverage my ideas through bitcoin [6 minute read] I am not a fan of debt. Why? Because unsound money, low interest rates and easy debt have numerous negative consequences on society, including inequality, … More Leveraging Good Ideas
This is a very short note that gets to the essence of the what and why of bitcoin. Bitcoin is an elegant combination of 3 attributes and there are 4 broad groups of people who find it valuable. The 3 key attributes: 1. A digital protocol for exchanging and settling value on the internet Fiat … More What is bitcoin and who needs it?
2020 Sound Money Recap In 2020 we established that “sound money is the challenge and opportunity of our lifetime.” Central banks have pursued aggressively loose monetary policies since the 1970s, trying to solve every problem, social, economic, political or financial, with lower interest rates and debt. They’ve ignored the consequences like deteriorating economic growth, falling … More Sound Money Monthly: (ed. 6) Invest capital into a sound future
Bitcoin’s detractors often refer to it as a speculative asset. This is partially true - an investment in bitcoin involves a speculation on an inherently uncertain future. But the connotation implied by ‘speculation’ is often unhelpful because it associates bitcoin with fly-by-nights who are merely trying to make a quick buck. In this article I … More Embracing Speculation: High-probability potential in a speculative world
TLDR: Central banks positioning themselves as a solution to climate challenges is dangerous. They’ve promoted unsustainable debt fueled consumption for 50 years. Consumption is great but it needs to be based on production otherwise it’s unsustainable and bad for the environment. Micro level policy is futile while unsound money remains. Sound money is the environmentally … More Sound Money Monthly: (ed. 5) Central banking is an environmental disaster
TLDR: The foundations of social trust are being tested. Our unsound monetary system with its negative consequences is a driver of this trust deficit. Communities that adopt sound money assets take a proactive step towards trustworthy relationships and away from the insidious consequences of unsound money. Youtube summary video: Trust – there’s simply not enough … More Sound Money Monthly: (ed.4) Where can we place our trust?
Sound Money 