Preparing for the Currency of Change

With the coming global currency change to cryptocurrency, one might have many reasons to consider preparing for and protecting one’s personal wealth and assets, by setting oneself up for potential gains during the largest transfer of wealth that has been seen for generations.

As cryptocurrencies move and become the future of our global monetary systems, their use cases are evolving the Internet from an Internet of Information to an Internet of Value. They are seen as a means for protecting one’s personal wealth as a hedge against inflation and the current devaluing Fiat currency financial systems; as an investment into a new currency asset class (Digital Asset) that will see exponential growth in their value as the worlds currencies transfer their wealth into these new cryptocurrency asset classes and as their value in use cases grows: as a means of exchange and as a store of value; as financial contractual instruments (Decentralized Finance DeFI); as a means to record ones assets as to their originality, proof, and ownership on the blockchain (Non-Fungible Token NFT).

As part of our human experience, we wish to experience our lives with meaning and purpose. To expand our emotions, knowledge, spiritual awareness; to build things that last; achieve great things and leave the world in a better place for tomorrow. All part of being human and participating in society and for progressing humanity. Along the way we wish to travel to exotic places, experience new and fun adventures, live comfortably in a nice home, eat good foods, and have fulfilling relationships. Unfortunately for many, these hopes, wishes, aspirations and goals are unattainable, due to the lack of means, devaluation of our current Fiat money system (through money printing) and to the current inflationary times we find ourselves in. Can a cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin and Digibyte that are open-source, decentralize, permission-less, with open transparency, have limit/fixed supply, that inflate in value, have immutable transactions, and have open access to everyone in the World, help humanity progress and to improve everyones human experience?

Fiat "Cash" currencies are being devalued around the World due to excessive money printing by Central Banks and Governments. Items appear to be costing more today "Inflation", because the Fiat currencies that are being used as a Medium / Means of Exchange, are being devalued due to the excessive money printing. The Fiat currencies are failing around the World and many are categorizing that "Fiat currencies are a failing economic experiment".

What is confiscation of wealth? Inflation is confiscation of wealth. Leading causes of Inflation are the Fiat currencies from around the world including the US Fiat $ Dollar with built-in / by design devaluating inflation, excessive money printing, and the fiscal and monetary responses and policies from the Central Banks and Governments from around the world.

Where can people turn to for an insurance policy against the devaluation of their purchasing power and against confiscation of their wealth? Into Cryptocurrencies that meet the test of being a "Decentralized Cryptocurrencies". Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), DigiByte (DGB), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), these are Cryptocurrencies that met the definition of being a "Decentralized Cryptocurrencies" as defined and outlined below, see: Cryptocurrency.

What makes Sound Currency / Sound Money?

Bitcoin BTC and other decentralize cryptocurrencies that are similar to Bitcoin (Litecoin LTC, DigiByte DGB, and Bitcoin Cash BCH) are the Sound Currencies / Sound Money that are emerging in todays World and for our future, as they fall into the category and meet the tests of being: decentralized, having a limited / finite supply, are open-source, with open transparency, are permission-less, have immutable transactions, appreciates / inflates in value, serves as a store of value, easily serves as a means of exchange, and are open to everyone in the World to use.

Physical Gold and Silver coins could be considered sound money but only after being freed from the paper markets, it will take sometime to remove the "tarnished" and damage reputation of this asset class, and an adjustment will need to be made to both Gold and Silver true market value price.

An important area that Bitcoin and other Digital Asset cryptocurrencies have over physical Gold and Silver coins is their ease of use as a means of exchange, as its a lot easier to pay for goods and services electronically than having to haul around the physical weight of the Gold and Silver coins. A Digital representation of a Gold and Silver coin, that is held one-to-one under custodial supervision and is publicly audited to created trust, could some day be considered and used.

PSA - Public Service Announcement

Cryptocurrency Definitions

Cryptocurrency = Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), DigiByte (DGB), Bitcoin Cash (BCH). These are the true Cryptocurrencies. These are the Decentralized Cryptocurrencies (DC). They fall into this category and meet the tests of being: decentralized, having a limited/finite supply, are open-source, with open transparency, are permission-less, have immutable transactions, appreciate/inflate in value, serves as a store of value, easily serves and function as a means of exchange, and are open to everyone in the World to use. These Decentralized Cryptocurrencies are mined from solving a mathematical problem known as Proof-of-Work. The Miner who solves the mathematical problem receives a rewarded in the form of a fixed amount of Cryptocurrency also known as a Block Reward. These mined Cryptocurrencies are then sold on exchanges by the miners to recoup their cost of mining. Governance of these blockchain networks is Decentralized and provided by the miners through their collective free will by voting and adopting of changes. Consensus and validation of transactions is also provided at the block cycle time along with charging a block transaction fee.

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), DigiByte (DGB), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) can be subdivided into smaller units. For additional information on Bitcoin subdivisions see: What is a Satoshi (Sat)?, Bitcoin Calculator / Convert USD to Satoshi to BTC and What are the other known subdivision units of a Bitcoin?.

Crypto Asset (CA) are all of the other Cryptocurrency related Altcoins/Tokens, blockchains, products and services (in the “Cryptocurrency Market Space”), that are categorized as not meeting the tests of a being a Decentralized Cryptocurrency. These are all of the other blockchains, their products and service offerings, and other Crypto Altcoin/Token assets built on top of these blockchain networks to include but not limited to: Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Theta Network (Theta), Dash (DASH), Energy Web Token (EWT). Many of these other blockchains use Proof-of-Stake to maintain the security of their blockchain networks. The Crypto Assets (Altcoins/Token) that operate and run on these blockchains are not mined, but instead are typically created all at once, at the time that the blockchain and their related Altcoin/Token assets are created/enable, a significant share are then given to Centralized key-stake holders who invest in the projects and to setup the Proof-of-Stake network, and then some are sold, but not all at once, on exchanges. On a Proof-of-Stake network Cryptocurrencies are not mined, but those who have Staked their Cryptocurrency on the network to provide the consensus and validation of transactions are rewarded/paid a transaction fee in the from a Cryptocurrency Altcoin/Token assets. Governance of these blockchain networks is Centralized and typically provided through voting based on the number of shares (Altcoin/Token assets) held centrally by key-stake holders. Consensus and validation of transactions is also provided at the block cycle time along with charging a block transaction fee.

Crypto Fiat Currency (CFC) also known as Stable Coins, are exchange created coins, pegged to the US Dollar, are centralize, with unlimited supply, these include but not limited to: USD Coin (USDC), Tether (USDT), Binance USD (BUSD), TrueUSD (TUSD), Gemini Dollar (GUSD).

Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) also known as a Digital Dollar (DD), are a form of Crypto Fiat Currency (CFC), and in some cases are referred to / or referenced as Stable Coins. CBDC's are minted by Central Banks and Governments out-of-thin-air (have no value and are not mined like true Cryptocurrencies). CBDC's are designed to replace the current US Fiat $ Dollar and other Fiat currency dollar systems from around the World, with built-in inflation, opaqueness, and controls. Central Banks and Governments control the CBDC's via their opaque and private network (centralized, unauditable, and with mutable / changeable / reversible tranactions) to intentionally and with built-in: devaluation (inflation), usage (what you can spend it on), access to (blacklisted), and with an expiring duration of usability (unsaveable to build/create wealth, and if you don't spend it you will lose it).

What is Fiat Currency?

Fiat currency "Cash" also known as a Promissory Note, is a promise made by Central Banks and Governments who issues the Fiat currency, which they state that the Fiat currency has value, and that it can be used in exchange for goods and services within the country that has issued it. Fiat currency is a Debt that is owed to the holder of the Promissory Note by the Central Banks and Governments who issued it. Central Banks and Governments issue the Fiat currency to maintain control over the money system in their country by controlling the circulation of cash, the supply of cash, who gets the cash, and the cost of cash (interest rate for loans).

What are Stores of Value to Protect Wealth?

Storing one’s wealth in Fiat currency is not a means to preserve or protect wealth because the Fiat currency devalues its purchasing power overtime, "by design", by the Central Banks and Governments that issued the Fiat currency, at a devaluing targeted percentage rate, year-over-year, or through the means of excessive money printing.

Saving Fiat currency "Cash" in a savings account is not a form of investing, instead many would suggest to invest one’s Fiat currency "Cash" into assets that are appreciating in value and let the Fiat currency "Cash" work for you. Having Fiat currency "Cash" on hand for day-to-day expenses, emergencies, and for investing, is a good practices but again many would advise to don’t hold most of your wealth in Fiat currency "Cash". Invest one’s Fiat currency "Cash" into assets that are appreciating in value.

Traditionally storing wealth in Gold or Silver was at one time a means of preserving wealth, but due to the centralized nature of the paper Gold and Silver markets, which sets the spot prices, these markets have re-hypothecated and printed on paper, for more Gold and Silver than the actual Gold or Silver that has been physically mined and that can be stored in hand or in vaults. These paper contracts for Gold and Silver do not have the physical Gold and Silver to back up the paper contracts if all of the paper contracts for Gold and Silver were all "cashed in" on the same day. These paper market activities have "tarnished" the reputation of Gold and Silver, as a store of wealth and they are no longer considered an appreciating in value asset class, some might say that Gold and Silver have been turned into a "Stable Coin" that is pegged to Fiat currency to be used as a temporary store of wealth as a "safe haven", a "flight out of" the currency and stock markets during and for periods of time when there is market turbulence.

Storing wealth in Gold, Silver, or Stable Coins, which are digital representation of a Fiat currency, should really only be considered and used as a temporary "safe haven" and transitory storage means between moving one’s wealth between Fiat currency "Cash" and into investment assets that grow in value like Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Physical Gold and Silver could be considered sound money but only after being freed from the paper markets. Gold and Silver paper markets could continue but only with regulation, with real public and physical auditing that requires a one-to-one onuce of real metal be held in hand under publicly audited custodial supervision for each and every ounce of metal listed on each and every paper contract.

What are the Appreciating Asset to Preserve and Protect Wealth?

The best way to preserve and protect wealth is to convert it into assets that act as both a "stores of value" and are considered an "appreciating asset". Examples of asset that appreciated in value over time would include Bitcoin and other Decentralized Cryptocurrencies (DC) like Litecoin (LTC), DigiByte (DGB), Bitcoin Cash (BCH); and a few select other Crypto Asset projects like Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Theta Network (Theta).

To demonstrate how Bitcoin and other Digital Asset cryptocurrencies are considered an "appreciating asset" class, one simply needs to look at and compare the price for one (1) ounce of Gold to one (1) Bitcoin over the last 10 years; the price of Gold has stayed relatively flat and ranged bound between $1000.00 - $2000.00, where price for one (1) Bitcoin is up over 9,000X (BTC price on 01/01/2012 $5.27, BTC price on 01/01/2022 $47,743.00).

Are Central Bank Digital Currency CBDC a Store of Value, a Means to Protect Wealth, or Sound Money?

CBDC are basically a re-release (re-issuing) of the current failing Fiat system, just spun up as digital dollar. CBDC provide little to no improvement to the current Fiat system. Replacing the current failing Fiat system with CBDC is not a store of value, or a means to protect wealth, or a Sound Money system. CBDC can be tracked by the issuing agency, the Central Banks and Governments. They can track what you do/spend your CBDC on, they can control/limit what you can spend it on, there can put an expiration data on it forcing you to spend the CBDC versus saving it to create wealth, and if you don’t spend it will become worthless. With an expiration date on the CBDC, they can force you to continue to work, all of your life, in order for you to continue to receive the CBDC.

CBDC's are owned and managed by the Central Banks and Governments, they (the Central Bankers) have control of your account, they allow you to use the CBDC with their permission, you don’t own the currency (CBDC), they allow you to use their currency as long as they tolerate you (how you behave, how you use of it, and what you spend it on), and they can turn off your account and your access to use their currency.

The reason why Central Banks and Governments dislike and have friction towards decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, is because Bitcoin is open freely for the World to use.

• Bitcoin is decentralized, has a limited / finite supply, is open-source, with open transparency, is permission-less, has immutable transactions, appreciates / inflates in value, serves as a store of value, easily serves as a means of exchange, and is open to everyone in the World to use.
• CDBD are not open, they are centralized, have no transparency, have unlimited supply and deflate in value (Just like the current failing Fiat system), are controlled with permission and limited access (CBDC are not permission-less), transactions can be reverted back, and the CBDC can have an expiration date on their usage.

One of the reasons why there is a push for regulation on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin by Central Banks and Governments is to create F.E.A.R. (False Evidence Appearing Real) in the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, so the Central Banks and Governments can push their CBDC onto their citizens. If the Central Banks and Governments don’t get their CBDC in place and force its usage onto its citizens, the Central Banks and Governments would and will loose control over you.

Before cryptocurrencies move into mainstream adoption and are seen and accepted worldwide, launching the global transfer of wealth, one might want to prepare. Here are a few ideas and tips one might want to consider in preparing for this global change:

• Learn more about cryptocurrencies, see Getting Started in Crypto, Crypto Tips, Crypto Links, and there are many other additional articles, resources, and instructional videos that can be found online.
• Understand the differences between the different cryptocurrencies, which ones are decentralized and have a set limited / finite number of them that will ever be created (all part of the mining process). These are the ones that will hold value do to their limited supply and will be the true currencies, means of exchange, and serve as a store of value, look into Bitcoin BTC, Litecoin LTC, DigiByte DGB, Ethereum ETH, Dash DASH, and Bitcoin Cash BCH. Be cautious of centralized cryptocurrencies that allow for an indefinite supply of them to be created, overtime this can lead to their devaluation in value.
• Create an account on one or more crypto exchanges where you can purchase a variety of cryptocurrencies from: Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken, or through a Bitcoin ATM: Coinme, Coinstar, DigitalMint, LibertyX, National Bitcoin.
• On your desktop and mobile devices consider installing crypto wallet applications like Exodus or Jaxx, purchase a small amount of crypto and transfer them to your wallet, and then practice sending and receiving small amounts of crypto between your devices. While you are practicing, observe your transactions online using the Transaction ID, found within you crypto wallet application, or view your wallet online using a block explorer like BlockCypher - for Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dash, BlockChain Explorer - Ethereum, DigiExplorer - for DigiByte, and Block Explorer - Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
• Practice safe crypto, protect your private keys and mnemonic seed phrase / recovery words from all forms of lost, back them up and store them safely in more than one location. See Crypto Tips - Practice Safe Crypto for additional recommendations.
• Learn about cold storage for your cryptocurrencies, look into hardware and paper wallets and decide how you plan to store your wealth; additional new crypto storage devices and custodial services will be coming to market. See Getting Started in Crypto - Crypto Wallets.
• Once one feels confident, (this is not investment advice) consider purchasing some cryptocurrencies now in preparation and as a hedge, as there is great potential and opportunity here; a little preparation now could change ones future.

The currency of change will impact all of us, our families, friends, and people we interact with on a daily bases.
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