There has recently been real hype regarding cryptos on social media and the financial press.

The crypto world can be roughly divided into three areas:

1. Currencies that are intended or are being developed as means of payment
2. Network solutions for crypto transfer or as an interface to the classic currency world
3. Meme coins (gamer coins with no practical use)

The fact is that any decentralized money such as crypto, goods or precious metals attacks the foundations of the classic banking model of creating, distributing and lending money as a medium of exchange. It also takes away some of the power from governments that can and is exercised through traditional payment transactions. The increasing move away from the US dollar as a trading currency by many countries is causing problems for the USA. A good part of American prosperity has to do with the US dollar as a world trade and reserve currency. The fact that this currency is also used politically to sanction and even expropriate politically undesirable users is like letting a wolf into a flock of sheep and locking a dog and a shepherd in a cage.

A global movement away from the US$ and its bonds (loans to the USA) has been started, which is manifesting itself and seems irreversible. Even partners in the Western Hemisphere are quietly divesting from US$ bonds and diversifying, especially into gold!

China, once the largest US creditor, gratefully ceded this role to Japan, and since then the Japanese yen has been falling at a breathtaking rate, massively threatening its own economy and the prosperity of the population.

With its exponential debt policy, devastating interest rate increases and the resulting banking problems in its own country, the USA has created such monstrous bubbles that the banking crisis of 2008 could seem like a gentle breeze.

Whether Russia, China, India or Saudi Arabia - to name just the big ones - exchange goods for national currencies or gold. Major players are bringing their gold reserves home from US warehouses; they simply lack confidence in the US's ability and willingness to deliver. There is even the question of whether the USA actually still physically stores the foreign property or whether it first has to buy the gold on the market before it can be delivered. Which of course could boost the price of gold. The USA recently did not provide any information about its own gold reserves. Is the emperor standing there without clothes? What is certain is that the funding heavyweights China and Russia have turned from exporters to importers. Since both nations are not known for being erratic but rather for taking long-term calculations, the question arises as to what the plan is behind it. A gold-backed national or trading currency, as the BRICS+ states openly declare? If raw material giants like Russia and China, or the economic power of China, gradually decouple their exports from the dollar and trade against a backed currency, the world's financial monopoly would shift. Nothing less than that is in the room.

What I have highlighted here is just the big picture. No other important facts are mentioned here.

And this is where what is hyped by many as the salvation of humanity comes into play. Cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, are currently trading at over $70K against the US$.

Here are the most important arguments for Bitcoin (BTC) in cryptospace:

1. There are only 21 million BTC to be created, of which over 19 million have already seen the light of day. The increasing interest is met with a strictly limited offer.
2. There is no central administrator in the form of a power or central bank, each owner of BTC is his own bank.
3. Transactions can be carried out anonymously between owners at lightning speed and securely.
4. The BTC is digital gold with the difference that, unlike gold, there is no unlimited new mining.

And here are the most important arguments in cryptospace against gold:

1. Gold is very inflationary because thousands of tons are mined every year and there would be practically no upper limit as a benchmark.
2. Gold has no practical use, is difficult to transfer, dangerous to store and can be expropriated and banned by government decree.
3. Mining gold on other planets will create a gold glut and dramatically reduce its value.
4. At any time, a huge comet with a high gold content could fall on Earth and lead to an oversupply.

Now money, or whatever a means of payment is called, is primarily tied to a single basic value of the user - TRUST!

If the user withdraws their trust from the money, it melts like ice in the sun. The trust of the largest currencies, the USD and the Euro, is being massively undermined by their “guardians” through the extensive printing of unbacked money. Economic, political or geopolitical problems are not even remotely solved, but are literally thrown at with fresh money. Drastic price increases, for example for energy, raw materials and food, are the natural consequence. The stock markets are turning freely in the face of artificially excessive liquidity; a few large tech stocks dominate the indices on Wall Street. Capital is marching sharply away from volatile government bonds and into real assets. And the saving star in the darkening financial sky should be BTC.

What is BTC anyway?

Bitcoin is a digital currency that features a decentralized, virtual ledger (a so-called “Blockchain”) is used to record transactions that take place on its network. Anyone can send, receive and hold Bitcoin as the network does not require permission from governments or banks to function. Users only need a wallet, a so-called digital “wallet,” to store and send cryptocurrencies, and not a bank account.

Can this work and replace our money?

Our money can probably replace it if everyone plays along. Until then, BTC will only benefit me if I can monetize it. Money is a recognized, partly physical medium of exchange. I can exchange goods/services for money and money for goods/services worldwide.

The masters of money, i.e. banks and governments, would have to recognize BTC as a parallel or replacement currency, worldwide! How likely this is can be answered by the interested reader from the following questions:

1. Do states voluntarily give up control of their centralized, universal medium of exchange?
2. Do states give up controlling capital flows between states, banks, businesses and consumers?
3. Do states give up the possibility of “creating money” to finance their budgets or pay off debts?
4. Do states give up their fiscal policy power to enforce their own interests?

There are certainly other questions, but without a clear YES to questions 1-4, a decentralized world currency that cannot be expanded at will will be possible.

It was already clear by the global financial crisis of 2008 that our monetary system had reached its limits and was in need of restructuring. Now, 16 years later, the FIAT monetary system still exists. National debt has multiplied, as has that of consumers. A wave of inflation has hit consumers. It's still there, even if it's no longer talked about and glossed over. In order to drown out the crunching and crashing, the music was played louder on the TITANIC. The casino runs 24/7.

The approval of exchange-traded ETFs denominated in BTC gives the appearance of the implementation of BTC into the financial system. This is a huge step towards popularizing this digital currency.

I'll explain why this could be a Trojan horse of gigantic proportions in the next post.

For everyone who prefers physical precious metals to digital or paper currencies, all common bars and coins are available for investment in our online shop and in the counter shop in Berlin and Vienna.

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