Money Canons - Regularly Updated
Four Horsemen - The Documentary
The Four Horsemen is our independent feature documentary which lifts the lid on how the world really works. It is a film that questions the systems we’ve created – and suggests ways to reform them.
This is before bitcoin became a thing, and after watching it, you'll understand why bitcoin matters and why it is critical to have a decentralized, neutral, permissionless monetary system.
This movie is a reflection on us, on our societies, on our mindset, and how for centuries, we have been repeating the same pyramidal systems that lead to the same apocalyptic end.
It is divided into five sections: Empires, Banking, Terrorism, Resources, and Progress. It describes the four horsemen as: "a rapacious financial system, escalating organised violence, abject poverty for billions and the exhaustion of Earth's resources."
Enjoy.
WTFhappenedin1971.com
A treasure of information that helps us understand the impact of the extraordinary meeting on August 15th, 1971, in Bretton Woods. In fact, the mighty leaders of that time witnessed Richard Nixon terminate the convertibility of the USD to gold (aka Gold Standard), which effectively brought the Bretton Woods system, established 27 years earlier, to an end. Basically, the whole world that entrusted their Gold to the US in time of war was informed that it could not redeem it anymore with the USD they were ironically receiving as a receipt of their gold deposit.
This decision gave extensive power to central banks and commercial banks that catapulted the world into a new modern monetary system based on FIAT currency; irrational money printing (Quantitative Easing), leading to: hyperfinancialization (debt through the roof, ), hard assets hyperinflated, wages flattening offset by credit, aggravating wealth disparity and social division, etc.
WTFhappenedin1971.com points out all the dramatic consequences that came with the end of the Gold Standard so you can understand why Bitcoin matters and what it is trying to solve.
“I don’t believe we shall ever have a good money again before we take the thing out of the hands of government, that is, we can’t take it violently out of the hands of government, all we can do is by some sly roundabout way introduce something that they can’t stop.” – F.A. Hayek 1984
Follow this link to see more content from WTFhappenedin1971.com, including the founder’s interview
140 Years Of Monetary History In 10 Minutes — Mike Maloney
Mike Maloney has created an amazing series to explain the history of money (link below). He also created this short video that echoes with WTFhappenedin1971.com narrative.
So for those of you who haven't seen it -- strap yourselves in for 140 years of Monetary History In Ten Minutes. By the end of this clip you'll be able to answer for yourselves: - Are we overdue for a new monetary system? - Is war good for an economy? - Why did Nixon sever the link between all currencies and gold? Please share this clip with those who you think could benefit from this great presentation, I'll be back with you next week with a preview of Episode 3. Dan (Director - Mike Maloney's Hidden Secrets Of Money)
Money vs Currency — Hidden Secrets Of Money Episode 1 - Mike Maloney
Why Bitcoin Matters — New York Times by Marc Andreessen
This is one of the best explanations of Bitcoin, its history, its purpose, why it’s a breakthrough, and the rationale behind it minus the technological complexity (although some techy concept to explain blockchains).
Andreessen offers a great post as he uses analogies with previous technological upheavals that allowed civilizations to thrive and progress. His approach helps set the context and understand the wingspan of this breakthrough and how it can impact the way we could potentially rebuild our economies and societies models.
Everything is not green and perfect with Bitcoin, however, it is a proposition that could challenge the status quo and offer an alternative system to a model that has reached its limit and derives towards a chaotic outcome.
Why Decentralization Matters — Chris Dixon
Chris Dixon is an exceptional founder, orator, and investor in the tech space. As an early Internet builder, he knows everything about its stages, which legitimizes his acquaintance with Web3. Chris is particularly talented at clarifying complex computer science concepts to anyone like they are 5. He translates his ability into distinguished content, and this post is a compelling example.
“Why decentralization matters” emphasizes the evolution of the Internet and how it went from a community-driven open-source protocol to a centralized network under the control of the mighty tech corporations. Although the Internet offered tremendous innovation and growth, it also unfairly confiscated an enormous value generated from user-data monetization in exchange for convenient and extremely cunning applications delivering “user-friendly” experiences. The result is a monopolistic and untrusted Internet serving and benefiting investors rather than its users.
In “Why decentralization matters” Chris questions the way capitalism should apply when users are the product. Software has indeed devoured the world. However, its bulimia derives into a dystopian model where overconsumption drives an unsustainable demeanor and corporations endeavor to provide the best software to milk users instead of expanding the market size. With regulators’ help, users get educated about the system however, this does not help them to get a piece of the pie and earn a slice — thank you for informing us that there are cookies everywhere, but how can we profit from it too? Could we monetize my attention? Can we sell you our data directly? Can we benefit differently than by just consuming your product? Is there a place for us in the value chain, or are we cows just allowed to get milked? Thanks to crypto, now we can.
In his post, Chris not only unfolds how Bitcoin is bringing back decentralization to the broken Internet but also how, by providing the tools to govern, protect, incentivize and reward transparently; Bitcoin and the Blockchain are bringing to our radar a revolutionizing model that is more inclusive and fair while distributing the power and eliminating trust issues.
Read here “Why Decentralization Matters” .
What Is Web3?
Your guide to (what could be) the future of the internet by Thomas Stackpole
Web3 is being touted as the future of the internet. The vision for this new, blockchain-based web includes cryptocurrencies, NFTs, DAOs, decentralized finance, and more. It offers a read/write/own version of the web, in which users have a financial stake in and more control over the web communities they belong to. Web3 promises to transform the online experience as dramatically as PCs and smartphones did. It is not, however, without risk. Some companies have entered the space only to face a backlash over the environmental impact and financial speculation (and potential for fraud) that comes with Web3 projects. And while blockchain is offered as a solution to privacy, centralization, and financial exclusion concerns, it has created new versions of many of these problems. Companies need to consider both the risks and the benefits before diving in.
Do you remember the first time you heard about Bitcoin? Maybe it was a faint buzz about a new technology that would change everything. Perhaps you felt a tingle of FOMO as the folks who got in early suddenly amassed a small fortune — even if it wasn’t clear what the “money” could legitimately be spent on (really expensive pizza?). Maybe you just wondered whether your company should be working on a crypto strategy in case it did take off in your industry, even if you didn’t really care one way about it or the other.
Read the original article here.
Relevance Of On-chain Asset Tokenization in ‘Crypto Winter’ - by BCG x ADDX
More than 50% of the wealthy’s money is in illiquid assets, and tokenization could address this problem. This BCG report is an excellent study on the relevance and efficacity of tokenization. Bringing assets on-chain could resolve the $16 trillion problem of illiquidity issues, accessibility, price discovery, traceability, fractionalization, and other benefits.
A large chunk of the world’s wealth today is locked in illiquid assets. In a survey conducted in the U.S. in 1997, 56%+ of assets held by taxpayers with a net-worth of between $600,000 and $1 million were illiquid11. All else being equal, illiquid assets typically trade at a discount vs. liquid assets, and are characterized by a high stock-to-flow ratio, lower trading volumes and imperfect price discovery vs liquid assets. For example, illiquid physical art assets12 have a stock-to-flow ratio of 28.3 as opposed to 1.11 for liquid Real Estate Investment Trusts13 (REITs)14. Primary examples of illiquid assets include real estate (incl. home equity), natural resources, land, commodities, public infrastructure like mines/ports, fine art, computing infrastructure, private equity etc. On top of that, there are multiple other asset classes that are only accessible to limited wealthy investors/institutions due to constraints on ticket size, e.g., pre-IPO stocks, hedge funds, infrastructure projects, commodities and alternate investment instruments, private credit. The total size of illiquid asset tokenization globally would be $16 trillion by 2030 (Exhibit 5).
Educational Resources
B.E.N — Blockchain Education Network
Over 3.5 billion adults lack an understanding of basic financial concepts, followed by over 1.7 billion adults worldwide who don't have access to a bank account. We have built a community learning model that educates and creates financial independence.
a16z — Crypto Startup School
This is more for entrepreneurs and builders. Use the hours of free videos and the reading materials to navigate the idea maze and start building crypto projects.
Bitcoin: The Future of Money? | Bitcoiner Book Club | The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
This episode was recorded on May 13th 2021 In today’s episode, Dr. Jordan Peterson sits down with four vocal members of the #Bitcoin community for an introduction to the world of #cryptocurrencies. Together, they cover a variety of topics ranging from the intricacies of Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies and #blockchain security, to philosophical opinions on the utility of money, ideal economics, and mapping value.
More content to come. Subscribe to stay in the loop
!