BetterWithBitcoin Friday, January 31, 2025 Issue #1 1 News Headlines 14 States Introduce Bitcoin Strategic Reserve legislation Trump Frees Silk Road Creator Ross Ulbricht After 11 Years in Prison Donald Trump pardoned the creator of the world’s fi rst dark - web drug market, who is now a libertarian cause célèbre in some parts of the crypto community. Banks Can Report Bitcoin As Assets Banks can now custody bitcoin, Federal reserve can serve banks servicing the Bitcoin companies. Worldwide governments are becoming supportive of bitcoin. FUD FIGHTERS Welcome | In fl ation Target | Education Welcome Readers A friend recently told me that they can’t support bitcoin while enjoying a co ff ee together. I completely understand being skeptical and cautious - I was too at fi rst but by the end of our chat I felt de fl ated. I really want to help my friend, their business and truly make the world a better place. The slow drip might method might be what will eventually will change the negative preconceptions formed about bitcoin. They asked me to keep them informed on speci fi c topics as news develops... And so here we are. I found myself down the rabbit hole more than 5 years ago. I began presenting about bitcoin at a local meetups, and to whoever will listen to my rants - I feel like a newsletter might be the next step to help myself and my friends to understand this complicated topic. “ We do not write in order to be understood; we write in order to understand. ” - C.S. Lewis BetterWithBitcoin Friday, January 31, 2025 Issue #1 2 Education Check the below links for the latest Bitcoin Educational material • Natalie Brunel and Jeff Booth explore in fl ation, de fl ation, and the problem Bitcoin solves in this Masterclass. • Learn how to audit the supply of bitcoin for yourself with BTC Sessions: Use Bitcoin Core, Sync a full node: • Is in fl ation really just about rising prices, or is it a deeper issue rooted in the manipulation of money supply? This article by the Mises Institute challenges the common understanding of in fl ation, revealing how its true cause distorts economies and bene fi ts the few. In fl ation Target Speaking of feeling de fl ated, one of the fi rst criticisms brought up was that we need in fl ation to support a growing economy; a hard money, one that can’t be created easily, would be bad for the economy because it would decrease spending in the economy. I have never heard someone actually bring this up before! Immediately I heard Je ff Booth, Canadian entrepreneur and author of the “Price of Tomorrow” in my head. In his book he explains that because of advancement in technology prices should always be coming down. Additionally when the supply of money increases, while the supply of goods remains the same, prices to increase ( in fl ation ) . This is the de fi nition of in fl ation in Austrian economics - an increase in money supply. In Keynesian economics the growth of the economy is measured by the total spending happening. Therefore when dollars are added the interpretation is that the economy has grown, which is why they target 2 % in fl ation every year. it’s a number that’s small enough that it the BetterWithBitcoin January 29, 2025 Issue #1 3 What’s the Problem is a great introduction to bitcoin. I think in all the presentations I’ve given this is the one I wish I came up with. It was the start of my chat with my friend who didn’t agree with the conclusions. What do you think? devaluation of your dollar goes mostly un - noticed, while allowing value extracted from debasement to bene fi t those closest to the new money created due to the Cantillon E ff ect. The counter argument was that dollars are not just added - it’s balanced by Debt Monetization, Quantitive Easing and Interest Rates which I argued are just di ff erent ways of printing money, in fl ating the money supply. No work has been done to issue that new supply - it’s borrowed from your future, with no expectation to be paid back. There’s even a ‘green’ argument here - we can’t keep borrowing from the future. It’s essentially bringing forward resources that haven’t been produced to be used now. The amount of debt issued in the world is far greater than the assets, this is an imbalance that will end in hyperin fl ation and bankruptcy of national reserves. Using hard money, people are incentivized to save, which is a good thing for the economy, it allows one to accumulate capital which can be used to grow the economy. Knowing that if you save a dollar you can buy a better thing in the future with it rather than having to spend it quickly because that thing will be more expensive in the future. Soft money causes industry to constantly produce inferior, cheaper products, which spurs more consumerism. People are left feeling hopelessly behind even though they are working harder. Hard money allows people to save energy for future use and gives assurance that the energy and work put in to earn that money will be worth it in the future.