Crypto: The Original Vision of Satoshi Nakamoto Plays Out
Today, we bring you a special series from our guest author, Brian June.
Brian is an author, adventurer, and serial entrepreneur. For more than 40 years, he’s been a student of humanity, markets, and empires. He’s a principal of two crypto OTC trading firms (iBuyTezos and The Coin Trading Company) and loves to explore life and the planet with his wife, Val.
Crypto: The Original Vision of Satoshi Nakamoto Plays Out
On October 31, 2008, when the person or persons known as Satoshi Nakamoto published the now infamous Bitcoin whitepaper, his vision was to disrupt and circumvent the banking system and to provide alternative payment methods for billions of people who were (and still are) unbanked.
Ten years on, crypto has largely been used as a speculative investment with various factions skirmishing for their own share of the spoils. The original vision has been largely forgotten and remains unfulfilled. Still one of the major use cases of crypto remains as a fast, inexpensive, and largely unregulated method to transfer funds person-to-person and company-to-company.
The ability to transact peer-to-peer could become vital to your wealth and health. While in the U.S. and Canada, most don’t reflect on this importance, let’s have a look at real world examples happening today where wealth and health would barely exist if it weren’t for cryptocurrency.
Case in point: Venezuela. Most of you are probably aware of the total collapse of the Venezuelan economy. But do you know that a growing segment of the population is surviving by using crypto? And no, we’re not talking about the “Petro.”
A little background. Venezuela is oil rich, with an estimated 77-billion-barrel reserve. Yet its entire economy has virtually disintegrated. This was brought about by several factors including the nationalization of the entire economy including oil, agriculture, banking, power generation, telecommunications, steel, concrete, and construction companies. This nationalization seemed like an economic miracle at its inception in 2007. Citizens received “free” healthcare and gasoline. They also received major subsidies for food and housing. The miracle appeared to work. Until it didn’t.
In 2013, the government changed hands, and in 2014, worldwide oil prices sold off steeply. These events plunged Venezuela into a deep recession as there was no longer enough oil revenue to pay the bills. The reaction of the government was to print money. Lots of it. Inflation from the period of 2014 to 2018 ran as high as one million percent!
Like the Weimar Republic in the early 1900s, piles of Venezuelan cash bought basically nothing. Prices for everyday necessities skyrocketed, most notably food. The government had accumulated so much debt that it could not pay its debt service. Panic ensued. Then slowly, a new payment method began to take hold…
Everyday people, citizens, began to take charge of their own lives. They had no choice. One such notable person is Ohanian Alcala. She leads an organization called Dash Venezuela. Dash is a widely-known privacy cryptocurrency used worldwide. All you need to use it is a cell phone and a crypto wallet.
Under her leadership, Dash Venezuela set about the mission of educating the nation on how to use crypto, in this case Dash, person-to-person. A website was developed to act as a marketplace where both businesses and individuals could offer to buy and sell their products and services. Townhall type meetings were organized. At first in Caracas, then in other major cities. Everyday non-technical people were taught, hands-on, how to use crypto with their cell phones as Dash Venezuela implemented a massive countrywide adaptation program. The program is working.
What can you buy? Plane tickets, taxi services, appliances, medical service of all types, including exams. Hotels and hundreds of restaurants accept crypto. Other goods and services include legal service and real estate services. Perhaps you’d like to buy a motorcycle or motor scooter? No worries. You can. You can even buy clothing and auto repair via the nationwide Dash Venezuela system.
Today in Venezuela, thousands are using the new system. Hundreds of merchants have signed up. In fact, there are more businesses using crypto today in Venezuela than there are in the U.S. or Canada.
The takeaway here is that people can positively impact the financial and humanitarian catastrophe happening across a wide spectrum of countries. A quiet social revolution brought about by cryptocurrencies and the blockchain is lessening the effect of hyperinflation and ensuing poverty. Using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Dash, and others, the individual has the power over their money, not the government or the banks.
Preparation is a must. This could happen in the U.S. or Canada, or the West in general. Even financial gurus such as Porter Stansberry and Doug Casey acknowledge that such a scenario is possible.
This may seem a story of gloom and doom. It’s not. And if you think I’m being dramatic – again, I’m not. Here’s what Janet Yellen, former Fed chair said as published in the well-respected MarketWatch on January 10, 2019:
“…When the Fed is the culprit, it is generally because the central bank is forced to tighten policy to curtail inflation and ends up overplaying its hand.”
Ultimately, this is a story of hope and preparedness. A story of what an individual can do if they are forced. Or if they decide to exercise more control over their lives and finances absent coercive force. It’s a story of what you can do.
The power of being an Escape Artist is to take action before it is necessary. To put into place a comprehensive Plan B. Educate yourself. When would be a great time to take action?
Satoshi’s original vision is one of the very best use cases of crypto. It is playing out now. In Venezuela, in many other countries across the globe, and perhaps in your life if you act.
For more information please go HERE
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