Louis Pearl: Bitcoin will stand test of time

Bitcoin is the great gift from the universe to save the poor and middle class from poverty. Bitcoin is not an actual coin. It is software created 13 years ago. Many say it was immaculately conceived by the unknown Satoshi Nakamura. No one knows who Satoshi is. Satoshi created a protocol whereby as the adoption of Bitcoin increases, its limited supply increases in value. After creating Bitcoin, and mining a couple million Bitcoins, Satoshi disappeared. His Bitcoin has never moved, and none of it has ever been monetized or spent. Only 21 million Bitcoins can ever be mined and no more can ever be created. At this time, 19 million Bitcoins have been mined. It will take until 2140 to mine the remaining Bitcoin. When you subtract Satoshi’s Bitcoin, only 17 million Bitcoin remain for the nearly 8 billion people in the world. This makes Bitcoin a very rare and limited asset and is the hardest money ever created. Bitcoin is both a store of value and a digital currency. Bitcoin is permissionless, and anyone anywhere can buy it. It cannot be inflated, confiscated, frozen or controlled by any government, company or individuals. It can be moved anywhere in any amount in seconds with extremely low costs. You can self-custody it and no one can ever take it from you. It is perfect money. Bitcoin is not a corporation. There is no CEO, no accountants, no lawyers. It has no corporate offices, and the government has designated it as property, not a security. It is the most secure asset ever created. Even a quantum computer cannot hack it, as the cost of the electricity needed to mine the Bitcoin block system is astronomical. It is true that Bitcoin is volatile. It can swing massively in price. However, no one who has owned Bitcoin for four years or longer has lost one cent. The fact is Bitcoin has increased in value on average 135% per year since 2009. BY FAR Bitcoin is the best performing investment in the past decade, bar none. Not equities, not real estate, not precious metals, diamonds, art. There is no investment that even comes close. Up until March 2020, no publicly held corporation owned any Bitcoin. Bitcoin was completely in the hands of the retail customer. Now very large public companies are buying Bitcoin, and mass adoption is imminent. Recently, Fidelity Investments announced they will allow their clients to allocate as much as 20% of their 401k into Bitcoin. They control trillions in 401k assets. There is no doubt the other large investment firms and banks will follow their lead. According to Fidelity, Bitcoin will be worth $7 million to $10 million per coin by 2030. You may think that because Bitcoin is trading around $29,000 at the time of this writing that you have missed out because you did not buy when Bitcoin was much cheaper. This is not true. You are still really, really early. Only about 190 million people in the world own any Bitcoin. The top 1 percent of the people only own 3.4 Bitcoins, with the vast majority having less than one Bitcoin. MOUNTING TIDE Two countries have made Bitcoin legal tender: El Salvador and Central African Republic. In the next year, more countries are expected to introduce Bitcoin as legal tender. Like the internet, adoption will happen slowly, then all at once. There is a giant wall of money, a virtual tsunami, coming to Bitcoin. Those who buy now will reap unbelievable returns in the next 10 years. Those who don’t will kick themselves for losing out on the biggest opportunity to become wealthy that the world has ever seen. Bitcoin adoption is at the same level the internet was at in terms of adoption in 1997. Back then, few saw the true potential of the internet. Bitcoin adoption is now starting to be adopted by Wall Street and large investment funds around the world. As they come into the asset with their trillions of investable capital, Bitcoin will skyrocket in price. All innovation has its critics. In the early 1900s, how many said electricity was too dangerous to put in your house?  That the car will never replace the horse? The internet is just a fad? The critics and naysayers always tell you why it cannot be done, or cannot succeed. BIT AT A TIME You can buy Bitcoin with every paycheck and dollar cost average. Take a percentage of the money you are spending on your desires and instead buy a little bit of Bitcoin. You can buy as little as $5 at a time. Starbucks or Bitcoin? Beer or Bitcoin?  Stuff you don’t need or Bitcoin? Restaurant or Bitcoin? It is true that some trade Bitcoin. However, it has been shown that those who hold onto Bitcoin benefit the most over time. I have spent more than 500 hours studying Bitcoin. Through that study, I have been introduced to the world of finance and government fiscal policy. Bitcoin changes you. Your world will open up and your understanding of our world will be drastically altered. You will feel empowered and your self-respect will blossom as you come to take charge of your finances and your life. Here are some educational sources that I have found to be indispensable. First, a nonpolitical, one-hour interview on YouTube between Tucker Carlson and Michael Saylor of Microstrategy Inc. is an excellent introduction. Next see Trader University on YouTube. There are hundreds of Bitcoin videos for free. He also has some that cost a small amount, but the free videos will make you an expert. The Coin Bureau on Youtube is also a great resource. Not only for Bitcoin but for all things in the Crypto world. Once you go down this rabbit hole you will enter a world where you will rejoice with your good fortune. Louis Pearl is a Grass Valley resident.