BITCOIN IS THE STANDARD . . .
According to F. A. Hayek
In my last major article I emphasized that to the outside world Bitcoin maximalists are lumped together with scam artists, fraudsters, liars, hypocrites and deceivers parading under the banner of bitcoin.
For this reason it is important to distinguish bitcoin from crypto. Bitcoin alone is blockchain. Bitcoin stands alone, all other wannabees are crypto. Those promoting crypto are not friends of bitcoin if they ride on bitcoin coat tails and it is time for bitcoin maximalists to stop pretending otherwise. . .
Bitcoin Maxmilism is really a non-sequitur and implies there are viable alternatives to Bitcoin. It is not a label developed within the Bitcoin community, but a label penned by Vitalik Buterin to vilify those who support bitcoin alone and warn against the dangerous monetary policies introduced with Ethereum.
The label was eventually embraced as a badge of honor, integrity, and distinction from the plethora of alt coin and ICO scams largely enabled by Buterin.
As Knut Svanholm points out, “Most people in crypto get the idea of peer-to-peer money but not the idea of sound money that truly makes it unique. Bitcoin was invented not only with a double spend prevention mechanism onboard, but as an antidote to double spending on the whole. Double spending which includes counterfeiting and therefore inflation . . .” (emphasis in the original).
“What Bitcoin has done by not giving in to the pressure or caring at all about the squabbles of mere humans is unprecedented. No technology has ever done this before.”
It is this imputed quality that gives its advocates a sense of humor, and the ability to turn intended insults into flattery. It is this imputed quality that causes its advocates to dismiss all comers. And this same imputed quality drives Bitcoin Pharisees bananas because with few exceptions we dismiss crypto as world of flim flam, frauds, and scams. . . and they simply cannot handle truth about their pet projects, whatever they be.
This is why Giacomo Zucco’s hilarious talk dissecting Bitcoin Maximalism with his Four Universal Truths of Bitcoin created such a shit storm. . . .
It is time for Bitcoin advocates to define and own its own terms, without compromise, and without patronizing the enemies of sound money. This was helped tremendously by Saifiden Ammous publication of The Bitcoin Standard.
Saifiden made the distinction of Bitcoin and the Bitcoin Standard, in much the same way as The Gold Standard is distinct from gold.
Then I remembered an obscure article written many years ago and it took me a while to find it. It is copyrighted and costs $6 to look at it and $38 to download, but it is a gem.
In an April 1986 article entitled Market Standards for Money F.A. Hayek refined his thinking of his notable work The Denationalisation Of Money and suggested that a private ‘store of value’ — the standard — would be more likely to overcome the political obstruction to the wholesale denationalisation of currencies, but would be immune from use as a political tool.
It is almost as though Hayek anticipated the current situation, and wanted to make clear that free market money (like The Gold Standard) will succeed from competition on one accepted standard, and not competition on what that standard might be. . . Hayek envisioned an index of a basket of commodities as the emerging standard because it would have implicit stability as a store of value from the get go. He even named it!
“The ideal name for the new unit of account, clearly making its function universally intelligible, would be the proverbial term Standard, a rather obvious name which, however, has so far never been used as the designation of a particular monetary unit.” (emphasis in original)
But even with such implicit stability Hayek did not anticipate its usage in retail trade.
“ . . . It seems probable that for a long time the use of such a common international unit of exchange, at least, be used chiefly in wholesale or other large-scale transactions (although including also much expenditure on travel). I do not contemplate that the Standard will be used as pricing in retail trade. For local business coins and notes, and even some cheques or credit cards, a local currency may well remain indefinitely preferred. But I would anticipate that once such a unit exists it will become increasingly the unit of long term business contracts. Contracts will begin to be made in Standards, the future value of which I suggested in Denationalisation of Money that gradually the courts would come to interpret all contracts as intended to be expressed in a stable monetary unit, so that the difficulty of uncertain value of contracts disappears.” (emphasis in original)
Jimmy Song makes clear the obvious. . . so obvious he simply outlines what I, and other prudent men, have been doing for years! It is just plain stupid to use Bitcoin in retail trade!
Frankly, I was flabbergasted that such an article needs to be written! It is a reflection of the sad state within the crypto space and the fact that Jimmy Song has been castigated for it by the Bitcoin Pharisees for exposing them for the frauds they are.
The latest tactic is not to attack bitcoin directly but rather attack the people supporting bitcoin alone, especially those who vocally warn of the dangers of alt coins and ICO’s and distance themselves from them. The latest attack from the Bitcoin Pharisee propaganda machine is the false notion that those who support bitcoin alone are opposed to competition.
Nothing could be further from the truth
The difference is we recognize Bitcoin as Hayek’s STANDARD. We recognize THE BITCOIN STANDARD. They do not.
These Bitcoin Pharisees do not want to compete on THE STANDARD, they either want to be THE STANDARD or sell their shitty private fiat money for what they know is sound money, this is why they are opposed to the evolving competition on THE BITCOIN STANDARD and/or opposed to those who dismiss their efforts as being misplaced at best, total frauds at worst and regardless a complete waste of time, money and effort.
This is not to say a replacement may not come along. . . . it may . . . but there is no need to promote it or advertise it. . . just show us! It’s that simple.
UOG
PS: Nothing has changed in Bitcoin. Volatility is low. This is a great time to dollar cost average and work on other things. I am. The way I measure trends I remain long. . . in a very small way. The driving force remains THE EXTHIT (pronounced with a lisp and weak wrist.) Just how it plays out remains the mystery.The exchange risk remains great. Trade accordingly.
Hope this helps.
