Although this quote comes from George Orwell’s book 1984, it would be unsurprising if it was said today by a government spokesperson, prominent celebrity, or corporate executive.

In 2022, the world seems upside down. This week, for example, the White House attempted to redefine what constitutes a recession to avoid backlash for the economic downturn.

Additional examples of rhetorical deception abound. Still, there is hope. While our leaders tell us, “Inflation is Prosperity. Recession is growth. Shortage is Abundance,” many see through the distortion. Purchasing power is falling, growth is slowing, and shortages are increasing.

So, if our leaders bend the truth about our financial wellbeing for short-term political gains, why should we trust them with our money?

We shouldn’t.

Fortunately, there is a way out. Bitcoin sanitizes the government’s ability to mess with our money, replacing perversion with truth. Individuals can conduct their finances absent political manipulation.

If you want to step outside Orwell’s 1984 world, bitcoin allows you to reclaim reality.

News

🙃 Bad news is good news?

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates 0.75%. Stocks rallied after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested the economy is becoming weaker. The market reaction signals that investors expect a wary Fed to respond to a deteriorating economy by printing more money.

⚔️ China, Russia announce new reserve currency

China, Russia, Brazil, India, and South Africa (BRICS) are working on a joint payment system to challenge U.S. dollar dominance. Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia are said to be considering joining the group.

👶 It's only a recession if we say so

The commonly accepted definition of "recession" is a decline in GDP in two successive quarters. Facing a fall in GDP in Q1 and, as is now likely, Q2, the White House is attempting to redefine recession. Look up the term "gaslighting" before they change that too.

🌧️ Coinbase faces SEC probe

Last month, SEC Chair Gary Gensler said bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that is a commodity. This month, the SEC is investigating Coinbase to determine whether it is selling unregistered securities. Company shares dropped 21% in response to the news.

BITCOIN ADOPTION CONTINUES

Bitcoin miner Core Scientific locks in $100MM in equity financing. It has raised $100m in capital from investment firm B. Riley Principal Capital.

Chipotle is running a "buy the dip" promotion giving away over $200,000 in bitcoin and other digital assets. The promotion comes shortly after announcing that it will accept payments in bitcoin.

Brazil's largest investment broker, XP Ince, is offering BTC starting next month. The largest broker in Brazil said they expedited their timeline after seeing their competitors make similar offerings.

Gaming companies Zebedee and Viker have teamed up to offer bitcoin rewards to their users for playing Solitaire and Sudoku.

HOW BITCOIN WORKS

Learn one key idea about bitcoin each week. This week: Bitcoin is backed by energy.

‍One hundred and one years ago, Henry Ford advocated for a currency backed by energy. He believed it would end the nonstop battle over who controls money, resulting in a more peaceful world.

At first glance, gold looks like a good solution for global money. Every ounce, gold's equivalent of bitcoin's UTXO, comes with a cost to produce.

But Ford also noted the drawbacks of gold: “The essential evil of gold in its relation to war is the fact that it can be controlled. Break the control and you stop war,” Ford said.

Governments can control gold. Its physical nature and lack of portability lead to inevitable centralization.

Government control of gold allowed governments to create fiat money, or paper notes backed by a promise that the paper could be redeemed for gold. These promises were sometimes honored; more often, they were not.

Since the introduction of fiat, there has been continuous conflict over who will control money.

Ford’s idea for an energy-backed currency revealed a deep understanding of how economies work. Our world runs on energy. Everything you do, produce, or use requires energy.

Therefore a currency backed by energy would come with a cost to the producer of the currency. A monetary system based on an energy-backed currency would require real-world expense of resources to participate.

Enter bitcoin, whose proof of work mechanism requires energy to verify network transactions. You cannot earn new bitcoin or create new blocks of transactions without first incurring the cost of the energy needed to do so.

In this way, a bearer of bitcoin holds mathematical proof that real-world, physical resources were expended to validate that the bearer is indeed the owner of the tokens.

Just as a gold coin is proof that someone did work to find, mine, and refine a scarce metal, a bitcoin is proof that a bitcoin miner did work to validate that it is genuine.

The more miners that enter the network, the more energy expended, and the more secure the bitcoin network becomes.

This is why history will show that bitcoin is a force for peaceful human cooperation. With bitcoin, monetary control is distributed by requiring a cost to participate in a digital network that is accessible and verifiable to everyone.

Ready to get started with bitcoin? Coinbits is the best option. It's fast, safe, and free to create your account.

COIN CHECK

Which activities use more energy than bitcoin mining?

• A. International environmental conferences

• B. The financial sector

• C. Military invasions of oil rich countries

• D. All the above

Check your answer at the end of the page.

FROM THE MEME POOL

BITCOIN ROUNDUP PODCAST

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ANSWER

D. All of the above

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