BITCOIN BOX SCORE

Exchange Rate: $67,740
Market Capitalization: $1.33T
Hash Rate (90 days): 556.7 EH/s
Transactions (30 days): 11,235,030
Network Fees (day): 12 sat/vB
Bitcoin Dominance: 53.88%

What do these numbers mean?

Yesterday, financial markets stood still. Onlookers worldwide were glued to the Fed's conference as it unveiled the famous "dot plot," a summary of FOMC member federal funds rate projections. 

Stocks, bonds, gold, and the entire global economy is affected when a few elites walk up to a podium and speak. Is this a free market?

At the same time, a new scheme to pilfer wealth is promoted by Senator Elizabeth Warren's 'Ultra-Millionaire' Tax Act. Irresponsible moves like these threaten innovation and could set a dangerous precedent for wealth confiscation that trickles down to the productive classes.

Underfunded pensions are a ticking time bomb. When it goes off, we will see how strong the structure really is.

Most U.S. state pensions are unfunded – raising concerns about the retirement of baby boomers. If pensions fail, older Americans will have to sell assets to get by, which could culminate in another shock that the fiat system is ill-equipped to withstand.

Maybe that's why only 27% of Americans still think the "American Dream" holds today – down from 50% in 2010. 

Meanwhile, the federal government borrows $10 billion daily to stay afloat.

As Americans navigate around dot plots, political cronies, and pension scares, there is a way out: bitcoin. The separation of money and state is essential for securing a more stable and equitable economy for our children and grandchildren.

NEWS

🇨🇳 Chinese Gen Z turns to “gold beans” and bitcoin

Amidst economic uncertainty, Chinese Zoomers gravitate towards gold, specifically tiny "gold beans" – small pieces of gold weighing about a gram. With continued turmoil in China’s stock market, they are also buying bitcoin. Though it is technically banned in China, bitcoin can be accessed using offshore bank accounts, or through Hong Kong.

People want hard assets.

As ECB President Christine Lagarde famously stated, "If there is an escape, that escape will be used."

SEC may classify Ethereum as a security

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued subpoenas to several companies, signaling that it may classify Ether as a security following Ethereum's shift to proof-of-stake. This move, amid regulatory ambiguity and pending decisions on spot ETH ETFs, could lead to jurisdictional conflicts with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Keep an eye on this one.

Experts lay out cases against such actions in this Coindesk article, but ultimately the decision lies with the courts.

Bitcoin halving date expected sooner

The upcoming bitcoin halving is now anticipated around April 15 instead of April 28, due to a surge in mining activity driven by higher bitcoin prices and the introduction of more powerful mining rigs. This repeats a similar dynamic observed during the approach to the previous halving.

Oh, and 5 million bitcoins are lost.

Around 5 million bitcoins are considered lost due to inaccessible private keys, effectively reducing the total available supply from the hard limit of 21 million to something closer to 16 million.

🤯 Double-digit increases in number people who believe “corporate greed” responsible for inflation

Polling data records an uptick in those who believe that "corporate greed" is to blame for the rise in prices since 2021. This is concerning because it not only misattributes blame for inflation (which lies with politicized central banks and spendthrift politicians) but also serves as cover for the state to apply pressure to businesses.

Here's what's really going on.

The greedflation myth betrays a lack of understanding of how the economy actually works. In reality, business reach a revenue maximization point beyond which higher prices reduce overall revenue. The ability of a business to charge whatever it wants is constrained by competition and consumers’ willingness to pay. Inflation is a rise in prices that stems from currency debasement, which can only be performed by a central bank.

BITCOIN ADOPTION CONTINUES

El Salvador moved $400 million worth of bitcoin into cold storage, creating a secure "bitcoin piggy bank" as it aims to revolutionize its economy and establish itself as a hub for bitcoin innovation.

Luxor and Bitnomial will launch the first U.S. exchange-traded Hashrate Futures to help miners and institutional investors hedge against hashrate volatility by offering contracts based on Luxor's Bitcoin Hashprice Index on Bitnomial's derivatives exchange.

LQWD Technologies Corporation partnered with Amboss Technologies to improve liquidity and payment efficiency on the Lightning Network.

Japan's GPIF, the world's largest pension fund with over $1.5 trillion in assets, is exploring diversification into bitcoin.

The Human Rights Foundation has distributed $500,000 across 14 projects worldwide to enhance global education, Lightning Network development, decentralized communications, and financial freedom tools.

HOW BITCOIN WORKS

Learn one key idea about bitcoin each week. This week:

Bitcoin is scarcer than you think (and it doesn’t matter).

Bitcoin's finite supply is a fundamental aspect often discussed, but the actual scarcity of bitcoin is even more pronounced due to lost coins. This means the circulating supply will never reach the maximum of 21 million bitcoins. Despite this, the global economy can still operate on a bitcoin standard because the unit size of the money supply is unimportant the money can be divided into infinitely small pieces.

The number of lost bitcoins is estimated to be about 5 million. This number includes Satoshi Nakamoto's wallets, and many other wallets that were lost or abandoned in the early days of bitcoin. These lost coins will never be recovered, so they permanently reduce the number of bitcoins that can ever be available for circulation.

This scarcity does not hinder bitcoin’s ability to serve as money. With previous forms of money, a tight supply could restrict trade and harm the economy. However, bitcoin is different because it is infinitely divisible.

Today, regime economists believe increasing the money supply is necessary for growth. Yet, this line of thinking is flawed. As Murray Rothbard writes, using gold as an example,

An increase in the money supply, then, only dilutes the effectiveness of each gold ounce; on the other hand, a fall in the supply of money raises the power of each gold ounce to do its work. We come to the startling truth that it doesn't matter what the supply of money is. Any supply will do as well as any other supply. The free market will simply adjust by changing the purchasing power, or effectiveness of the gold-unit. There is no need to tamper with the market in order to alter the money supply that it determines.

Bitcoin fits nicely within Rothbard's framework by showing that value and purchasing power can adjust without increasing the quantity of money. The market can adapt to a limited supply through price and purchasing power changes. The number of units is relevant, not for liquidity, but for audibility of the system and trust among market participants.

Bitcoin's system differs fundamentally from traditional money systems that rely on inflation and constant supply growth. The adjustment of bitcoin's value in response to its limited supply offers a sustainable alternative to inflationary practices, promoting efficient and value-based economic interactions.

The Bitcoin Adviser simplifies the process of moving your coins off exchanges safely and securely. Get one month free when you sign up with this link!

COIN CHECK

How many bitcoins have been purchased so far by BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) as of March 19, 2024?

1. 21,394 BTC

2. 238,501 BTC

3. 430,302 BTC

4. 1,230,405 BTC

Check your answer at the end of the page.

FROM THE MEME POOL

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ANSWER

2. 238,501 BTC. Check out the figures on bitcointreasuries.com.

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