The bitcoin journey is not a linear process. Not all bitcoiners are lucky enough to begin by reading The Bitcoin Standard.

Many are initially intrigued by bitcoin’s price volatility but soon fall prey to various altcoins. After getting “rekt,” when the altcoins collapse, they either exit or migrate back to bitcoin and take the time to learn about its pristine monetary qualities.

Fortunately, bitcoin’s existence as an incorruptible technology shines a light on the sham exchanges and the altcoins. Today, more people are waking up. Google searches for “self-custody” are increasing as more individuals recognize the importance of holding their own private keys.

And while altcoins, derelict exchanges, and fiat currencies will persist, bitcoin will keep exposing them for all to see.

NEWS

🚮 FTX fallout shows no signs of stopping; Genesis is now on the brink of bankruptcy

Earlier this week, the New York Times Dealbook reported that Genesis Global Capital, a prominent crypto lender, hired a restructuring advisor to "explore options including a potential bankruptcy." Genesis halted customer withdrawals last week, and the firm has billions in active loans. Expect more risky crypto lending operations to struggle or fail as the fallout continues.

🚔 NBC piece highlights bitcoin's legitimacy, crypto's failure

Surprisingly, the mainstream media got one thing right about bitcoin this week. In an NBC opinion piece, economics professor Joshua Hendrickson writes, "bitcoin was a genuine technological innovation." He also states that "much of the crypto industry has deviated from the principles that were critical to the development of Bitcoin itself."

Here's another great quote: "Whatever one might think about Bitcoin, it was clearly a significant innovation motivated by a practical problem. It was important not just as a technical issue or curiosity of economic theory but also as an important technology in Cuba, Afghanistan, Palestininian territories and Africa — areas where mismanagement and corruption have plagued mainstream financial systems."

💡 Harvard academic advises central banks to hedge with bitcoin

Matthew Ferranti, a fifth-year economics Ph.D. candidate at Harvard, released a working paper arguing that central banks should hold a small amount of bitcoin as an alternative hedging asset. He also claims central banks with a modest risk of US sanctions should increase their bitcoin allocation.

📉 Americans' savings plunge, credit card debt soars as Fed watches closely

It's no secret that US households are struggling as inflation continues for much longer than policymakers promised. Unfortunately, the economic situation is getting worse. Reports show credit card balances jumping 15%, the highest increase in over two decades. American savings are also plummeting, with money flows dropping 25% from earlier this year. Despite what politicians might say, the economy is in bad shape. To this end, the latest Federal Reserve minutes conveyed smaller rate hikes coming in the future.

BITCOIN ADOPTION CONTINUES

Prominent bitcoiner Jeff Booth appeared on Fox Business this week to discuss how bitcoin lives outside the legacy system and will reprice everything in that system.

El Salvador officially presents a securities bill to launch their bitcoin volcano bonds, backed by direct investment in bitcoin and regional bitcoin mining.

Prominent policymakers, investors, and professionals attended the Texas Blockchain Summit this week, with US Senator Ted Cruz saying, "I want Texas to be an oasis for Bitcoin and crypto."

E-commerce giant WooCommerce whose platform is responsible for 25% of the top million online stores, is now allowing its customers to pay in bitcoin and digital assets.

J.P. Morgan registers a trademark for a bitcoin and digital asset wallet, "J.P. Morgan Wallet," under the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Over 150,000 bitcoin have left exchanges in the past two weeks as many begin to understand the importance of self-custody.

HOW BITCOIN WORKS

Learn one key idea about bitcoin each week. This week: Bitcoin exposes deception.

The Financial Times quotes FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried saying, "The bitcoin network is not a payments network and it is not a scaling network."

The now-exposed charlatan advocated against bitcoin's Proof of Work protocol, a critical factor in maintaining bitcoin's decentralization. He instead promoted Proof of Stake, where the largest stakeholders of a coin assume the most influence over the network.

His company, the now-bankrupt FTX, had 1.4 billion in bitcoin liabilities.

But that's just one side of the balance sheet. What about the bitcoin assets?

0 bitcoin assets.

Sound money just wasn't their thing.

But why would "SBF," one of the most prominent figures in crypto, be against bitcoin? After all, isn't bitcoin crypto?

The same reason the traditional financial gatekeepers hold similar views.

They can't control it.

While FTX didn't hold any bitcoin, they had a large amount of "FTT," a digital token they created out of thin air. $554 million worth.

The FTX catastrophe is par for the course in the legacy monetary system. Under the Federal Reserve system, the government and a privileged group of banks create dollars out of thin air.

The commonality is this - control over the money. Where there is control of money, there is an incentive to create and distribute to the well-connected.

These groups don't like money they cannot control. Bitcoin is this money.

Bitcoin's ledger is maintained by a network of computers worldwide that constantly verify and store every transaction. Bitcoin's blockchain thus represents a decentralized version of how banks verify and store details of financial transactions.

As bitcoin is global, these computers are spread across different locations and countries, making it impossible for anyone to manipulate or corrupt the system. The money keeps flowing should one part of the network go offline because many other copies of the same blockchain exist worldwide.

Bitcoin's decentralization ensures a fair market economy, where participants earn money based on value added to the rest of society. If your goal was to continue creating money out of thin air and giving it to yourself, you might not like bitcoin much either.

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

COIN CHECK

What type of financial risk does self custodying your bitcoin primarily mitigate?

1. Volatility or market risk

2. Systemic risk

3. Regulatory risk

4. Counterparty or credit risk

Check your answer at the end of the page.

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ANSWER

4. Counterparty or credit risk

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