Bitcoin's technological complexity presents a mental challenge for those interested in using it. Though we use fiat currencies daily without understanding how they work, questions like, "how does it work," "who is in charge," and "how can we trust it?" are still commonly asked by the bitcoin curious.

Politicians describing it as a product created for "Shadowy Super Coders" doesn't help.

Fortunately, like most products, anyone can use bitcoin without a deep knowledge of its inner workings.

After all, does anyone know how to make a pencil? Most don't, and thankfully we don't need to. All we know is that various moving parts in the market economy come together to create the tool we use to write, and it works.

Bitcoin works similarly, but for money. It has been working smoothly for the past 13 years, efficiently processing millions of transactions.

However, even though we might not know the inner workings of pencil production, we recognize pencils are better writing tools than quills. Like the pencil, bitcoin works; anyone can use it, and it's better than what came before.

NEWS

📈 25% of Americans making more than $100k own bitcoin

As of October 2022, a quarter of Americans making six figures or more yearly reported that they own bitcoin. The research comes from Morning Consult, which analyzed bitcoin ownership across various demographics in the US. Custodia Bank founder Caitlin Long noted a critical takeaway: the percentage of Americans making north of $100k holding bitcoin makes it a "powerful US political constituency."

⏰ Debt ceiling deadline and a government shutdown looms

The United States is in debt. The total debt, now at over $31 trillion, limits how much additional debt the government can take on. Since the government runs continuous deficits, Congress must vote to raise the debt ceiling or risk a shutdown. This summer, Congress will vote again on the debt ceiling. However, unlike previous sessions, a divided Congress makes the outcome precarious, and a shutdown is in the cards. In addition to the debt figure, unfunded liabilities from social security and medicare loom- totaling well over $100 trillion.

Wouldn't it be nice if the monetary system limited politicians' ability to rack up debt rather than embolden them?

🌐 Saudi Arabia: we are open to trading in other currencies

The kingdom's finance minister told Bloomberg Tuesday that the nation is open to using currencies other than the dollar to settle trade. The world's largest oil exporter has been the cornerstone of the "petrodollar" system, pricing and accepting payments for oil exports exclusively in dollars.

🔎 Report: Wealthiest 1% captured two-thirds of all new wealth in the last two years

Oxfam, which describes itself as an "anti-poverty" group, published a new analysis on the rich getting (immensely) wealthier between December 2019 and December 2021. The data shows how much the share of the wealthiest 1%'s global wealth accelerated during the pandemic. "It's not been hard to find a world leader who has something to say about extreme inequality, but it's been really, really hard to find any of them doing something about it," said Nabil Ahmed, Oxfam America's director of economic justice.

Bitcoiners often discuss the Cantillon effect- where those closest to new money creation disproportionately receive it first. Unfortunately, we are witnessing it in real time. Bitcoin fixes this.

BITCOIN ADOPTION CONTINUES

BlackRock is adding bitcoin as an eligible investment to their Global Allocation Fund, which has $15 billion in assets under management.

Mobile bank N26 announces it will make bitcoin and digital asset trading available to customers in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Portugal, and Ireland.

The first-ever Bitcoin class is underway at Texas A&M for the spring semester, with VP of Research at Riot Platforms Pierre Rochard giving the first lecture.

Bitcoin settled nearly $73 billion in transactions over the weekend while the legacy banking system was closed.

29% of American millennials own bitcoin, according to recent research by Morning Consult.  

Bitcoin's price has gone up 14 days in a row and counting as of Tuesday, setting a record for consecutive days in the green.

HOW BITCOIN WORKS

Learn one key idea about bitcoin each week. This week: Bitcoin is simple.

Last week, inflation data came out 3x higher than the Fed’s target rate but the lowest rate since late 2021.

Markets responded positively. Investors see it as a sign that the Federal Reserve will reverse course and pause rate hikes - maybe even lower them, setting the path for the "money printer to go brrr."

Markets also seem to like data that would otherwise be bad for the economy, like job losses or bankruptcies.

No, investors aren’t evil - they just understand that asset prices surge when the money is flowing. Conversely, when money is removed from the system, asset prices decline.

Ominous signs signal the Central Bank to step in and “stimulate the economy,” or inject it with cash.

So investors who want asset prices to increase may see bad news as good.

If all of this seems unnecessarily complex and contrived - it’s because it is.

Thankfully, there’s a more straightforward way.

With a fixed monetary unit, investors aren’t concerned about how much new money will arbitrarily enter the system - because no new money can enter the system.

Therefore economic participants focus on real value, such as providing goods and services people actually want to buy.

Thanks to bitcoin, you can say goodbye to speculating on risky assets to protect your purchasing power from inflation.

And say hello to wealth preservation in hard, incorruptible money that allows you to prepare for the future.

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

COIN CHECK

What percentage of the people on earth are estimated to own bitcoin?

1. 1-2%

2. 50%

3. 20%

4. 10-15%

Check your answer at the end of the page.

FROM THE MEME POOL

BITCOIN ROUNDUP PODCAST

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ANSWER

1. 1-2%

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