Last week we introduced Coinbits Plus, the first subscription service for managing your bitcoin and cash effortlessly. 

With Coinbits Plus, you get more bitcoin for your money thanks to no transaction fees and very low spreads, in addition to features like Spending Insights, Peer-to-Peer Payments, Connected Wallets, Auto Sends, Target Orders, and Priority Support. You will even gain access to our Private Coinbits Plus Community.

Soon, you'll also benefit from Direct Deposit, Multi-Sig Custody, Lightning, and more – all for less than a Netflix subscription.

Check out Coinbits Plus with a free trial now 👉 https://my.coinbits.app/subscriptions

BITCOIN BOX SCORE

Exchange Rate: $64,780
Market Capitalization: $1.28T
Hash Rate (90 days): 598.9 EH/s
Transactions (30 days): 17,941,299
Network Fees (economy): 4 sat/vB
Bitcoin Dominance: 56.22%

What do these numbers mean?

Historians will consider the Bitcoin Conference a pivotal moment in bitcoin's history. They might also view Monday's market turmoil as the beginning of the end for the traditional financial system as we've known it since the global financial crisis, giving way to a new era.

The system is teetering after 15 years of Zero Interest Rate Policy (“ZIRP”) and near-constant government intervention.

How did we get here? Simple. In an economy based on fiat money instead of sound mony, politicians, crony bankers, and central planners can’t succeed at their jobs if they think too long-term. Instead, they are incentivized to spend, debase, and financialize anything they can. And when losses inevitably materialize, their solution is to socialize the losses, while funneling gains through their political networks.

Don’t hate the player, hate the game. The villains of fiat are simply acting rationally in the confines of a broken system. That is another reason fiat money is so abhorrent – it brings out the worst in people.

Over centuries of experience with the problem of corruption, forward thinkers established an approach to governance based on constitutionality and representation. However, we are now finding out that these constructs are necessary, but not sufficient, for human flourishing. In addition to constraints of political power, constraints on money are also essential.

Bitcoin is, at its core, a set of rules – rules that computers automatically follow when they are told to do so, and rules that must be followed for consensus to be achieved. Bitcoin software sets forth a set of “rules without rulers” that govern how money works. Since this rules-based, consensus-driven network began, millions of people have voluntarily opted participate in and grow the Bitcoin Network.

NEWS

🫏 Democrats launch "Crypto For Harris"

In a strategic move to counter Donald Trump's growing appeal in the bitcoin and broader crypto industry, Democrats have launched the "Crypto for Harris" campaign. First reported by FOX Business, the initiative aims to rally the prominent bloc voters for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Next week, the campaign will host a virtual town hall featuring "prominent crypto advocates" including Mark Cuban and Anthony Scaramucci, alongside several Democratic House members.

Out of touch, out of time.

It is a positive development that Democrats feel they must court the bitcoin industry. However, many are questioning the authenticity of this olive branch, given that the Democrat Party has targeted the crypto community for years, costing them incalculable time, money, and hardship.

To show good faith, a good place to start would be for Harris to use her position as Vice President to advocate for immediate, tangible changes to crypto regulation by the SEC, FDIC, and other agencies.

📺 Nassim Taleb’s CNBC bitcoin flop

After writing the initial forward to The Bitcoin Standard (the updated edition features a forward by Michael Saylor), bitcoin mega-critic Nassim Taleb appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box. He failed to present a coherent argument against bitcoin, despite making multiple attempts to do so. He went so far as to claim bitcoin could reach $1 million, yet maintained it is nothing more than a speculative asset.

Squawk Box cohost Joe Kernan pushed back against a few of Taleb's claims. Remember when the "mainstream" media was united against bitcoin and its proponents, lucky to get an interview, were considered the crazy ones? Now, it seems, the tables have turned.

You can check out the clip for yourself below. 👇️ 

⚡Speed launches USDT on lightning

A few weeks ago, we covered Lightning Labs' Taproot Assets release, which lets people use the Lightning Network for transactions in various units of account (not just bitcoin).

Speed, the company behind Speed Wallet, launched an exciting new project called USDT-L, a wrapped USDT stablecoin on the Lightning Network using the Taproot Assets protocol.

Ethereum, Tron, and Solana account for most USDT transactions – yet all of them suffer from high fees, congestion, reliability, and privacy issues.

Prior to Speed's USDT-L option, the primary mechanism to access USDT tied to the bitcoin was via AQUA Wallet's Liquid USDt.

This release from Speed enhances the utility of Lightning payments beyond bitcoin transactions, which will drive adoption of USDT on the Lightning Network, providing a potentially compelling option for quick, low-cost transactions denominated in dollars.

BITCOIN ADOPTION CONTINUES

BTCPay Server integrates with the Strike API, allowing merchants to instantly convert bitcoin to local currency.

Europe's fourth-largest investment manager, Capula Management, disclosed nearly $500 million in spot bitcoin ETFs from BlackRock and Fidelity.

Fedi launched its Community Superapp, enabling secure communication, financial management, and bitcoin transactions tailored to community needs.

Michael Saylor revealed he holds 17,732 BTC personally, worth approximately $1 billion.

Lightning Ventures launches Thunder Funder, a RegCF portal that allows investors to access early-stage investment in bitcoin and open-source tech companies.

Mox, Standard Chartered's virtual bank, started offering bitcoin and crypto ETF trading, making it the first in Hong Kong to provide such services.

HOW BITCOIN WORKS

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

Examining the gold standard

Economists have praised and criticized the gold standard, a system where the value of currency is directly linked to gold, for its role in shaping economic stability. Alan Greenspan described the gold standard era as a time of "extraordinary global prosperity" with robust productivity growth and minimal inflation. Similarly, Robert Mundell highlighted its efficiency in facilitating international trade and capital movement. Conversely, critics like Paul Krugman and John Maynard Keynes have labeled the gold standard as economically unstable and outdated.

Historical Context and Mechanisms

Monetary history in the U.S. can be divided into three distinct periods: the market-based gold standard (1790 to 1913), the Fed-managed gold standard (1914 to 1971), and the Fed-managed fiat standard (1972 to present day). Initially, the market-based gold standard relied on decentralized money provision, with gold serving as the primary medium. Though occasionally supplemented by silver and government-issued paper currency, this system generally maintained long-term price stability.

Performance Under the Gold Standard

Price Stability

One of the notable advantages of the gold standard was its ability to stabilize purchasing power over time. Despite short-term fluctuations due to wars and other disruptions, prices remained remarkably stable over the long run. From 1792 to 1913, prices in the U.S. didn’t change very much, which provided a stable environment for long-term economic planning. In contrast, prices under the Federal Reserve have increased significantly, particularly since the end of the Bretton Woods system in 1971, with inflation rates averaging much higher than those during the gold standard era.

Economic Growth

Real GDP growth was notably higher during the market-based gold standard period. The average growth rate was 4.2% from 1790 to 1913, compared to 3.3% during the Fed-managed periods. This higher growth rate under the gold standard suggests that the system may have provided a more conducive environment for economic expansion.

Financial Stability and Crises

Critics argue that the gold standard period was fraught with financial instability, citing numerous banking crises. However, data shows that the number of bank suspensions increased after the Federal Reserve was established. Moreover, financial crises have become more frequent since the shift to a fiat system, particularly after the collapse of Bretton Woods.

Conclusion

Historical evidence suggests that the gold standard era was characterized by stable long-term prices and higher economic growth compared to the periods managed by the Federal Reserve.

This does not necessarily mean that we should return to a gold standard; it merely supports the idea that market-driven solutions exist in the absence of central banking, and may even be superior.

Today, bitcoin is a viable alternative to fiat. It shares many qualities with gold, and also possesses some significant advantages over gold. This makes it a likely candidate to supplant government money over time.

On last week’s episode of The Bitcoin Standard Podcast, our own Dave Birnbaum talks about how Coinbits.app is using bitcoin to build an innovative operating system for money. Listen now: Spotify | YouTube | Apple | Fountain

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COIN CHECK

What clothing item was purchased in exchange for bitcoin in 2011?

1. A T-shirt

2. An orange suit

3. Alpaca socks

4. A tie

Check your answer at the end of the page.

FROM THE MEME POOL

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ANSWER

3. Alpaca socks. From Bitcoin Wiki:

   “Alpaca is one of the unofficial mascots for Bitcoin^.

   The connection between Bitcoin and the Alpaca likely originated from the February 10, 2011 post on Slashdot which described various goods and services could be purchased with bitcoins^. Because the slashdot crowd has a tendency to be critical (they summarized Apple's 2001 iPod announcement as "lame", for instance) or humorous ("Do alpacas really wear socks?") the meme involving the Alpaca was born.

   The mention in Slashdot included a link to the page for a merchant, Grass Hill Alpacas, that sold Alpaca products for bitcoin. He used that transaction in a subsequent article comparing using Bitcoin as a medium of exchange versus the coincidence of wants that a barter exchange suffers. Shortly after receiving the media mentions, most of the merchant's product offerings had sold out for the remainder of the season.

   Bitcoin's former lead developer Gavin Andresen tweeted that he had purchased wool socks with bitcoins.

   In March, 2011 the “What is Bitcoin?” video described Alpaca socks as one of the products Bitcoins could buy.

   The reference to Alpaca socks has since been mentioned in quite a number of blog posts, news reports and videos occurring in the months since.

   The Bitcoin community has generally identified with the Alpaca and the Alpaca-Bitcoin meme. An example comes in a response on IRC following the conviction of Bernard Von NotHaus in which the U.S. DOJ labeled him a domestic terrorist for issuing a private currency. The quote "We are 'alpaca-sock-wearing crypto-terrorists'" resonated with Bitcoiners, and the meme persists.”

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