American Consequences - May 2021

BITCOIN

the value of their traditional offering by injecting bitcoin into it. And then any big tech company can become a bank. How explosive is this? Well, I think we’ll see 150 new holders this year. I think you’ll see $500 billion of assets flow onto the network this year. He mentions that crypto-friendly PayPal, Square, and Coinbase alone have a $500 billion market cap combined. And there are top bitcoin drivers in Wall Street and Silicon Valley: Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to Apple and Amazon. Michael contrasts this landscape with gold market forces, claiming Frank’s industry continues to market the myth of gold as money while mining in an expensive, dirty, dangerous fashion. It was clear at this point (if it wasn’t already) that neither of these men would change the other’s mind. THE MIC DROP When it came to closing remarks, Michael was undeniably on-brand with a Game of Thrones Live Action Role Playing (“LARP”) metaphor... If we contrast the golden knight with the bitcoin dragon, the golden knight’s got a 30-year life. It’s plodding, stupid, heavy, predictable, and stagnant. And he’s up against the immortal bitcoin dragon: teleporting, dematerializing, hyperintelligent, rapidly evolving, moving at the speed of light. He then pivots back to numbers, restating

“Gold miners don’t have any gold on their balance sheet. They could borrow $20 billion at 3% interest and buy gold if they believed in it. They don’t believe in it. Talk about hating gold.” In terms of charges that bitcoin is speculative, Michael’s rebuttal is that anyone with that take is a Luddite. “Technology spreads virally because it is a better idea – Uber, WhatsApp, iPhone, YouTube, Netflix – they all spread virally. People tell their friends because it’s a good idea.” Frank notes the disparity in crypto ownership: 2% of the owners have 95% of all bitcoin value. On the other side, Frank points out the disparity in crypto ownership (seemingly echoing America’s economic inequalities), noting that 2% of owners have 95% of all the bitcoin value. And Frank reiterated his point about gold’s resilience in dire economic times. When COVID hit in March of 2020, gold took an initial 8% hit as the markets dipped that month, but the asset recovered, breaking even. He points out that bitcoin simultaneously dropped 25%, and bluer financial skies only returned this past October. Michael waves this off and jumps into this pitch... The significance is any finance, insurance, or mutual fund company can 10 times

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May 2021

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