History of money

Between 1815 and 1914, major countries, like the US, UK, and France, pegged their money to gold. This meant, for example, a Dollar represented a specific amount of gold and a Pound literally meant a pound of silver. This “hard money” led to one of the most prosperous and innovative eras in the history of mankind, but trusting governments with this system was risky.

During World War 1 many countries broke these promises of gold backed money and simply printed as much paper money as they needed to fund the war. However they didn't create anything more of value in their economies, just more money and this made everyone's money a little less valuable. This trick worked brilliantly! It meant governments no longer had to depend on the gold in their treasury, instead they could now rely on their people's accumulated wealth which could be expropriated through inflation to fund wars and their egos.

This shift marked a significant moment in the modern world where fiat money, backed only by the "trust" of government, rather than tangible assets, started to become the de facto money in society. And so began another 100+ years of fiat currency debasement up until today.

The difference between hard currency and fiat currency is simple. Hard currency, like gold, cannot be printed out of thin air. Fiat (which means “by decree”) currency can be printed out of thin air… just not by you. If you do it, it’s called counterfeiting.

Every fiat currency that has ever existed has been debased. Every single one. This debasement makes that currency less valuable over time (which you see as inflation) and this makes your wages and savings worth less and less over time and it will never end.

From this brief history, you can see how all governments manipulate currency to satisfy their ongoing quest for the growth of their own power. They actually can’t help themselves. The temptation to spend what you don’t have by printing money out of thin air is too great for any human to resist, and African governments are the best in the world at this. Can you buy more stuff with your money today compared to 5 years ago? It’s not even close. This government money printing is stealing from you. Your wages and savings are losing their value every day.

The truth is that money doesn’t have to be what your government says it is. Money is any “desirable” item or verifiable record generally accepted as payment for goods and services.

Imagine operating on a currency that no one can print more of. A money that gives you absolute control to transact as much as you want and an equal right to make decisions on everything concerning that currency. Bitcoin is that currency.

We don’t expect you to believe this truth 100% now, but just promise us you will dig into tomorrow’s content with this in mind, because we will be discussing the properties of money.