One Person’s Perspective

NOTE: This post is intended as education concerning one of the most important and profound changes in our lifetimes. The implications of getting it wrong are staggering beyond comprehension… We the People need to make sure it ends well for us and all future generations!!!!

From 1987 – 1996, I freelanced at the world’s top investment banks in NYC, mostly Goldman, Sachs & Co. The overall experience revealed to me not only the fundamentally rapacious culture of Wall St., but how deeply involved the Investment Banks (and by extension law and marketing firms) were, to the overthrow of governments and economies around the world, mostly South / Central America.

Upon this full realization I left the Fortune 100, transitioned into the emerging Internet world, and began a decades-long research journey, exploring many different facets of Money & Value.

In the 1990s there were many discussions on Wall St. and in Academia concerning future digital currency. Computers and the Internet were just emerging into public awareness, so it was all speculative, science-fiction-think at that time, and I found the implications fascinating.

In 2008 the Bitcoin Whitepaper, authored by anonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, introduced a concept for a digital economy that offered financial SOVEREIGNTY (ostensibly) by replacing central banking with a decentralized blockchain (a form of database that is stored in multiple places at the same time), removing the middleman / control system.

“By combining cryptographic proof, Proof-of-Work, and a peer-to-peer network, Bitcoin offers a solution to prevent double-spending without relying on a central authority.”

– Satoshi Nakamoto

Bitcoin was the first Crypto Currency. It’s worth about $100k right now…. $100k for something you can’t hold in your hand!!!!!

The 2nd crypto currency, Ethereum, innovated the Blockchain to be able to store information such as contracts, copyrights and mortgages etc. This technology will eventually eliminate the need for many services in the future in certain cases… Notaries and Lawyers for instance.

Thousands of crypto currencies have been introduced into the world for all sorts of purposes, however, it’s important to note….

The ONLY crypto currency that did NOT opt for the freedom-loving decentralized blockchain was XRP, which debuted as the Bank Coin.

XRP has since transitioned to a decentralized Blockchain, however Ripple, the parent company, should be considered the NEW Central Bank. Ripple is also the parent of the Ripple Ledger United States Dollar (RLUSD) coin, the new United States digital currency. XRP will be used for all cross-border transactions, and also to pay “gas” fees across the Ripple Ledger.

Ripple is almost exclusively owned and controlled by one man – Brad Garlinghouse. He owns the vast majority of XRP that will ever be mined. I’m not sure our minds are capable of comprehending his potential wealth. An important question for us to be asking is, how and why is one single human being given so much power????

Whether Bitcoin was developed by a Shadow Government or a renegade do-gooder like John McAfee, The Powers That Be (TPTB) will always find a way to control money. The first 17 years of crypto currencies have been wrought with scams, hacks, thefts & heists on an unimaginable scale, and the fraud continues as we find ourselves being herded into the Digital Economy. I say herded and that may grate the wrong way, but I’ve seen Nothing – Zilch – Nada about this financial shift on Mainstream Media. (What little I tolerate.) Have you? TPTB are intentionally keeping it hidden from the mainstream and that is a HUGE warning sign that something is not quite right.

The word Crypto references Cryptography, the art of writing and solving codes. Crypt means TOMB.

Currently, we interact with the digital economy through payment systems like ApplePay, Venmo, Zelle etc. They’re contactless, digital transactions from one phone # or email address to another. Eventually, physical currency will disappear.

In the digital economy, the responsibility for record-keeping shifts from banks to the Blockchain. A Blockchain is a digital accounting ledger housed on hundreds if not thousands of servers around the world and maybe even in space, overseen by Artificial Intelligence. The function of banks will change dramatically.

There are many Blockchains, all originating with the Bitcoin Blockchain.

The Blockchain records every transaction in a block, much like a cell in a database. Every transaction is IMMUTABLE – it cannot be edited after the fact. The advantages of the blockchain are unhackability, transparency to combat weapon/human/drug trafficking, near-instant transactions, and a dramatic decrease in transaction costs. That all sounds GREAT!

BUT: it remains unclear how we will hold and use our crypto currencies.

Note: I only sell my own creations on this website; I believe affiliate marketing and advertising compromise the integrity of my work. All links are a point of departure for your own research.

A Hard Wallet such as Nano or Ledger is like a USB stick, allowing funds to remains under our control at all times. We buy, sell and trade using an interface on the computer, giving the highest security possible. Recently, I asked the Digital Economy influencer FreedomFighter about the future of Hard Wallets and I was censored! That may well mean that TPTB intend for us to keep our cryptos in an exchange such as Coinbase, Binance or Uphold; which leaves our funds extremely vulnerable. Exchanges are convenient, of course, and your cellphone is your wallet. Most people will keep their cryptos on exchanges, earn decent ROI, buy/sell/trade. And hopefully remain safe.

Unfortunately, the criminal/greed element is THICK in the Crypto Currency space , and regulation is almost non-existent.

There’s a popular acronym in the Crypto World – HODL – meaning Hold On for Dear Life. DON’T EVER SELL, and KEEP IT SAFE!!!!

The protection of our funds is PARAMOUNT.

In the old economy, we put our money in a bank and pretty much trust that it will be there when we need it (bail-ins notwithstanding). Banks have always served as the custodian of our money.

I can say with confidence that Crypto Currency exchanges at this point in time do not have that same level of trust that we’re used to with traditional banks, by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, every aspect of crypto currency transactions are unsafe for the vast majority of people!!!!

WHY are we being given a financial system that is LESS SAFE than the one being replaced???

The lack of security is just one of the unresolved issues in the emerging digital economy. Financial privacy is another, and AI control is perhaps the most important of all.

Are we allowing ourselves to be herded into a Chinese-Credit-Score-style digital enslavement economy?

Note: there has been tremendous hype about the new economy being ASSET BACKED, giving it intrinsic value. For instance, the new Iraqi Dinar (RLIQD) will be backed by oil and gold.

But – XRP is backed by Fiat currency. Hmmmmmmm. That’s an awfully strong day-old fish smell, my friends.

There are MANY things to look out for in this new digital frontier, and many things to be excited about. I urge you to:
– Be a courageous custodian of your funds;
– Be wary of all kinds of scams.
– Don’t give in to the Hopium / Hypium.
– Do your own research.
– TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

And HODL!