#vanguard https://video.nostr.build/5e67d330e593b4b2f6a9e278b9603aa16614db56975a50fa0146e4a5b1dce5c7.mp4#m=video%2Fmp4&dim=320x554&blurhash=%5D1SF-E000000Hr%2Cu%5Ek%5Ek%24*-pVYR4-VH%3FxH_2%25J-.%25LWpt8%25MM%7B%25MV%5BS7R%3ARnIVM%7Ct2xsobaws.tlE2E2W%3Foz%3Fb.8yDtRxb&x=ee0238fe27722cf092152a4319fe1ecba6d74d297bb5ee573dd62591ac76b0b5 #bitcoin #etf

Let the zapping commence... https://image.nostr.build/3ba60dc6c5e53e5b1ea71c8740f601499279d026a284517614d44ffd8843c21b.jpg#m=image%2Fjpeg&dim=720x1092&blurhash=%5EUF5%2C5M%7B9ZWBIofl00%25M-%3As%3AxtjY%7EqRiIVjZRjbIZzkDt7WCj%5Djs9%24s%2Bt5s-s.f5%3D%5ER%2BR*R%2BR*j%5D9Zofozoft7axx%5EjrjEayadfkrof%2Bf%2CkCflf6&x=7eda378b7e95b294e05d073e15ec213b48b063d7a534baaf6df3d729aa681c06

Jack with a 🔥 zinger... #strike #bitcoin https://video.nostr.build/3bc97aff57cdbbd00ec40648cfb73ad63740de85e94f6bd0d0f3482cf560fc92.mp4#m=video%2Fmp4&dim=1280x720&blurhash=iBEoV%2C4n9EIqogxtx%5Bs%3BIW00%3Fcb_f%2CRjaxt6aeM%7BXAIA%7EWD%25R*%253D%25ox%25M%3Fu%25M9Eo%23EMsS-%3BWBRin4NGtSWBxYWVadWFNH&x=15dcd93da091272a948746d1fbd01f1ef2d9eb4a3b57f8dfaa5157608f94d96f

Snowboarding with my mini's. https://image.nostr.build/c582c566db25a2c48d67ed920d804693720b3b9df800dd922d392fdc7690e0b8.jpg#m=image%2Fjpeg&dim=1430x1430&blurhash=UFJ*_9D%25ITxv00D%24ofof_4t7ayWB_4%25NRij%5B&x=ccde24a675f2ae29bec534506af123ead47a7758a2be45532f2e11105dd016d5 #boardstr #snowboarding #nostrnormie

In March 2021 in Keene, New Hampshire, the FBI led a raid, along with the ATF and other agencies, on the Free Talk Live studios (a libertarian radio show) against Ian Freeman (director of FTL) alleging that he operated an unlicensed money transmitting business in the form of Bitcoin ATM machines. The raid was conducted in the middle of the night and the joint taskforce used Bearcat armored vehicles, flashbang grenades, and destroyed security cameras and windows on Freeman's property. The taskforce also confiscated $180,000 in cash, boxes full of goldbacks, 101 physical Bitcoins, and other possessions of Ian Freeman. The homes of several other individuals were raided that night, later being referred to as "the Crypto Six." While the FBI's main justification for this raid was that scammers were using the Bitcoin vending machines to scam people, Ian Freeman counters saying that he frequently warned ATM users of scams and used his Bitcoin vending machines to improve the businesses in his community. The prosecution had originally charged Freeman with 25 felony counts, eventually dropping 17 counts as the trial went on. Freeman's attorney asserted that the charges against Freeman were "absolute nonsense" and described Freeman as a nonviolent man that assists people with avoiding scams rather than aiding scams. Freeman received public support during his trial, with overflow rooms established to accommodate his supporters and one security officer noting, "I’ve never seen the courtroom like that" when referencing the number of attendees. On December 23, 2022, Ian Freeman was convicted on all eight felony counts and his case is pending sentencing and appeal. His appeal is scheduled for April 14, 2023. Ian was sentenced in October 2023 to eight years in prison. Court documents show he recently filed an appeal to the court's ruling. Freeman was found guilty of laundering over $10 million in proceeds of romance scams and other internet frauds by exchanging U.S. dollars for Bitcoin. https://image.nostr.build/0c0c4d17f94bfe17836b8060688715801af488e9d6148df19c745c8d244ae49b.jpg#m=image%2Fjpeg&dim=1024x1024&blurhash=UCDc8V%25KrL57ys9GNyVtIdMJ-oxCxvR%23x%40S0&x=2d82c71fbdce8f8511b0151579b18f9c39e1ffe734da953256c22f29a76eeef3 #fbi #bitcoin #cryptosix

#RealEstate and #stocks were the best investments when the US Dollar had no competitors as the world reserve currency. When the world was on a #gold standard, the average person didn't buy stocks and houses to store value for the future. They just earned and held gold. People were able to afford the cost of living with a bit of delayed gratification. In the 1920s, banks started lending money to stock market speculators and home buyers. We saw the Dow Jones rise 4x in less than 10 years. This led to inflation. Profits from the stock market could be used to buy things in the real world. But the profits weren't real... they were built on the lie of fractional reserve banking. Banks weren't lending their own money; it was depositor funds. More money was entering the system. When profits from the stock market were used to buy goods and services in the real world, prices started increasing. More money was chasing the same number of goods. The US government had to fix this. There were too many people speculating on stocks. Interest rates went up to slow economic activity and bring prices back to reality. Investors panicked and started selling their stocks because they couldn't afford the interest payments on the loans they had taken to buy the stocks in the first place. The DOW dropped ~90% in 3 years. Billions of dollars of wealth disappeared. But whose money disappeared? Like I said: banks weren't lending their own money. They were lending depositor funds. These were regular, everyday people who kept their life savings in the banking system. Over the next decade, the US experienced the Great Depression. Businesses closed down. People suffered. The US government had to find a way to stop the misery, so it took the USA off the gold standard in 1933, with Executive Order 6102 making gold ownership illegal. Banks took all this gold and paid citizens $20.67/ounce for it. In my opinion, this was a big mistake: Instead of dealing with the problem from the ground up, the problem was solved from the top down. Instead of dealing with the root cause (fractional reserve banking), the problem was dealt with by making fractional reserve banking EVEN EASIER. Over the next year, so many dollars were printed that gold had to be repriced from $20.67/ounce to $35/ounce. Today, that same ounce of gold costs over $2,000. The US Dollar has lost 99% of its purchasing power in terms of gold since 1933. It will always trend towards 0. In terms of USD, the cost of living has also increased significantly over the last 90 years. Inflation is said to be 2-3%/year, but is it really? The truth is that inflation is theft and governments steal a lot more than they tell us they do. Since 1933, the US government could print as much money as it wanted, and nothing has been able to take this power away. The price of gold increased from $20.67 to almost $2,000 in 90 years, an increase in price of ~5.2%/year. On top of this, money goes towards stocks and real estate, so inflation is MUCH higher than we're told. In 2008, #Bitcoin       was introduced by an anonymous entity named Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin lets you save and transact without relying on banks. No more fractional reserve banking. Bitcoin doesn't devalue because it can't be printed at will. A house that cost 100,000 BTC in 2011 now costs 11 BTC. In terms of USD, housing has at least doubled in price in that time. Bitcoin has all the favorable characteristics of gold (durable, scarce, salable) AND government-issued currencies (portable, divisible, fungible). The world is slowly waking up to this. Some countries have been accumulating #BTC       for years. Some businesses are starting to accept Bitcoin. Bitcoin is being used as "money" instead of US Dollars by more people every day. Since Bitcoin has all the characteristics we need money to have, it is digital gold. We are going to see real estate and stock prices drop in terms of Bitcoin until they're priced in Bitcoin. Rajat Soni, CFA @rajatsonifnance