May 7, 2020 - 669 blocks left before third Bitcoin Halving
A letter to all of you who still have no bitcoin
I am writing this letter because I am convinced of two things: (1) our current money is fundamentally broken (2) using superior money will benefit you in particular — and society in general — in the long run.
Money is a touchy subject — most people don’t like to talk about it, either because they have little and are ashamed, or because they have lots and are afraid. Even fewer people know anything about the nature of our money, which is quite shocking — after all, money is an essential tool of our civilization.
“Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.” – Thomas Paine, Common Sense (February 24, 1776).
These were the opening remarks of Thomas Paine’s call for American independence in early 1776. At the time, a declaration of independence was far from a certainty, but in Paine’s view, there was no question. It wasn’t a debate; there was only one path forward. Still, he understood that public opinion had not yet caught up and naturally remained anchored to the status quo, with a preference for reconciliation rather than independence. Old habits die hard. The status quo has a tendency of being defended, regardless of merit, merely by its anchoring in time to the way things have always been.
More Than 8,318,579 People Are Already Millionaires With Bitcoin
It is May 2, 2020, and as I write this, we have just entered the home stretch to Bitcoin’s third Halving. Indeed, when you read this story, we will be less than 10 days away from this historic event for Bitcoin.
On May 12, 2020, the Bitcoin reward for miners validating a block of transactions will be halved from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC. A historic shock to the daily Bitcoin supply will occur. At block height 630,000 of Bitcoin Blockchain, the daily production of new Bitcoins will only be 900 BTC, compared to 1800 BTC currently.
Halving is an automatic event essential to Bitcoin’s unique monetary policy. This third Halving will bring Bitcoin supply inflation below 2% for the first time in its history. Bitcoin will become scarcer than ever at the same time that the Fed is printing U.S. dollar ad infinitum.
You’re angry. You’re sick of the state of the world. It’s all going to shit, and every time you turn on the news it seems like it’s happening faster and faster.
Inequality is at an all-time high. CEOs keep paying themselves more and more while the poorest in society keep getting less. Irresponsible companies have spent the last 40 years pursuing short term gains at the expense of taxpayers and the environment.
Whatever cash they’ve had leftover, they’ve used to artificially inflate their share prices by buying back stocks and making their executives rich. And now they’re coming to government, cap in hand to ask for taxpayer-funded bailouts to cover their reckless behaviour.
What Can You Expect for Bitcoin Price the Days Following Its Third Halving?
Bitcoin is a totally transparent Blockchain that allows its users to know in real time what is happening on the network. So it’s no secret that Bitcoin’s third Halving will now take place in less than 1,000 blocks.
Since the launch of Bitcoin on January 3, 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto, 629,025 blocks have already been mined. Since a Halving takes place every 210,000 blocks correctly added to the Bitcoin Blockchain, we are now only 975 blocks away from the third Halving in Bitcoin’s history.
By the time you read this, we will be even closer than that to that third Halving since Bitcoin is always running. This is one of the many advantages of Bitcoin which is the only true free market in the world.
As Bitcoin’s difficulty is automatically adjusted every 2016 mined blocks, the network sticks to an average of 144 blocks produced per day. This gives an average of one block produced every 10 minutes.
Helicopter Money, Inflation, and the Bitcoin Standard
The 2008 financial crisis exposed weaknesses in the US banking system. Seemingly indestructible monoliths such as Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns were taken as casualties. Americans lost $9.8 trillion in wealth.
However, an entirely new kind of money was born as a product of this crisis — Bitcoin: decentralized, deflationary, digitally-native money. The ’08 recession set the stage for Bitcoin’s creation, and the economic impacts of COVID-19 could set the stage for Bitcoin to shine as a hedge against inflation and store of value.
You probably all know Ivan on Tech. Moreover, he doesn't really need any additional publicity as his work is already widely recognized.
Nevertheless, just because the Ivan on Tech channel is already very well known, it is not a reason not to mention it to point out the quality of Ivan's work. I would like to take this opportunity to recommend you to follow his channel.
Every day, Ivan offers a live show in which he talks about the main current topics of the world of cryptocurrencies, but also about the economy. He answers the questions of Internet users who also follow him.
A daily pleasure for all those interested in the Bitcoin revolution.
Announcing Blockstream Satellite 2.0
Opponents of Bitcoin often point to the fact that Bitcoin could be stopped by shutting down the Internet altogether. The first answer to give them is that a total shutdown of the Internet would also block the current monetary and financial system.
So this is something that will never happen. Nevertheless, Blockstream has just released its satellite 2.0 kit to enable you to cover yourself against this eventuality. This kit is bringing a standards-based transmission protocol, more bandwidth, additional coverage areas, and the ability to sync a Bitcoin full node all the way from the genesis block up to today.
[BOOK] Mastering Bitcoin: Programming The Open Blockchain
Andreas M. Antonopoulos is one of the most famous and recognized authors in the Bitcoin’s world. Thus, he has devoted a good part of his time to evangelizing the world in the Blockchain since 2013.
Once you have read his book, you will have a clear vision of what Bitcoin and Blockchain are. This is essential because before investing your money in cryptocurrencies, I think it is important to know what the Blockchain is and how it constitutes a real revolution. In this sense, having a solid foundation can only be useful in your journey towards success in the world of cryptocurrencies.