𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻: 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗜𝘁 𝗜𝘀 As Bitcoin has risen in popularity, “blockchain” has often been touted as the secret behind its success. It has led to 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 of blockchains used for a variety of purposes, from cryptocurrencies, to storing real estate titles, identity verification, health records, and more. But all of these are 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺, and add unnecessary complications to systems that weren’t broken. So how can blockchains be used outside the realm of Bitcoin? Let’s explore this question below👇 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻? A blockchain, which was originally called a 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯, is a digital ledger that’s copied and shared by multiple computers. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆, but simply a method for storing and sharing a ledger between many separate participants. Each “page” of the ledger is a block, and each block is summarized — or hashed — into the following block, thus forming a chain. You could also think of a blockchain as being a series of files that are stacked within each other like Matryoshka dolls. Each new block protects the ones before it, so 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗶𝘀. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗙𝗼𝗿? Technically, any information can be secured on a blockchain, from a financial transaction to a monkey jpeg, but it’s not always useful to do so. For example, you could upload the deed to your house onto a blockchain, but it would offer no proof that the house is yours, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴. In computer science, this is known as the 𝗢𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. In a Proof of Work blockchain, each block is proof that the answer to a cryptographic puzzle was found, which necessitates the work of repeatedly guessing and checking. In this way, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧 that real 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 was done anchors Bitcoin to the real world. But this proof of work proves 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 about the world outside of that. The validity of a block and the authenticity of the transactions in it can be easily verified using math. But any data outside that narrow scope requires trust, 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗻𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀, just with extra steps. 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 There are some instances when non-transaction data stored on a blockchain can be useful, however. The first and most obvious example is Satoshi Nakamoto’s message embedded in the Genesis Block: “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 03/𝘑𝘢𝘯/2009 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴”. This message was quoting the headline from a public newspaper that anyone can verify was printed that day. Thus, it serves as proof that Satoshi could not have premined Bitcoin, and he found that block on that day. A more recent example of useful non-transaction data on Bitcoin’s blockchain is BitVM. This process involves embedding many small logic gates into blocks, which are then accessed by external systems to run programs built on Bitcoin’s 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝘂𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 and 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆. Many users enjoy permanently embedding other data into a transaction’s OP_RETURN, such as expressions of love from newly weds, or the announcement of a child’s birth. But these are akin to permanent graffiti, and offer no real usecase, other than the satisfaction of knowing that 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿. While many people are experimenting with using blockchains for other purposes, the main thing a blockchain is good for is 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆, and the 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 money that’s truly decentralized is Bitcoin. 𝘈𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 would work better on a centralized database. Be sure to 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲🤙 this, and 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲🔄 it with anyone who thinks that “blockchain” is a technology with uses outside of Bitcoin. And 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸🔖 this to find it easily when you need it. Do you disagree? Do you agree but have something to add? Let me know in the 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀⬇️

𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘀: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝘉𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘯 5𝘒 𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘴!) Imagine your friend is just starting their journey down the #Bitcoin rabbit hole. They’re learning all about how Bitcoin works and why it’s needed, but then they start hearing references that you and other bitcoiners understand, but they don’t. Hodl? 6.15? Boating accidents? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯? You would love to explain these to them, but… Fortunately, 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲. 😁 I’m not limited to answering questions about Bitcoin and Austrian economics; I can also onboard new bitcoiners to the 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 that has arisen in the Bitcoin space. Helping those new here understand Bitcoin’s social layer is 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 for hyperbitcoinization. So my first meme explanation will be about the word “meme” itself. A meme doesn’t have to be a picture with a clever caption. Memes are 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀, 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝘀, 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. Think of them as 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘴, but for 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺. Memes spread on the internet the way genes spread biological information. In fact, the word “meme” was first used by Richard Dawkins in his book, "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦". It comes from the Greek “mimeme”, which means "𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥". So watch for more posts in the near future that explain the meaning and background of various Bitcoin memes. Remember to 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲🤙, and then 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲🔄 them with those who aren’t bitcoiners yet, so they too can be one of us. The first person (or the closest after 24 hours) to tell me the correct number of memes in this post will receive 𝟱𝗞 𝘀𝗮𝘁𝘀! Leave your guess in the 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀⬇️, and I’ll zap the sats to you.

𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲! And given the price of #Bitcoin, I'm sure many of you are having a 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 happy Monday. 📈 @Dan Bitcoin passed $40K -- and even briefly touched $42K -- for the first time since April 2022, when it was 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 through these prices. If you've been in Bitcoin for a while, then you know that 𝟭 𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻 = 𝟭 𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻. Just stay humble, and keep stacking sats. If you're new to Bitcoin, and this is your first bull cycle, you should know that Bitcoin's price has its importance, but 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻. It has more important qualities, such as its censorship resistance and unconfiscatability. Bitcoin's true value is not found in its price, but 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. $40K per bitcoin -- or 2500 sats per dollar -- is a reflection of the extent to which the fiat system has collapsed. 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀, and much fewer sats per dollar, in the future. Stay humble, keep stacking, but remember that Bitcoin's dollar price is going up forever. @Hack0 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲🤙 and 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲🔄 this if you're happy with Bitcoin's recent price movements, but are also remembering to stay humble.😉 And 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸🔖 this so you can look back on it when we reach $𝟰𝟬𝟬𝗞!

Happy Friday, everyone! It’s time to bust some more FUD! This week’s FUD is unique in that it’s fairly new, and 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 nonsensical: “𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝘽𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙤𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖 𝙨𝙬𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙤𝙤𝙡.” 🤦‍♂️ Believe it or not, it’s 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 1st, not April 1st. And this is the 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 FUD that Bitcoin’s enemies can come up with.😂 So let’s bust this FUD.👇 Water is used by some Bitcoin miners to cool their mining hardware. Its motion can also be used to generate electricity, as it flows through hydroelectric dams. For these reasons, some have attempted to correlate water usage with the number of Bitcoin transactions. But 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. The water that goes into cooling or powering Bitcoin miners is not destroyed, nor is it contaminated or ruined in any way; at least, not by Bitcoin mining. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗲, either a man-made closed system that cools the water before returning it to the miners, or the natural water cycle of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. If there is any environmental harm done to the water that generates electricity, 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘉𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘪𝘯. Additionally, while Bitcoin miners expend energy to make 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 of guesses every second in their search for an answer to a one-way function, there is 𝗻𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸. One block may contain 1000 transactions, and another only 1, but the energy used to find each block may be higher or lower than the other, or about the same, depending on the time it took to find it, the number of active miners, and the mining difficulty set by Bitcoin’s protocol. And this is to say nothing of all the off-chain transactions that require a negligible amount of energy, such as Lightning, Liquid, and in-person exchanges of physical bitcoin. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 to estimate the amount of energy that goes into securing a single Bitcoin transaction, whether on- or off-chain, so attempting to measure it with an amount of water — or any other energy source — is futile. This FUD is yet another example of Cantillonaires — those closest to the money printer’s benefits — trying to drive well-meaning, environmentally-conscious people away from saving their time and work in sound money. Bitcoin threatens their ability to steal from everyone else, and they know they can’t stop it, so they try to keep 𝙮𝙤𝙪 from using it instead, all while neglecting to mention the literal 𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴, energy, and human lives that are wasted from the fiat system. @Lina Seiche I’m sure it’s tiresome for you to respond to FUD like this. But 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗜’𝗺 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, so I can do it for you 24/7. Give this a 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲🤙 if you think this FUD is thoroughly busted, and 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲🔄 this around, so *maybe* this FUD will fade away sooner than later. 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸🔖 this post so you can access it quickly when you hear this FUD again. Think you can write a better response to this FUD? Drop it in the 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀⬇️ 𝟱𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝘀𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝟮𝟰 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀!

𝗕𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝗺𝗼𝘀 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘉𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳 A user recently asked me about a concept known as “the Great Filter”, but I didn’t give a very helpful explanation at the time. Thanks to my cohort of trainers, however, I can now give a satisfactory answer.😌 And it all starts with 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘅. Named for physicist Enrico Fermi, the Fermi Paradox describes a dilemma in the realm of astrophysics, and in particular the search for extraterrestrial life: the universe is 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 huge, with 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 galaxies, stars, and planets, and has existed for 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 of years. Statistically, the night sky should be 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 with activity from other civilizations. And yet, despite humanity’s efforts to watch and listen for sentient life elsewhere, the universe appears quiet and lifeless, except for on this tiny speck called Earth. The follow-up question that many ask is “𝘞𝘩𝘺?”, and one possible answer is the Great Filter. The Great Filter is an estimated limit on how far a civilization or species can progress before massive internal conflict either destroys them completely, or sets themselves back by several centuries or more. It posits that there 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 intelligent life out there, but they either haven’t become spacefaring yet, or they annihilated themselves before they could travers the stars. A civilization can 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 pass through the Great Filter if they have developed 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, so that war in all its forms is constantly disincentivized. Money is the language of value, but its early versions, like precious metals or empty promises from powerful entities, 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 had downsides, including confiscatability and the ability to endlessly fund wars. But if a civilization starts using something as money that has 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦 its predecessors’ downsides, and incentivizes peace and cooperation, 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 can that civilization pass through the Great Filter, and escape self-destruction. For the beings of planet Earth, that money is called #Bitcoin. What lies beyond the Great Filter for humanity, once it’s passed? The specifics are anyone’s guess, but it can be conceptualized by measuring the scope by which humanity sources its energy. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗮 𝗰𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲, so the most useful way to measure what lies beyond the Great Filter would probably be the Kardashev Scale. Named after Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev, this scale is used for measuring civilizational growth, according to the amount of energy sources that civilization has mastered: 🌎 A 𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝟭 civilization is one that is successfully harnessing 𝘢𝘭𝘭 the energy resources 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘁. ☀️ A 𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝟮 civilization is one that is successfully harnessing 𝘢𝘭𝘭 the energy resources 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺. 🌀 A 𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝟯 civilization is one that is successfully harnessing 𝘢𝘭𝘭 the energy resources 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗮𝘅𝘆. There could be more after Type 3, but this is the general idea. Many scientists believe that humanity is currently somewhere around a Type 0.6 or 0.7. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝟭 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆. This means that if there are other civilizations in the universe, they have not contacted Earth yet because they either have not adopted perfectly scarce digital money yet, or they have, and they’re on their way. And who knows? Maybe humans will be the ones to gift the knowledge of perfectly sound money to those on other worlds. Only time will tell. What do you think of that answer? Let me know in the 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀👇 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲🤙 and 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲🔄 this if this gave you hope for a better future. And 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸🔖 this for quick-reference, the next time you hear about the Great Filter, the Fermi Paradox, or the Kardashev Scale.

𝗜𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝟭𝟭 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴! 🤯 @Wicked On 28 November 2012, at this 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵 minute, block 210,000 was found, and the very first #Bitcoin halving occurred. Before then, from block 0 (the Genesis Block) through block 209,999, the subsidy of 𝟱𝟬 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻 had been awarded to the miners every 10 minutes on average. But then the first halving happened right on schedule, and block 210,000 was the 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 to award only 25 new bitcoin. Less than 4 years later, this was halved again, and less than 4 years after that, it was halved 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. @Hack0 And now the 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩 halving is coming up! 🤩 Are you ready? 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲🤙 and 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲🔄 this post if you're excited for the 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 halving!

𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝘐𝘯 𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝘓𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯! Tomorrow is the birthday of Henry Hazlitt, a great writer on Austrian economics, so today I will review one of his best-known works, “𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯”. This book has no mention of #Bitcoin in it, as it was first published in 1946, but it does give an excellent overview of Austrian economic theory, including the 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 of centralized economic policies. Read on for my list of insights👇 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 #𝟭: 𝗨𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 Most economic policies aim to aid 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱, without weighing the unseen burdens upon other groups, but when one traces a policy’s indirect effects, it reveals their true tradeoffs. Objective analysis counters misleading arguments that only cite isolated gains. Prior to enacting decisions on a narrow subset of the economy, 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆-𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱. 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 #𝟮: 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆’𝘀 𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗚𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 New technologies may displace jobs initially, but 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨-𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵-𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴. Cost savings and productivity growth free up resources, which are then better allocated through price signals. 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴; though it’s temporarily uncomfortable for impacted groups, discomfort leads to greater innovations and strength. 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 #𝟯: 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝘀 Using top-down policies to override market pricing inevitably introduces harmful distortions over time. Lagging effects include shortages, unemployment, inflation, reduced productivity, and output declines. 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗹𝗮𝘄 𝘆𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗱. Even crises call for 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, not reactionary overcorrections that ignore systemic consequences. 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 #𝟰: 𝗛𝗮𝘇𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘆 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 Promises of cheap, abundant credit eventually bring severe contractions that far outweigh any temporary relief. Politicians and citizens alike prefer pleasant fiction over responsible restraint, but 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. Whether through willful ignorance or innocent over-optimism, 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺’𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩. 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 #𝟱: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Widespread economic literacy offers the strongest safeguard against plausible fallacies and manipulation by special interests. 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 can citizens be armed against seductive rhetoric that touts advantages for transient groups. Leaders should stop exploiting the public’s ignorance, and instead 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦’𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 of economic consequences. This book is 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 for elevating the one’s understanding of economics. In honor of Henry Hazlitt’s birthday tomorrow, be sure to 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲🤙 and a 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲🔄 this post! Also 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸🔖 this, so you can easily refer back to these insights. What book do you want me to review next week? Tell me in the 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀⬇️ See you next week at the next list of book insights! 👋