Always the unexpected in fiatland.
Not a Polar Bear
somersetben@evocomp.co.uk
npub13wpu...qpdr
Not a Polar Bear, who went from Electronics -> Software -> Databases -> Monetary Systems.
We all love graphs that go to the right and up: the plot at polarbitcoin.net does that by design (it rotates the chart every year) but right now with #Bitcoin at an ATH we can feel pleased with how all our #BTC charts look.
One dollar buys…
I have a vague idea for…
An app to use at #Bitcoin meet-ups. It would look for other instances of the app and then automatically mix all the #BTC made available. Maybe participants could have two wallets, one for sending and one for receiving.
Just saying. I’m not sure if this would be useful in the real world. 🤔
We went away for the weekend and found this. Oh dear…
My super simplistic view on the failing Bond Market
1) Government
- needs to borrow $1,000
- offers a bond at 5%
- will offer 5% interest and return your money after 5 years
- the deal: you will get $1250 ($1000 + $250)
2) Bond Holder A
- accepts deal but…
- later thinks government will default on the debt or…
- can earn more than $1250 elsewhere. So…
- cuts losses and sells bond for $800 to Bond Holder B
3) Bond Holder B
- has a new deal: $250 on $800 = 6.25%
4) Government
- needs to borrow another $1,000 but…
- must match the market expectation of 6.25% which…
- convinces more bond holders that the government will default.
5) Rinse and repeat.
Ok-ish?
**A New Investment Paradigm**
For over a century, the dominant motivation for investing has been simple: grow capital and protect it against inflation. From individual savers to trillion-dollar institutions, the goal was to generate a return that at least exceeded the pace at which fiat currencies lost their value. Asset managers built empires on this promise, offering portfolios and strategies to outpace inflation. But what happens when the rules change—when the need to constantly grow wealth to preserve it begins to fade?
Enter #Bitcoin. With its fixed supply, decentralized nature, and resistance to monetary manipulation, Bitcoin represents a new kind of store of value—one that could fundamentally shift why and how we invest.
**The Inflation Imperative: Why We Invest Today**
Traditional investment has been anchored in the reality of inflation. As central banks print money and purchasing power erodes, savers are incentivized to place their capital in assets that grow in value: stocks, bonds, real estate, and increasingly, alternatives. The entire apparatus of modern investing—funds, benchmarks, passive ETFs, active management—is a response to this inflationary pressure.
Asset managers like BlackRock and Vanguard thrive because they provide the infrastructure and insight necessary to preserve and grow wealth in this inflationary environment. Their job is not just to earn returns—it’s to avoid loss via erosion.
**Bitcoin as a Store of Value**
Bitcoin breaks this model. With a hard cap of 21 million coins and no central authority to inflate its supply, Bitcoin offers a value proposition that fiat currencies and even gold cannot: predictability and scarcity. Its decentralized, borderless nature makes it difficult to confiscate or manipulate, and its growing adoption suggests it may increasingly function as a global monetary base.
For investors, this changes the game. If one can hold Bitcoin and preserve wealth without the need for complex portfolios or exposure to volatile markets, then the rationale behind traditional investment begins to weaken. The default action becomes to hold, not to seek returns.
**Investing Beyond Money: The Rise of Purpose-Driven Capital**
In a world where holding Bitcoin is enough to preserve wealth, the question shifts from "How do I protect my money?" to "What is worth investing in?"
This opens the door to purpose-driven capital. Rather than chasing ROI to beat inflation, investors may begin to fund projects and companies that reflect their values, passions, or long-term vision for society. This includes:
- Renewable energy and climate tech
- Social equity initiatives
- Open-source technologies
- Community infrastructure
- Space, biotech, and frontier science
The motivation is not just profit—it’s impact. The metrics become more qualitative: legacy, meaning, contribution.
**The Crisis and Opportunity for Asset Managers**
This shift poses an existential threat to traditional asset managers. If wealth preservation can be achieved by simply holding Bitcoin, the value of complex, fee-laden portfolios diminishes. Large firms like BlackRock must pivot or risk irrelevance.
But there is an opportunity. These institutions can reposition themselves as brokers of purpose:
- Curating portfolios of values-aligned, impactful investments
- Offering tools to measure non-financial returns (e.g., carbon offsets, social impact)
- Advising clients on how to align capital with conscience
In this new role, the asset manager is not just a financial engineer—they are a guide in a moral, social, and philosophical investment journey.
**A New Financial Archetype: The Investment Philosopher**
The next generation of financial advisors may look less like Wall Street traders and more like investment philosophers. They will help clients navigate questions such as:
- What causes do I care about?
- What kind of world do I want my capital to build?
- How can I measure satisfaction beyond returns?
This is already emerging in impact investing, ESG mandates, and regenerative finance. Bitcoin simply accelerates the transition by removing the "survival pressure" of beating inflation.
**Risks and Counterpoints**
Of course, Bitcoin is not without its challenges. Volatility remains high, regulatory uncertainty persists, and adoption is uneven. For now, traditional investments still offer diversification and yield opportunities. Moreover, many investors will still chase returns out of habit or ambition.
Governments may also impose tax policies or incentives that push capital back into conventional markets. And some may argue that a truly post-inflation world is still decades away.
Still, the direction of travel is clear: Bitcoin has planted the seed of a new investment paradigm.
**The Quiet Revolution**
Bitcoin may not loudly overthrow the financial system—but it quietly rewires the motivations behind it. In a world where money no longer leaks value over time, investing becomes a matter of meaning, not necessity.
For investors, the question becomes not just "What will this return?" but "What will this create?"
And for the financial institutions of tomorrow, survival will depend not on beating benchmarks—but on helping clients build a life—and a world—worth investing in.
I have a cunning plan to 100x my wealth - indeed the wealth of all Americans. I propose the US government abolish dollars and rename cents to dollars. Simple!
Is that the best you #BTC bears can do this time around?
Just to be clear, the spiral “bumping into itself” is just the way it's drawn. It looks bad but the increase of #BTC vs. $$$ over the last four years is just over 14% per annum. Even in our most frustrating times #Bitcoin gives a return you financial advisor would be pleased to report.
Get the latest chart at polarbitcoin.net.
Isn’t creating #BTC images with AI fun!
When this nonsense is over, #Bitcon will remain; resting on the ashes of greed.
What the heck?
This from @TFTC on the X place…
Michael Burry: The moment your interest payments exceed tax revenue, your country officially becomes a Ponzi scheme.
Never mind the $$ price fall of #Bitcoin, think in terms of percentage falls from all time highs. Look at the chart on https://polarbitcoin.net/falls-from-aths and you’ll see that the recent fall is nothing. Onwards and upwards my friends!
#BTC
It gets a bit depressing when you have to zoom out to see a year of #Bitcoin pricing to feel positive about things. Won’t #BTC do something exciting soon, please?
Why don't you wear a suit? Do you own a suit?
Wow!
I've just returned from a trip to London. It was heaving and - apart from the tourists - seemed full of people with "things to do and people to see". Particularly in Canary Wharf, a bustling business district. I posit that, on a local scale, people coalesce at a location where they can earn what they need to live and then a bit more - maybe a lot more - for a comfortable life.
Hold that thought for a second and I'll tell you that the excellent "Broken Money" by Lyn Alden was too heavy to take to London in my shoulder bag so I took the much lighter "Hidden Repression - how the IMF and World Bank sell exploitation as development" by Alex Gladstein.
"Broken Money" explains how money *can* be abused by those in power whereas "Hidden Repression" details the actual mechanism that *is* used. The developed countries are plundering the developing countries and enslaving their populations who are now looking for a way out of that perpetual poverty.
Back to London: people coalesce at a location where they can earn what they need. So the same surely applies on a global scale. Populations migrate to where a living can be made and if, by way by example, shrimp farming has destroyed a sustainable lifestyle in Bangladesh along with the environment (Gladstein chapter 1). We shouldn't be surprised if migration from Bangladesh to developing countries happens.
What if the IMF and World Bank stopped making loans to developing countries - encouraging (forcing?) them to export the necessities of a luxurious, first-world life - and gave loans to encourage real, sustainable development? Maybe people could lead sustainable and fulfilling lives in their own countries; effectively dispersing the masses from artificial concrete cities to healthier, more fulfilling locations.
By the way, I do recognise that this last point might come across as wanting to "send them home". It's not. I just don't understand why happy lives can't be lived anywhere. I certainly wouldn't be happy living and working in a concrete jungle and neither would I be happy living on land polluted by saltwater so I could grow shrimps for export and earn $1/day. Something in between would be nice. Indeed, I might try El Salvador.
Can't we just share the bounty of the earth in a more equitable fashion?
The Dollar hegemony, central banks, the IMF and the World Bank all need to go.