Ignore Trump and Biden; Focus on Bitcoin
Don't Waste Your Energy on the Boomer Circus; Preserve It with Bitcoin
Editor’s note: Please click on images of articles to read them.
Clown world reached new heights this week with the Trump v. Biden debate.
I didn’t watch it, but I heard it was quite the spectacle.
A lot of people have had a lot to say about it, mostly because they want clicks on whatever they’re saying (that includes me and the SEO move I made in including Trump and Biden in the headline for this week’s newsletter.)
But I’m not here to discuss that, mostly because I’ve realized that focusing on what I can change in the world has been much more beneficial than worrying about things over which I have little to no control.
I still vote, yes, because I’m a proponent of democracy, but I just place a lot less faith in it meaning very much.
And so this week, instead of following Time’s advice, I ask you to double down on your Bitcoin studies.
Why’s that?
Because Bitcoin is one of the greatest tools for individual empowerment that humanity has ever created. It allows you to bypass and short oppressive and non-inclusive systems. It gives you the ability to look to the future with a sense of hope.
Also, if Biden stays in power and the Biden/Warren/Gensler regime continues forward in its anti-crypto mission, then Bitcoin — especially the ability to self-custody your bitcoin — will likely remain in their crosshairs, and we’ll need more people to push back.
And if Trump wins and we’re never able to remove him from office again, then we’ll need dictator-proof money to circumvent his authoritarianism.
So, before I get into how you can continue to learn about Bitcoin this week, let me first introduce you to some people around the world who are relying on it as the systems around them fail to serve them.
Refugees in Uganda Turn to Bitcoin
This week, I wrote the following piece on the amazing work that the Bitcoin Innovation Hub is doing in Uganda.
I wrote this piece half to share how some refugees in Uganda are turning to Bitcoin because they can’t open bank accounts and half to highlight how dystopian Uganda’s United Nations-inspired National ID system is.
There’s a lot to learn in this piece about where we don’t want to go when it comes to identity systems in the modern age.
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Conflict in Kenya over Finance Bill
On Tuesday, I spoke with my friend Noelyne Sumba, a Kenyan Bitcoin proponent who works with Azteco and Machankura, about the deadly protests taking place in her home country over a finance bill.
Noelyne describes how the austerity measures that the IMF and World Bank are trying to impose on Kenyans through the current Kenyan government were the breaking point for the people of Kenya.
My interview with Noelyne was cited in the article below, which provides a great overview of what’s happening in Kenya.
To get some idea of how fed up Kenyans are, I spoke with another friend of mine in the country, Lorraine Marcel, and she shared with me that while two of her friends have been killed in the protests, she doesn’t plan to stop protesting.
Please keep the Kenyan people in your thoughts and prayers as they fight for their freedom.
Play Games, Win Bitcoin
To add a bit of levity to this week’s edition of the newsletter and to help improve your ability to obtain and use Bitcoin, I share with you the following article I published this week on the CEO of THNDR Games, a gaming platform that lets you win bitcoin just for playing games (seriously).
Here’s my favorite segment from the piece:
DISAPPEARING SATS — FOR YOUR OWN GOOD
Dickerson said that many THNDR users end up going down the proverbial Bitcoin rabbit hole, in part because THNDR prompts them to.
“We have a three day expiration on prizes, and if you don't cash those prizes out, you lose them,” said Dickerson.
“You have to download a [Lightning] wallet if you want your prizes. We are getting people partially down the rabbit hole where they're getting a wallet on their phones. This is a big step, because 80% of our users are totally new to Bitcoin,” she added.
Dickerson added that THNDR will happily refund sats to those who’ve had theirs expire. She mentioned that users can contact THNDR to make this request.
With that said, she also noted that THNDR could have very easily written into the terms and conditions of its service that the sats that disappear after three days are gone forever. The reason it doesn’t, though, is because it wants its users to learn how Bitcoin and Lightning actually work, not just maximize profits.
“We just want people to cash out and have the sats for themselves,” said Dickerson. “That’s not a business move — it’s a Bitcoiner move.”
You’ve probably heard me talk about Lightning wallets in this newsletter, but maybe you still don’t know what they are.
THNDR provides instructions for how to download one and move the bitcoin (sats) you earn via their games into it.
And once you do that, feel free to tip your boy for turning you onto THNDR!
Alright, squad, that’s it for this week!
Big love. Big hugs. And take it ease.
Best,
Frank
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Currently reading: Resistance Money: A Philosophical Case for Bitcoin, by Andrew M. Bailey, Bradley Rettler and Craig Warmke (The first official academic text published in Bitcoin); Digital Currency or Digital or Digital Control? Decoding CBDC and the Future of Money, by Nicholas Anthony
