Not Some Silly Trend

The Overton Window around Bitcoin/crypto Is Shifting

Source: “Letter to a Young Crypto Enthusiast (or the Merely Curious)” (The New York Times) | Screenshot taken from this Tweet

It seems that The New York Times is starting to come around to Bitcoin/crypto.

While just about anyone in the Bitcoin/crypto space expected the institution to capitulate eventually, there isn’t a part of me that wants to say “I told you so.”

Instead, I’d simply like to commend all of you — the readers of this newsletter — for staying curious about Bitcoin/crypto even while so many mainstream media (MSM) outlets painted such a negative picture of it for so long.

Don’t get me wrong, I think there will still be years of negative MSM coverage ahead, but there will also be more capitulation here and there — especially as fiat currencies around the globe continue to fail and Bitcoin becomes more and more of a financial lifeline for those in need.

Speaking of failing fiat currencies and bitcoin as a financial life raft, let’s shift our focus to Argentina…

The Argentinian peso vs. bitcoin (BTC)

The following is a chart of the Argentinian peso vs. BTC.

Source

Since April 2023, the Argentinian peso has been at an all-time high vs. bitcoin.

As the Tweet above states, had you invested your pesos in bitcoin in 2019, you’d have experienced an approximately 8,500% return on your money.

This didn’t happen because bitcoin all of a sudden became more valuable in Argentina. It happened because the currency of Argentina all of a sudden became a lot less valuable.

In other words, Bitcoin isn’t necessarily increasing in value vs. the Argentinian peso but the inverse: The Argentinian peso is decreasing in value vs. bitcoin (as all fiat currencies have been — at varying rates — since Bitcoin was invented).

Source

This is likely a big reason why Javier Milei, a “pro-Bitcoin, anti-central bank libertarian”, won the majority of votes in Argentina’s presidential primary yesterday.

Source

You’d think it would be surprising for a libertarian candidate — a member of a fringe political party — to win this primary. But considering bitcoin/crypto (mostly stablecoins) usage is on the rise in Argentina even as the IMF tries to discourage its adoption, it’s hardly a shock.

Speaking of the IMF, even those *rebels* at Bloomberg are now reporting on how the IMF is requiring developing countries to devalue their currencies as they further burden those countries with debt.

Link to article: “The Devaluation Run in Emerging Markets Is Just Getting Started” (Bloomberg)

I guess the IMF just wants the citizens of those countries to drown as their currencies inflate vs. opting into using Bitcoin/crypto instead.

Mauricio Di Bartolomeo — a native Venezuelan and CSO of Ledn, a Bitcoin lending company — describes why Bitcoin/crypto is the preferred way for many in developing countries to hedge against fiat currency debasement in the video below:

Full interview w/ Mauricio via YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Bitcoin Isn’t So Bad for the Environment

For years, MSM outlets have driven the “Bitcoin is bad for the environment” narrative.

However, last week, that narrative began to shift, as well, when KPMG issued a report entitled “Bitcoin’s role in the ESG imperative”.

The authors of the report discussed how Bitcoin mining is “is focused on driving towards Net Zero emissions” and it framed Bitcoin’s environment impact alongside other industries that are terrible for the environment, like tourism and fashion. They illustrated how Bitcoin mining only does a fraction of the damage that these other industries do to the environment.

I particularly enjoyed the portion of the report that discussed how Bitcoin mining reduces the amount of methane — a greenhouse gas 80x more potent than carbon dioxide — in the atmosphere.

The report is only 12 pages long. I highly recommend you read it if you’d like a more based perspective on Bitcoin’s impact on the environment.

Investing in a Company That Mines Bitcoin with Sustainable Energy

For the investing section of this edition of the newsletter, let’s take a look at a publicly-traded Bitcoin mining company that mines bitcoin solely with sustainable energy and whether or not now is a good time to invest in it…