Oddbean

Things are moving rather quickly on the geopolitical stage and the large nations of the world are in position mode right now. While everyone was focused on the OpenAI drama over the weekend China was making moves to assert itself as a leader in the world. https://tftc.io/geopolitical-chess-board-reshuffling/

For the US to maintain global leadership, it needs to revert to its historically most potent soft power tool - liberty. But to do that will require an acknowledgment that the concept of liberty is no longer fixed in America’s popular imagination. One example of many, the discussion about the future of the financial system and Bitcoin’s role in it should not be left to regulators and bureaucrats to decide, as these are all temperamentally inclined to increase their influence at the expense of the rule of law. China’s mercantilist approach toward the world and authoritarianism at home would not be able to compete with a United States that truly lived its historical purpose of protecting liberty and allowing its people to pursue their lives according to their own will. The US fundamentally lacks the tools to beat China in a race toward better economic and social planning. But a country that embraces liberty and encourages citizens to unleash the power of their ambitions will beat a five year plan every time. And what better tool to empower those citizens than Bitcoin.

https://m.primal.net/HQrN.jpg There is also an unlikely ally shaping up for bitcoin. The commercial banking/finance sector. They are getting increasingly nervous about CBDCs and how that might drastically reduce the need for their services. Delaying CBDCs is of the essence to onboard as many bitcoiners as possible before they shut down the on-off ramps to fiat. Also in my opinion there is need for the implementation of a mixing for privacy at protocol level for every bitcoin UTXO.