We compare the U.S. dollar with Bitcoin on their key attributes to determine which is better for transactions and preserving wealth, which is most absurd and which has serious flaws.
Topics covered include:
- How are new U.S. Dollars and Bitcoin created
- How much has the supply of each currency grown
- How both the dollar and Bitcoin have had rule changes
- Why Bitcoin transactions are faster than non-cash U.S. dollar transactions
- Why both the dollar and Bitcoin require add-on layers to facilitate transactions
- How tax treatment of a currency can encourage or discourage its use for payments
- Why divisibility is a critical attribute of any currency
- Why Bitcoin has been as volatile as the Russian ruble
- Why Bitcoin is energy inefficient while having built-in incentives to use renewable energy
- What will determine the long-term viability of Bitcoin and the U.S. dollar
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Show Notes
Federal Reserve Statistical Release: H.4.1 Factors Affecting Reserve Balances of Depository Institutions and Condition Statement of Federal Reserve Banks, August 19, 2021)
Check Processing—Federal Reserve Bank of New York)
Gold Reserve Act of 1934—Federal Reserve History)
Creation of the Bretton Woods System—Federal Reserve History)
Financial Accounting Manual for Federal Reserve Banks, July 2021: Chapter 5. Federal Reserve Notes—Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System)
Financial Statements: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City; As of and for the Years Ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 and Independent Auditors’ Report)
A Complete Guide to Understanding and Protecting Against Inflation—Money For the Rest of Us)
Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System by Satoshi Nakamoto—Bitcoin)
What is a fork?—Coinbase)
Mapping the Major Bitcoin Forks by Ashley Viens—Visual Capitalist)
Total Circulating Bitcoin Chart—Blockchain)
There’s Enough Bitcoin For Everyone by Paul Opoku—Nasdaq)
Lightning Network: Scalable, Instant Bitcoin/Blockchain Transactions)
Crypto Crime Summarized: Scams and Darknet Markets Dominated 2020 by Revenue, But Ransomware Is the Bigger Story—Chainalysis)
Americans' Spending on Illicit Drugs Nears $150 Billion Annually; Appears to Rival What Is Spent on Alcohol by Beau Kilmer—RAND Corporation)
39% of PoW mining is powered by renewables – Cambridge University Cryptoasset study by Gareth Jenkinson—The Daily Chain)
Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index—Digiconomist)
The Bitcoin vs Visa Electricity Consumption Fallacy by Carlos Domingo—Hacker Noon)
El Salvador Readies Bitcoin Rollout With 200 ATMs for Conversion by Michael D McDonald—Bloomberg)
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