BitcoinFriday on Nostr: 🧠Quote(s) of the week: Ferguson’s Law states that any great power that spends ...

🧠Quote(s) of the week:

Ferguson’s Law states that any great power that spends more on debt service (interest payments on the national debt) than on defense will not stay great for very long. True of Hapsburg Spain, true of ancien régime France, true of the Ottoman Empire, true of the British Empire. -Niall Ferguson

🧡Bitcoin news🧡
I want to start the Weekly Recap with a picture & a story. Someone posted the following quote/picture: (Picture 1)

What can you learn from this? His fundamental mistake was not gaining the understanding that Bitcoin differs from, and is superior to all CrYpTO.

‘This guy probably would’ve had a cost basis below $10k had he just started regularly dollar cost averaging into Bitcoin instead of trading shitcoins. The shortcut IS saving in Bitcoin.’ — w_s_bitcoin (npub14uh…ez89)

That's because CrYpTo isn't Bitcoin. If he were saving in Bitcoin since 2017, he would be retired.
Let me explain that with data:
If he bought Bitcoin in 2017 at the pico top he’d be up 300% right now
if he bought Bitcoin in 2017 at the bottom he’d be up 8,500% right now

Yikes! Anyway let's continue:

17th of June:
➡️SEC's chief of the crypto asset enforcement division David Hirsch has left the role.
The timing of these things is almost like a script. weird, huh? Probably he will be hired by a financial corporation to lobby their 'CrYpTo' division.

➡️BlackRock CEO Larry Fink: "No matter how much we tax, cut, or reduce debt, it will not be enough. Building new infrastructure is critical." -Simply Bitcoin
When he mentions new infrastructure, what do you think he means? CBDCs? Or Bitcoin? Is that why they're buying Bitcoin?

➡️'Daily active Bitcoin addresses fell from 700K to 613K in the past month.' - Bitcoin News

19th of June:
➡️'Bitcoin illiquid supply has increased since May, suggesting investors are choosing to hodl rather than trade.' -Bitcoin News

➡️'Cleanspark announces the acquisition of five new Bitcoin mining facilities in Georgia for $25.8M.
The deal will boost Cleanspark's operational hashrate to +20 EH/s by the end of June.' -Bitcoin News

➡️'People think DCAing forever into the S&P 500 is much safer than Bitcoin.
I question that severely. ~7% of your portfolio is now Nvidia, another 30% are mega-cap US tech, and the remaining 63% are just zombie companies.' - Joe Burnett

➡️'Bitcoin mining distribution worldwide.' -Blockware (Picture 2)

20th of June:
'Bitcoin miner reserves fell to 1.90M BTC, the lowest level in the last 14 years.' - Bitcoin News

➡️International Business Times says Bitcoin mining can help achieve “net zero by 2050,"
This is a mainstream media channel, based in NY. It’s a well-researched article on Bitcoin mining, aware of contemporary research including:
👉🏽Cornell study showing bitcoin can create “a self-sustaining cycle for renewable energy expansion”
👉🏽Digital Assets Research Institute study showing Bitcoinwell-researched uses 54.5% sustainable sources
👉🏽Various studies show Bitcoin mining can turn [wasted] “Excess Energy Into Economic Value”
Source: https://www.ibtimes.com/southeast-asia-can-turn-excess-energy-economic-value-through-bitcoin-mining-expert-3734777

➡️MicroStrategy just bought $786 MILLION Bitcoin at an average cost of $65,883.
They acquired 11,931 more Bitcoin and continued their unwavering strategy of accumulating BTC. With this latest purchase, the company's total holdings now stand at approximately 226,331 Bitcoin.

➡️Winklevoss twins donated 30 Bitcoin worth +$2 Million to Donald Trump’s campaign to "put an end to the Biden Admin's war on crypto."
On one hand, my first reaction is why on earth would you give away your precious Bitcoin to any politician? But on the other hand, it's kinda a power move. Bitcoin is now political. Bitcoin is now a topic in the upcoming US election.
The reasoning is worth the read: https://x.com/tyler/status/1803872859938549920

➡️'Michael Dell, CEO of multi-billion dollar tech firm Dell Technologies, just dipped his toes into the Bitcoin waters, and this recent jest did make a splash.
It all started when Dell tweeted “Scarcity creates value.” Enter Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy’s possibly Bitcoin-obsessed executive chairman, who couldn’t resist chiming in with a hashtagged reply saying “Bitcoin is Digital Scarcity.” Dell, apparently intrigued, hit that retweet button faster than you can say “blockchain.”
The real kicker here is this: Dell later shared a meme of Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster, probably generated by AI or photoshopped to show the blue fuzzball munching on Bitcoin instead of his usual chocolate chip treats.
Dell Technologies is sitting comfortably with $34.6 billion in current assets (including a not-too-shabby $5.8 billion in cash), there’s no mention of Bitcoin anywhere in their recent filings. So, for now, this looks more like a playful flirtation than a full-on pursuit of Bitcoin.' - Crypto Briefing (Picture 3)

If Dell were to implement a Bitcoin treasury strategy, it would be by far the largest corporation to do so. As a founder-CEO-led company, Dell has the visionary leadership required to make such a bold move. Although we all know that cash is like a melting ice cube.

22nd of June:
➡️Bitcoin dips 3,5% as the German government sells $325 million BTC over two days. This, and that total outflows last week was $544.1 million.

24th of June:
➡️Mt. Gox will begin Bitcoin repayments starting at the beginning of July 2024.

➡️Metaplanet issues ¥1 billion in 0.5% bonds; proceeds to fund additional purchases of $BTC.

💸Traditional Finance / Macro:
On the 19th of June:
👉🏽 Nvidia is now larger than:
1. GDP of every country in the world except 7
2. The entire Crypto market combined
3. 5x the market cap of Tesla
4. 6x the market cap of Walmart
5. The market cap of the entire French stock market
6. Canada's GDP plus $1.2 trillion in cash
7. 13x the market cap of AMD
8. 3x the GDP of the city of Los Angeles
9. Amazon and Berkshire Hathaway COMBINED
10. Collective net worth of the 12 richest people in the world

Nvidia's market cap is now worth more than the entire US oil and gas industry.
It's also worth more than every building in New York City COMBINED.
Since October 2023, Nvidia has added $2.3 TRILLION in market cap.

Funny stat: Nvidia insiders are selling the stock at the fastest pace in years.
Jensen Huang just sold another $31 million of NVDA. That brings his total sales this week to over $90 million. It’s his largest cluster of sales in 19 years. But bear in mind this is just a tiny fraction of his total holdings. Shit, I would sell some if I had some.

🏦Banks:
👉🏽 No news

🌎Macro/Geopolitics:

Let's start this segment with a the quote:
'Ferguson’s Law states that any great power that spends more on debt service (interest payments on the national debt) than on defense will not stay great for very long. True of Hapsburg Spain, true of ancien régime France, true of the Ottoman Empire, true of the British Empire.' -Niall Ferguson

On the 17th of June:
👉'The US Treasury estimates net interest costs on federal debt will hit a record $890 billion in 2024.
This would be $331 billion higher than a year ago and almost double the amount from 2022.
To put this into perspective, net interest expenses will be ~3% of the ENTIRE US GDP, the highest in over 30 years and higher than World War II levels.
On a non-net basis, interest payments have already surpassed $1 trillion when annualized.
Total interest payments are set to reach as high as $1.6 trillion by the end of the year if the Fed does not cut rates.
The debt crisis is an understatement.' - TKL (Picture 4)

On the 18th of June:
👉'The Bank of England pays out so much interest on bank reserves that it impacts the UK’s fiscal situation. This is part of the overall “fiscal dominance” situation and is common to many countries, but accounting treatments differ.' - Lyn Alden

The UK but also other countries are now spending more and more tax revenue on past debt rather than on future growth.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-13/boe-reserves-enter-uk-election-debate-as-politicians-chase-cash

👉🏽 On this day the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) boots the 2024 US budget deficit estimate to 1.9$T from 1.5$T.
Classic! What is 0.4T between friends, right?
CBO's 10-year projections have historically underestimated federal debt by an average of 58% (using data from 2006-2023).
Thus, their $50 trillion deficit estimate is more than likely to actually be $75T. Oh, how I love data!

On the 19th of June:
(Picture 5)
👉'RE: The Goldman report on foreign UST demand, a picture is worth 1,000 words:
Total US Federal debt 1990-present in blue.
Total foreign holdings of USTs in green.
Foreign official (CB) holdings of USTs in red.
"Mind the Gap".' - Luke Gromen

So you might wonder who is buying all of the debt (USTs)? The answer is simple:
The Fed, US banks, US retail.
Hard to get inflation under control when the gap is being filled in with the printing press...

👉'Japan's biggest banks (Norinchukin is Japan's 5th largest bank with $840 billion in assets) today the proverbial canary stepped on a neutron bomb inside the Japanese coalmine because according to Nikkei, Norinchukin Bank "will sell more than 10 trillion yen ($63 billion) of its holdings of U.S. and European government bonds during the year ending March 2025 as it aims to stem its losses from bets on low-yield foreign bonds, a main cause of its deteriorating balance sheet, and lower the risks associated with holding foreign government bonds.' -Zerohedge
Source: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/music-just-stopped-banking-giant-norinchukin-liquidate-63-billion-treasuries-and-european

Is this the reason why the Japanese Yen is against the dollar hitting levels not seen since 1990?
Now just read the headlines above again and ask yourself: Is this the reason why better should a bit own Bitcoin?

If not, just read the following statement:

👉'The US debt stampede is back: federal debt jumps by $70BN in one day to a record $34.750 trillion, the biggest one-day jump since February.' - Zerohedge

👉🏽 'UK inflation has dropped to the magic level of 2.0%! The last time UK inflation was at the target of the Bank of England was three years ago.
So expect central bank policymakers to cheer their achievement but not to say a word about the fact that consumer prices rose by a staggering 21% in those three years.
For central banks, the arbitrarily chosen 12-month rate of change in prices is the only thing that counts.
The good news is that this will open the door to rate cuts, providing more liquidity for financial markets.' -Jeroen Blokland

On the 21st of June:
👉🏽'To meet reformed EU fiscal rules, Italy and France would have to go for fiscal consolidations over 2025-2028 that are larger than during the Euro Crisis (2011-2014). Spain has to do about half.
Do we properly remember the effects and political debates of €zone austerity?' - Phillip Heimberger (Picture 6)

Remember Draghi, former ECB president 'Whatever it takes'. The above is just another example of a one-size-fits-all approach that does not work.

🎁If you have made it this far I would like to give you a little gift:
I want to give you two video's.
First video Jack Mallers: There is no second Best (BTC Prague 2024 Keynote)
“A failure to understand proof of work is a failure to understand Bitcoin.”
Jack opens his keynote with this quote by Gigi, and closes this comparison of bitcoin and altcoins: “We can't decide for you. We can educate you.” — Jack Mallers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--IFcOIEfl4&t=510s

Second video Lyn Alden: Lyn Alden is a macroeconomist and investment strategist. In this interview, they discuss the role of the Fed and central banks, fractional reserve vs free banking, how bitcoin could change these dynamics and if we should actually end the Federal Reserve System.
“We actually now have ways to do fast settlement…payments and settlements that can’t be reversed, it’s starting to show that maybe you actually don’t even need a central bank.” — Lyn Alden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdEJHUqT0XE

Only invest in Bitcoin what you can’t afford to have gradually stolen from you by the government.

Credit: I have used multiple sources!
My savings account: Bitcoin
The tool I recommend for setting up a Bitcoin savings plan: @Relai 🇨🇭 especially suited for beginners or people who want to invest in Bitcoin with an automated investment plan once a week or monthly. Hence a DCA, Dollar cost Average Strategy. Check out my tutorial post (Instagram) & video (YouTube) for more info.⠀⠀⠀⠀

Get your Bitcoin out of exchanges. Save them on a hardware wallet, run your own node...be your own bank. Not your keys, not your coins. It's that simple.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

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