#280—The oldest blockchain goes mainstream

Also, a faster, better dollar

Jan 08, 2024

Welcome to Yaka Stuff, our weekly newsletter that covers news, industry perspectives, and updates from the Hard Yaka ecosystem. Check out our last report here.

This week:

Bitcoin goes mainstream
A faster, better dollar
From the ecosystem: TransferGo - Never Forget Home
Stuff happens

1. Bitcoin goes mainstream

Fifteen years after Satoshi wrote its white paper, it looks like Bitcoin is finally going mainstream with the expectation of the SEC’s approval of a spot ETF right around the corner.

Born in the shadow of the Great Financial Crisis, its creation was, in part, a response to the financial establishment. The world’s esteemed global banks had dropped the ball. Regulators hadn’t paid enough attention. And taxpayers were ultimately left holding the bag.

To keep the machine humming, central banks engaged in unprecedented money printing with a newly concocted toolkit.

Those actions were necessary to prevent global collapse, but it was also a wake up call. The world of money and finance wasn’t on the firmest of ground.

There were also consequences to those actions. Governments, companies, and individuals were further enticed to spend beyond their means. Money was cheap.

Bitcoin and the resulting movement it inspired was the antithesis of all of that. The status quo required a sense of trust—that our money was being thoughtfully managed. Bitcoin had no such managers—that trust was embedded in its code, its supply predetermined.

It also scratched a couple of key itches.

We live in a world of instant. We expect to be able to order a car or groceries with the push of a button. As such, we also expect our money to be digital and programmable. It should be accessible, fast, and cheap. Bitcoin was the first true digitally native representation of value. It would also pave the way for programmable variants in the near future.

The double edged sword to the digital and programmable life is that it’s easy to lose a sense of ownership. Everything is a subscription these days. (That includes cars!) Bitcoin was able to achieve this magical middle ground. It’s digital and programmable and yet completely sovereign. If you own some, it’s yours, and no one can take it away from you.

At a time when it feels like the world is becoming evermore chaotic, those qualities have never been more in demand.

Banks rightfully get a lot of flack when they don’t properly manage risk, but ultimately, they’re like any other business. They need to follow the demand of their customers.

And so some of the same financial institutions that helped catalyze its creation are now hopping on its bandwagon.

Bitcoin is growing up.

One final point. The best thing about Bitcoin is that it’s not all about Bitcoin.

Its existence pushes improvement across the financial ecosystem including the venerable U.S. dollar—just as its existence is forcing some governments to rethink their own monetary products and policies.

Today, USD exists across platforms and blockchains in many forms—some better than others. In that sense, the U.S. dollar has never been better in terms of access, speed, and cost.

For the people around the world that demand those dollars for one reason or another, that can only be a good thing.

Relevant:

2. A faster, better, dollar

Speaking of which, Fintech Recap invited the Fed’s Chief Payments Executive Mark Gould on its podcast over the summer (via Jun Hiraga). Check it out.

USBC

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