When I first started out stacking metals I didn’t know anything about responsible self-custody. I would buy a few coins, leave them in the plastic sleeve and shove them in a drawer somewhere.

I was excited about getting started and completely unprepared. And, looking back, it’s understandable. Few stackers publicly talk about how they keep their metals safe for good reason: it’s safer not to talk about it. Talking about your specific security system can make you a target. But that doesn’t help those of you who are just starting out. I know it didn’t help me.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover the top 10 precious metals self-custody essentials that every smart investor, not just beginner, should consider when safeguarding their investments.

Storage and Organization

Stuffing your coins in a drawer like I did is an obvious fail. But it’s an easy trap to fall into when you don’t know what you should do. To start off, let’s organize using…

1. Coin Tubes and Boxes

Properly organizing and storing your coins is one of the most important aspects of self-custody. Coin tubes and boxes are ideal for keeping your coins separate, protected, and easily accessible. Opt for high-quality, durable materials that are designed specifically for holding precious metals to prevent any damage or tarnishing.

High-quality, inert plastics like polypropylene are a popular choice as they won’t react with the metals and cause tarnishing. Additionally, you should look for tubes and boxes that are designed specifically for the type of coins or bars you’re storing. This ensures a snug fit and prevents the coins from moving around, which could lead to scratches and other damage. Labeling your tubes and boxes with the contents and date of purchase can also help you keep your collection organized.

For the coin collectors out there, you can pick up coin books with coin inserts or clear hard plastic boxes that can protect them from tarnishing. Always seek quality protection.

2. Coin Sleeves

Coin sleeves (also called wrappers) offer an additional layer of organization and protection for your coins. They are designed to hold a specific number of coins, making it easy to track your inventory and keep your collection in order.

They are available in various materials, including paper and plastic. While paper sleeves are more affordable, they may not provide the same level of protection as plastic sleeves. When selecting coin sleeves, ensure that they are made from inert materials that won’t damage your coins. Additionally, it’s a good idea to label your sleeves with the type of coin, denomination, and date to help you keep track of your collection.

Sleeves are also great for holding your rolls of Constitutional Silver: half-dollars, quarters, dimes, etc. They make it easy to know how much you have per roll at a glance.

Protection and Security

Once you’ve got your coins nice and organized, you’ve got to put them some place…

3. Safe

A sturdy and secure safe is crucial for protecting your precious metals investments. You’ll want to choose a safe that is fire-resistant, waterproof, and has a high-quality locking system. Consider the size and weight of your collection when selecting a safe, and try to bolt it to the floor or install it in a wall for added security. If you live in an apartment, bolting something to the floor is probably a no go. In that case, a heavy safe should suffice: use your best judgment.

When it comes to safes, they can range from simple to super high tech. Some have built-in dehumidifiers to prevent moisture from damaging anything inside, touch screens, and mobile unlocking features. Again, this is up to what you want to consider. Many stackers opt for the tried and true standing gun case for self-custody. It’s up to you.

4. Insurance

Insurance isn’t something many beginners think of when they get started building their metal stack. In fact, many long time stackers don’t do this either, opting to keep quiet and in a safe (No judgement here. Do what works for you.). That said, insuring your precious metals investments is a smart move to protect yourself from unforeseen events like theft or natural disasters.

Contact an insurance agent who specializes in precious metals to find the best policy for your needs because some standard homeowner’s insurance policies may not cover the full value of your collection or may have specific exclusions related to precious metals. Discuss your needs with your insurance agent and consider adding a specialized rider or separate policy to ensure you have adequate coverage. Keep detailed records of your investments, including receipts, photographs, and appraisals, to facilitate claims processing in case of loss or theft.

5. Security System

Your home is your castle and it’s worth defending. If you’ve spent a lifetime building wealth, you know how important it is to spend the extra cash to protect it. This is why a robust security system is an essential component of precious metals self-custody. There are lots of things to consider including using a monitored alarm system, installing motion-activated lights, and placing security cameras around your property.

Don’t skimp out on the research. There are a lot of companies out there who can set up the equipment for you or if you’re more technically inclined, there are companies that sell security products that you can set up yourself.

Protection and security can be a big topic. If you’re looking for more ideas about storing your precious metals we do a deeper dive on this topic in our article 9 Proven Ways to Store Your Precious Metals where we showcase strategies ranging from the absolute beginner to long time stackers.

Inspection and Maintenance

Once you’ve got your home castle fortified there are a few items worth picking up for long term maintenance.

6. Gloves

For the serious coin collector, gloves are a must. This is especially true if you collect numismatics or rare rounds. Handling your precious metals with bare hands can lead to tarnishing or other damage. Choose the right gloves for handling your precious metals. Look for gloves made from soft, lint-free materials like cotton or nitrile, as these will not leave behind any residue or scratch the surfaces of your coins and bars. Avoid gloves made from latex, as they can cause reactions with some metals, leading to tarnishing.

7. Cleaning Supplies

Proper cleaning and maintenance of your precious metals investments can be important for preserving their value. Most of the time, just keeping your metals in their boxes or tubes will suffice and you don’t need to worry about quality degradation. However, if you’re buying junk silver it might be worth cleaning them up a bit if they’re tarnished. Investing in high-quality cleaning supplies designed specifically for precious metals can help ensure that your coins and bars remain in pristine condition.

When cleaning your precious metals, it’s important to use cleaning supplies specifically designed for the task. Avoid abrasive materials and harsh chemicals, as these can damage your metals and decrease their value. Instead, opt for gentle cleaning solutions and soft, lint-free cloths to remove dirt, fingerprints, and other contaminants. Remember that cleaning should be done sparingly, as over-cleaning can lead to unnecessary wear and tear on your investments.

8. Metals Test Kit

A metals test kit is an essential tool for authenticating your precious metals investments. These kits typically include acid tests, electronic testers, and other tools that can help verify the purity and authenticity of your metals.

A couple notes here. When using a metals test kit, it’s essential to follow the instructions carefully to avoid damaging your precious metals. Acid tests, for example, require you to apply a small drop of acid to a scratched area of the metal to determine its authenticity. Ensure that you understand the proper procedure for each test in your kit and store the kit in a secure location away from children and pets. Regularly testing your investments helps maintain confidence in your collection’s authenticity and value.

9. Inventory System

As a beginner, this isn’t something you think of right away but at some point you’ll have a nice stack and you’ll suddenly realize you can’t count them all at a glance and a concerned feeling wash over you… “wait… how big is this stack?” Honestly, it’s a good problem to have.

Keeping track of your precious metals investments is crucial for effective self-custody. Implement a reliable inventory system, whether it’s a simple spreadsheet or specialized software, to track the details of your collection, including purchase dates, costs, and current values.

Keeping your inventory system up-to-date is vital for managing your precious metals investments effectively. Regularly update your system with new acquisitions and sales, and periodically review your holdings to assess their performance. You may also want to include information on the purchase price, current value, and any taxes or fees associated with your investments. A well-organized inventory system can also be beneficial for tax purposes, insurance claims, and estate planning. Consider backing up your inventory records in a secure digital format or off-site location to prevent loss or damage.

10. Scale, Loupe, or Magnifying Glass

A precise scale, loupe, or magnifying glass is invaluable for inspecting and authenticating your precious metals investments. These tools allow you to accurately assess the weight, details, and overall condition of your coins, bars, jewelry, or sterling silver.

When using a scale to weigh your precious metals, it’s important to choose one with a high degree of accuracy and a weight capacity appropriate for your collection. Digital scales with a readability of 0.01g or better are a popular choice for their precision and ease of use.

Coin collectors of numismatics or rare coins know the importance of a loupe or magnifying glass. They’re essential for examining the details and surface condition of your coins and bars. Look for a loupe with a magnification of at least 10x, as this will allow you to see the finer details and detect any potential issues like scratches, counterfeits, or signs of wear, or as a collector determine the rarity of a coin. Keeping these tools clean and well-maintained will ensure their accuracy and longevity.

Wrapping Up

As with anything in life, there’s no guarantees. Fortunately, with the right knowledge we can have that peace of mind by taking the thoughtful steps to get there. With proper self-custody measures in place, you can focus on growing and managing your collection, knowing that it is secure and well-maintained.

Disclaimer: First and foremost, this article wasn’t sponsored in any way. We’re writing about Alpine Gold Exchange (AGE) and the United Precious Metals Association (UPMA) because we felt inspired to do so. I’ve had an account with UPMA for some time and have been quite happy with it- yet I didn’t know or understand the connection they have with Alpine.

As sound money advocates we absolutely love finding others who share the same passion and showcasing them.

♒️

We’re extremely excited to share with you a short written interview with Ronnie Green, Vice President of Operations at Alpine Gold Exchange.

Discovering Alpine

When it comes to metals, I like to shop around. Like any passionate money bug I love the process of hunting for deals, discovering rare items, continuing my learning of monetary theory, and running across those passionate stackers who enjoy the same.

I was looking for a new place to buy Goldbacks and navigated to the main Goldbacks website as my starting point. I’ve been a huge fan of Goldbacks since their introduction and was looking for different businesses who sell them (check out our article about GB’s here). They had a list of vendors who sold them and at the top of the list was Alpine Gold Exchange.

When you typically go to metal dealer sites you usually encounter a venerable grocery store of inventory for things like bars, numismatics, Constitutional silver, and rounds. Alpine, on the other hand, really only a few options: Goldbacks, gold coins (eagles and buffalo’s), and silver eagles. That made it simple enough for me; they have a great selection of Goldbacks and prices that-

Wait… those prices…

I thought the market dropped a bit so I checked out the other shops I usually haunt and, man, Alpine’s premiums just couldn’t be beat. You’ll have to check them out for yourself. Running a coin shop often means razor thin margins so there had to be more to Alpine than being a coin dealer. I was intrigued.

Suffice it to say, I purchased more than just a Goldback.

Normally, I’d buy something and that would be the end of the story. But the post-purchase experience I had with them was worth its weight in… well… gold. You see, after my purchase, I received a personalized video thanking me from Ronnie himself. It’s one of those personal touches that I didn’t know could exist on the internet- it’s a completely different level of customer service.

It made such a huge impact that I had to know more about Alpine. So I filmed my own video and had some questions. They graciously replied.

As it turns out, selling metals is just the tip of the iceberg of what they do.

An Interview With Alpine Gold Exchange

David Black with Aquarian Metals: Please introduce yourself and describe Alpine Gold Exchange. What is the primary goal? And how does this make Alpine Gold Exchange different from other companies?

Alpine Gold Exchange (AGE): My name is Ronnie and I’m the Vice President of Operations at AGE. I’ve owned my own businesses for most of my professional career and take pride in every step of development our team makes. We are the bridge between sound money enthusiasts of old and an ever evolving financial world. Our primary goal is to allow people to use precious metals as money in all of its modern forms. It’s hard to pigeonhole us because we do offer so many benefits but we are more liquid than a traditional vaulting company, more specific than many coin stores, and more sound than many payment companies.

Aquarian Metals: How does Alpine Gold have some of the lowest prices around?

Alpine Gold Exchange: Selling metals is a small part of our business model. Our pricing is based on our opinion of a competitive but fair market price. Since our founding in 2012, our mission has been to offer and spread sound money solutions across the U.S. and the world. We offer vaulting services, leasing products, IRA solutions and much much more. Since we are more than just a coin store we are able to be competitive in price.

Aquarian Metals: I noticed on your website that Alpine Gold Exchange is “Servicing the UPMA”. What does that mean for people who don’t know what the United Precious Metals Association is? What is the relationship between Alpine Gold Exchange and UPMA?

Alpine Gold Exchange: Great catch! Alpine Gold Exchange is the exclusive service provider for the UPMA so all customer service, software development, Fulfillment, and account management is executed by Alpine Gold Exchange Employees. The UPMA has a voluntary board of directors who guide the UPMA but Alpine Gold Exchange is the hilt that supports the spear. As such it allows the two organizations to offer a complete range of solutions, and products to the world.

Aquarian Metals: To that end, if it’s something you can speak on, what is the UPMA and what does it aim to solve?

Alpine Gold Exchange: The UPMA is a non-profit organization that operates as a manager for a collection of trusts. It acts kind of like a bank in the way that bank accounts hold money and insure it for you in a secure facility, yet it is very different than a bank because all the funds in the UPMA accounts are backed 100% by precious metals. Since every new customer that signs up has their funds automatically secured in a trust, they can buy, sell, or trade metals between other members for free.

The UPMA is the tip of the spear when it comes to allowing people to use precious metals as money and is a truly scalable solution for every day transacting and for ensuring ones retirement is taken care of in a tax friendly way.

Aquarian Metals: I noticed Alpine Gold Exchange and the UPMA include options to buy Goldbacks and they are generously featured on the Alpine Gold Exchange website. While they’re relatively new to the scene, how do you see Goldbacks playing a role in the larger financial picture?

Alpine Gold Exchange: Goldbacks are definitely a relatively new solution to a problem humanity has faced for a couple thousand years. Humans have used gold as coinage or money for millennia but there’s really been little to no improvements in the “coin” technology. Today, Goldbacks offer a solution to the cash problem. They can replace paper cash and are not notes that only have value upon exchanging them, but they’re made of pure gold and ARE the value. Significant investment has been made to ensure cutting edge manufacturing techniques and processes are in place and the process is improving everyday. In fact, the main issue with Goldbacks has been scale. You need a lot of gold to make them! And Gold is expensive so they created the Goldback Lease that allows everyone to earn from the manufacturing process. Realistically, we hope to see tens of thousands of vendors accepting GB’s as currency in a couple years and become a viable alternative to fiat currency.

Aquarian Metals: Given the ever increasing global financial uncertainty we’re experiencing, how does Alpine Gold Exchange and UPMA help people protect their wealth?

Alpine Gold Exchange: I love this question because it’s the one that’s really on the forefront of everyone’s minds at the moment and is something everyone can agree upon. We live in a tumultuous period unfortunately with speculation everywhere in geopolitical events, financial markets, and more- but one thing we know for sure is Gold and Silver has been used as money since the beginning of human history. The biggest assistance is the leasing program that is available to everyone that has around $350. You can actually earn a return on the Gold you buy that is guaranteed and paid in GOLD. If a lease is started through an IRA, there are even more tax benefits to participating.

ALL metals are 100% insured through Lloyds of London. In the event of a catastrophe or some black swan event, Alpine Gold has insurance that covers all of the holdings of members. Unlike banks in the US that offer FDIC “up to $250,000.” Which, from recent experience we saw how unwilling many banks were to part with the paper money in their accounts. If there were ever a “run” on our vaults, we have everything that is held sitting in an account in stock and the member could walk away with all of their assets intact. There might be a bit of a wait in that scenario but we’ll do our best haha.

Aquarian Metals: I’m a huge fan of sound money and liberty and believe there’s a connection between the two.

Alpine Gold Exchange: Liberty is at the heart of everything we do. We all study sound money solutions various economic models and schools of thought to improve our craft and at the end of the day preserve and grow our lifes work so we can offer something to our posterity. We believe sound money is a keystone to individual freedom and hope to continue to educate and offer services for people to take advantage of.

A Sound Path Forward

As I reflect on the rich insights shared by Ronnie Green and the intriguing world of Alpine Gold Exchange and UPMA, I’m struck by the depth and dedication evident in their approach to sound money.

Their commitment to providing accessible, secure, and innovative precious metal solutions resonates deeply with me, as I’m sure it does with many of you. In an era where financial uncertainty often seems to be the only certainty, discovering organizations like Alpine Gold Exchange and UPMA, who are genuinely dedicated to empowering individuals, feels like uncovering hidden treasure.

Thank you, Ronnie, and the entire team at Alpine Gold Exchange, for not only sharing your insights but for demonstrating how businesses can and should operate with integrity, innovation, and a deep sense of community. Here’s to navigating the financial waves with wisdom, and to all the golden opportunities that lie ahead.

Let's start this off right…

Support your local Black Market.

I'm not saying support something illegal or do anything illegal. I know that's the knee jerk reaction most people have when they read something like this. So don't misconstrue anything in this article as advocating the violation of laws.

Before we get into agorism…

What is the Black Market anyway?

The black market seems like a controversial idea when, in reality, it's not.

A black market is any market that exists outside the purview of government. That's really it.

The way the government paints it is that it's where the most evil people go to do the absolute worst things in secret. The irony here, of course, is that governments have murdered hundreds of millions of people in the name of the state and have been transparent about it all along.

Let's look at some simple examples of black markets that everyone knows about but don't realize are black markets:

• Garage Sales
• Flea Markets
• Craigslist
• Facebook Marketplace
• A private online store
• Food trucks
• Trading goods or services with your neighbors

Yes, some of those require special licensing depending on where they're located, but not all do. Typically, these are cash businesses that accept paper currency, cryptocurrencies, or precious metals like Goldbacks, and most of the time, they're run by people who just want to make a better life for themselves.

Again, these "markets" are places where people usually do business outside the purview of government. You go to your neighbor's garage sale and buy their old books using the wadded up cash you have in your pocket and go home to enjoy them- no government intervention. This is how we get to agorism.

What is Agorism?

In a nutshell, agorism is the idea that we don't need some big, powerful government telling us what to do. Instead, we can just live our lives, make our own choices, and work things out with each other without needing some authority figure to step in. It's all about voluntary interactions, mutual respect, and being free to do our own thing. No coercion, no force- just people working together and figuring things out in a peaceful way.

One of the key benefits of agorism is that it allows for true financial freedom. When we're not forced to use the surveilled banking system, we can keep our transactions private and secure. This is especially important in today's world, where governments and corporations are constantly trying to collect and exploit our personal data. By using cash or cryptocurrencies, we're able to take back control of our financial information and keep it out of the hands of those who would misuse it.

This is why the black market is so important. It's not just a place where people can buy and sell goods and services; it's also a way to protect our financial privacy and security. And it's not just about buying and selling; it's about creating a more free and prosperous society.

Black Markets are Free Markets

But what about the argument that black markets are unregulated and therefore prone to exploitation and danger? This is a common misconception. In reality, many black markets have their own systems of regulation and accountability. These systems might not be as formal or bureaucratic as government regulations, but they're often more effective and responsive to consumer needs.

For example, online decentralized black markets tend to have their own systems of reputation and feedback, which allow buyers and sellers to rate each other and build trust. These systems are often more effective at preventing scams and ensuring quality than any government regulation.

The intersection of agorism and technology is a fascinating area of exploration. With the rise of cryptocurrencies, encrypted communication, and other technologies, it's become easier than ever to engage in voluntary exchanges outside of government control. Decentralized marketplaces have emerged, allowing buyers and sellers to connect directly and securely.

However, the fact that something is possible doesn't necessarily make it moral. The relationship between morality and legality is complex, and it's a topic that warrants careful consideration. Should we always follow the law, even if it's immoral? Or are there situations where it's justified to disregard the law in favor of a higher moral principle? These are questions that get to the heart of the agorist philosophy, and they require thoughtful reflection and debate.

Legality is not Morality

One of the biggest misconceptions about black markets is that they're inherently immoral or unethical. But the truth is, morality and legality are two separate things. Just because something is illegal doesn't mean it's immoral, and just because something is moral doesn't mean it's legal.

For example, the government might outlaw a certain type of drug, but that doesn't mean it's inherently immoral to use or sell that drug. In fact, many people would argue that the war on drugs is a moral travesty, and that the government's actions are causing more harm than good.

This brings us to the concept of legitimacy. Governments often claim that their authority is legitimate because it's based on the consent of the governed. But the truth is, this consent is often coerced or manufactured. People are forced to comply with government regulations and laws, not because they agree with them, but because they fear the consequences of disobedience.

Become Ungovernable

In reality, legitimacy comes from voluntary associations and exchanges between individuals. When people are free to make their own choices and live their own lives, that's when we see true legitimacy. Not when some group of bureaucrats or politicians claims to have authority over us.

So what can we do to take back control of our lives and our economy? We can start by supporting and participating in black markets, whenever and wherever possible. We can use cryptocurrencies (like Beam, Monero, Pirate Chain, and Zano) or precious metals and encrypted communication to protect our financial privacy and security. And we can spread awareness about the importance of agorism and voluntary exchange.

By doing so, we're not just creating a more free and prosperous society; we're also undermining the authority of those who seek to control and exploit us. We're taking back our power and our autonomy, and we're creating a world where individuals are free to live their lives as they see fit.

Exploring the free markets

If you're interested in learning more about agorism and exploring alternative marketplaces, there are many resources available. From online directories and community-driven platforms to in-person meetups and decentralized marketplaces, there are numerous ways to connect with like-minded individuals and learn more about the principles of voluntary exchange.

Here are some resources to get you started:

• Goldbacks Merchant Directory: A list of brick and mortar merchants that accept Goldbacks
• Monerica: A directory of merchants and businesses that accept Monero
• Arrrmada: A list of places to spend Pirate Chain
• Zano List: A directory of merchants and businesses that accept Zano
• KYC Not Me: A platform for buying and selling cryptocurrencies without know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) restrictions
• Craigslist: A popular online marketplace for buying and selling goods and services
• Flea Market Zone: A directory of flea markets and swap meets across the US
• Local online selling groups (e.g. Facebook Marketplace, Nextdoor, etc.)
• In-person meetups and events (e.g. conferences, cryptocurrency meetups, etc.)
• Online forums and communities (e.g. Reddit's r/agorism, etc.)

Black Markets are just Free Markets- that's all they are.

Go ahead…

Support your Local Black Market.

First and foremost, legality is not morality.

This means laws are not the same as morals. Many laws that are legal are also extremely immoral. KYC and AML laws are, in our opinion, extremely immoral. It’s something big government desperately conceals from you.

Despite that, the system has no way for moral individuals to advocate for the peaceful, willful violation of laws in order to preserve their natural born rights. It doesn’t want you engaging in civil disobedience even though it’s your right to do so. Thus, we cannot hold laws up as arbiters of what’s right and wrong.

This means the content of this article will NOT be condoning anyone’s attempt to violate laws which blatantly violate your rights. We do, however, condone your free will, your ability to think for yourself, and act in whatever way you think is right.

We will be analyzing KYC and AML through the context of your rights and we will see that they are blatant violations of your right to due process and of association.

People often claim we’re a society based on this mythical idea known as the “Rule of Law”. But what does it mean when laws are immoral and violate your rights? What recourse do moral people have under a system which enables, creates, and expands them faster than they can be successfully argued against in court?

Some Basics

AML stands for Anti-Money Laundering. It refers to a set of laws which outlaw your ability to move money for the purposes of securing your financial privacy. The government claims money-laundering is a illegal because it hides your finances from them. Thus, the laws assume you’re guilty of something suspicious.

KYC stands for Know Your Customer. It refers to a set of laws which force businesses to collect personal information or perform extensive background checks in order to do business. Thus, the laws assume you’re guilty of something suspicious.

The claim governments make in favor of AML and KYC is that they are important because people might do something bad like give money to terrorists or that bad actors will seek to do bad things.

Laws don’t care who you are, by the way, as they’re applied equally to innocent peaceful people as they are with people who commit immoral acts.

Out in the wild, you’ll encounter AML and KYC laws when you open, say, a brokerage account. They’ll collect everything from your state-issued ID’s, passports, utility bills to prove your address, credit history, known associations, biometrics, and more. If you try to buy a gun in some states they’ll implement KYC in the form of background checks.

The assumption in each case is that you’re guilty until proven innocent.

The Grinding away of Due Process

When it comes to law, due process is the idea that you are presumed innocent until you’re proven guilty. Without it, government can claim you’re guilty and may not allow fair treatment in justice.

Due process is about the presumption of innocence as a moral way to conduct justice. Meaning, if someone has been accused of something, the moral way to handle the accusation is to assume their innocence to ensure they aren’t unfairly treated during the proceedings. Government has a long history of assuming guilt and then denying the accused a fair shot to defend themselves.

What does this have to with KYC and AML laws?

A sharp reader would realize KYC and AML laws aren’t exactly accusing anyone of breaking a specific law, as what typically occurs in the justice system.

Instead, dear reader, it’s far more insidious.

The government is making it illegal for businesses to NOT engage in personal phishing expeditions. This means that businesses have to pry into your personal life and possibly report to the government all your personal information in order for them to prove you’re innocent of something nefarious otherwise they can be fined or go to jail.

Let me clarify that: A government mandated background check is a presumption of guilt of… something. They won’t know what you’re guilty of until you hand over your information.

It assumes you’ve done something wrong and they won’t allow you to engage in your natural right to engage in business until your innocence has been proven.

Government claims these laws are there to prevent things like terrorism financing or allowing terrorists to engage in business activities they don’t like.

From the perspective of government: you’re always guilty of financial crimes until proven innocent.

KYC laws collect your personal information.

AML laws collects both your personal and financial information.

Both are violations of your right to trade freely. They are immoral.

Your Natural Rights

Your rights come from birth (some say your Creator, others say nature, it doesn’t matter). Rights don’t come from government or society. The 9th Amendment reminds us of this.

You have a right to trade and associate with whomever you want, and you have a right to privacy- including financial privacy and anonymity.

Your right to privacy and anonymity means you have a right to pursue a secret life. This doesn’t mean a life to do nefarious things. It just means you have the right to live in secret. There’s nothing immoral or moral about it- it’s amoral.

You were born with this right.

This means whatever money you have is yours to conceal however you want from the prying eyes of others. This is your right to do.

I know how this sounds, but we’re not advocating for the violation of laws, we’re merely pointing out that you have a right to pursue financial privacy and government cannot violate that right unless they suspect you of doing something specific (yet they are violating them).

You also have a right to trade with whomever you want. It’s part of the freedom of association you have that’s been successfully defended in court.

Government cannot prevent you from doing business with someone unless they suspect you of doing something specific.

You might be realizing now that AML and KYC are clear violations of your right to associate and your right to privacy- including financial privacy. And you’d be right.

It’s an end run around due process. They don’t have to accuse you of doing anything because you’re incriminating yourself the moment you subject yourself to KYC and AML laws. All they have to do is wait for you provide them with the information necessary to build a case against you. In case you didn’t realize it, this is how taxation also works.

You have a right to remain silent. This protects you from self-incrimination.

That’s part of why these laws are so evil.

But why?

The Financial Panopticon

Since terroristic activities account for such a tiny percentage of all financial activities, why is everyone subjected to extensive background checks and data collection?

This is pretty easy to understand. We live in a surveillance state and data collection is power. It’s the reason you stand in line and get groped by the TSA- it’s designed to make you comfortable with constant privacy violations. It’s designed to make you live in a constant state of fear. It’s designed to demoralize you.

The reasons they give to force businesses to assume your guilt is just cover for the truth- they want to know everything you do, buy, and ultimately think so as to hold it against you should they need to.

It’s a way to spy on you via your finances and your household.

Here’s some context. A criminal might case your house before they rob you. They engage in information gathering, looking for weaknesses in the security or seek evidence that you’re concealing valuable things.

The difference with KYC/AML laws is that you’re willingly handing over your information to the criminals- I mean… government- when they ask for it.

They’re collecting all the data they need and if you ever say or do something they don’t like, they’ll happily do a deep dive into your personal data to find something they can use against you.

People are less likely to do things the government doesn’t like when they know Big Brother is watching.

This is why CBDC’s (Central Bank Digital Currencies) are a big deal to them. This is why government is cracking down on coin mixing software (software which enhances the privacy of cryptocurrencies). This is why they ask for all your personal information and wait for the background check to clear when all you want to do is trade Dogecoin. This is why bitcoin is the most surveilled crypto asset- it’s a venerable surveillance coin.

They need to control you.

In the years since Snowden’s surveillance revelations, data collection and KYC/AML laws have also expanded.

KYC and AML isn’t about protecting you. They’re about controlling you.

The Future of Big Government

The future of your rights is in your hands. Nothing anyone has done in the past 20 years has shrank the size of the surveillance state. Nothing. It’s only gotten worse. It’s only gotten bigger. Voting hasn’t helped. Protesting hasn’t helped. Your politicians haven’t helped. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights haven’t helped- one could argue that they’ve been powerless to stop it.

I don’t have any good news or optimism that this is going to change any time soon. This article is purely for educational purposes. I believe that educating people to the reality of their situation is the first step toward discovering a real solution.

So what can we do?

Personally, I don’t have any ideas which doesn’t involve violating laws. Maybe arresting politicians and tax collectors and holding citizen tribunals? Maybe educating the public?

I don’t know.

But what I do know is what people have done throughout all of human history when government becomes a paranoid parasite.

They build and use parallel networks.

We take money seriously. So any analysis we do is done through that lens.

Our approach is methodical, rational and rooted in honest research and experience. This means we do everything we can to ignore the noise and just focus on the signal.

Irrational asset maximalists, promoting their “One True Asset”, will probably hate this post. We value logic and reason and reject the religious-like fervor of maximalism.

Remember: Critique isn’t criticism.

Let’s get on with it… the question we seek to answer here is: “Can cryptocurrencies be digital gold? Can they be money?”

What is money?

If you need a refresher about the nature of money check our inspired post entitled A Beginners Guide: Is it Money or is it Currency?

Money is…

• A Medium of Exchange (MoE)
• A Unit of Account (UoA)
• Portable – Can be easily carried
• Durable – Lasts a long time
• Divisible – Can make change
• Fungible – Changeable

Without any one of these attributes, an asset, including a specific cryptocurrency, can’t be considered money. For reference Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Palladium have all, at one time, been considered money due to their monetary properties. Gold and Silver obviously being the most common choice for money historically.

Can cryptocurrency be considered money?

If a cryptocurrency has all properties of the definition of money, then yes, it can be considered money. If you think about it, an asset doesn’t have to be metal to be a money. It just has to have all the properties to be a money.

Let’s look at some popular cryptocurrencies to see if they measure up starting with the largest marketcap crypto, bitcoin. Ultimately, we want you to be able to make the assessment for yourself so we’ll give you the starting point to continue your own research.

bitcoin (btc)

With the largest marketcap, this cryptocurrency has the most familiar name brand.

Bitcoin possesses many of the same attributes as traditional forms of money, such as the ability to be used as a unit of account, portability, and the fact that its durable. But does it make the cut? Let’s go to our our checklist.

A Medium of Exchange (MoE)

As of now, we don’t agree that bitcoin is a good medium of exchange. Users can definitely make transactions, but they can’t make small transactions without paying fees that are higher than the cost of the payment.

This means you can’t pay for an item that costs the USD equivalent of $0.50 without incurring fees that can range from $1.50 to $50 depending on the sluggishness of the network. Bitcoin, unfortunately, is not a good medium of exchange for that reason alone.

Some say bitcoin is supposed to be a savings network, but that argument doesn’t hold up to scrutiny considering the original goal of bitcoin, as laid out in the original whitepaper (careful, it’s technical), was as a form of cash. Bitcoin has since made changes to it’s underlying code which crippled it from being a cash.

A Unit of Account (UoA)

Bitcoin can be used as a stable unit of account considering it’s fixed supply. At the moment, not all coins have been released so it’s slightly inflationary until all bitcoins have been mined (just another word for being electronically minted by software- not people).

Portable – Can be easily carried

Bitcoin can be easily carried in a digital or physical wallet making it easy to transport.

Durable – Lasts a long time

Bitcoin doesn’t degrade over time or change its state fundamental state. It’s also decentralized, meaning a bad actor couldn’t come along and compromise the bitcoin network.

Divisible – Can make change

Bitcoin is divisible down to the smallest unit called a Satoshi. There are 100 million Satoshi’s in a single bitcoin.

1 BTC = 100,000,000 Satoshi’s

Fungible – Changeable

Fungibility refers to the idea that you can trade one unit with another unit of equal value. For example, one Troy ounce of gold can be traded for one Troy ounce of gold and you don’t lose any value in the exchange.

Bitcoin uses a public ledger meaning anyone can see your holdings if they know your bitcoin address. This presents obvious personal security concerns regarding privacy and anonymity. Gold, silver, and even paper cash is private and anonymous making them highly fungible.

Additionally, most bitcoins are purchased through centralized exchanges which require you to submit personally identifiable information. Those exchanges have software which link your identity to your bitcoin wallet addresses allowing them to track the movement of your bitcoin for as long as the bitcoin network exists- which means those coins will be tracked for the rest of your life!

There are tools you can use to “mix” your bitcoin which can allow you to gain some anonymity, but those are possibly illegal to use and considering the software will track your coins up to the point of mixing them, authorities might even be able bust you for using that software under Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws.

What this means in regards to fungibility is that bitcoin and their addresses can be “tainted” via the public ledger. Governments and institutions can blacklists wallet addresses associated with known users and institutions reserve the right to refuse service with users of those tainted addresses.

Freshly mined bitcoins have no history associated with their public ledger and thus have been sold for a higher price than bitcoins with a history.

This means 1 BTC does not equal 1 BTC. Combined with the fact that bitcoin can be tainted, bitcoin, fundamentally, is not fungible.

Final assessment.

Bitcoin is NOT money and thus, in its current form, not digital gold.

Not being a good medium of exchange and not being at all fungible means that it shares more similarities of a currency than a money.

Note: Many people have argued that the addition of a second layer on top of bitcoin can make it fungible and a better medium of exchange. Our assessment of that argument is the following: Any additional layer solutions are no different than the relationship of paper-backed gold certificates to gold. Paper representing gold’s value is not gold. A layer two representing the value of the underlying bitcoin, is not bitcoin.

Ethereum (ETH)

From here we’ll be going a bit faster in our assessments because we spent a good deal of time explain each property.

Ethereum is interesting because it’s more than just a currency- it’s programmable currency. We’re not going to into into these features as they don’t pertain to our discussion here, but understand that extra features doesn’t necessarily preclude an asset from being a money in the way that being golden or silver-colored doesn’t preclude gold or silver from being money.

So let’s take a look: Is Ethereum digital gold?

A Medium of Exchange (MoE)

Ethereum, like bitcoin, can be exchanged but also suffers from the same high transaction fees that bitcoin does. The network can become sluggish and fees go up.

A Unit of Account (UoA)

Ethereum can be used as a unit of account.

Portable – Can be easily carried

Like bitcoin, Ethereum is portable via hardware or digital wallets.

Durable – Lasts a long time

This is the same as bitcoin. The network is decentralized and its own protection and validation of the network- even though it doesn’t using mining (it has something called staking).

Divisible – Can make change

Ethereum, like gold and bitcoin can be a unit of account. Each Ethereum unit is made up of defined smaller units called Wei. It’s definitely divisible.

Fungible – Changeable

Ethereum suffers from the same public ledger issues that all cryptocurrencies with a public ledger face- surveillance. While there are also software tools and layer 2 solutions to aid with its fungibility problem, this still doesn’t make the underlying asset more fungible.

Ethereum is not fungible.

Final Assessment

Ethereum, like bitcoin, is NOT money, and thus not digital gold. It lacks Medium of Exchange and Fungibility. Ethereum could be considered a currency at best- but definitely not money.

Monero (XMR)

Monero is a popular cryptocurrency which is often referred to as a “privacy coin” due to its completely anonymous network. People can transact with Monero and there’s no associated history and it doesn’t leak data which can be mined to correlate your identity.

It’s so private that the IRS has issued a bounty for anyone that can demonstrate the ability to track and trace transactions. To date, no institution or individual has successfully demonstrated an ability to do so.

To us, calling Monero a “privacy” coin is silly. No one calls Gold and Silver “privacy metals” because of their inherent anonymity and privacy.

So let’s look at Monero.

A Medium of Exchange (MoE)

Monero can be transacted and generally has low fees compared to bitcoin and Ethereum. Additionally, the software can compensate for increased network usage and adjust, allowing for transaction fees to remain relatively low. In fact, fees can be less than a penny.

This makes Monero more ideal for smaller and larger transactions. Unlike the other two, Monero is a good Medium of Exchange.

A Unit of Account (UoA)

Monero can be considered a unit of account for the same reason bitcoin and Ethereum can.

Portable – Can be easily carried

Monero is also portable using a physical hardware or digital wallet.

Durable – Lasts a long time

Monero is protected by decentralized mining all over the world making it very resilient and durable.

Divisible – Can make change

Monero can be subdivided into it’s smallest unit called a “piconero” or “pico” for short.

Fungible – Changeable

Monero is highly fungible since it has no associated history and isn’t traceable. This property allows users to know their identity is protected from surveillance. If Monero is purchased on an exchange, the wallet address can be correlated to you in the same way that an ounce of gold purchased online can be correlated to your physical address. But it stops there. No one can know how much Monero you have in that wallet or know if you transferred it to another wallet address.

This means 1 XMR is equal to 1 XMR in the monetary sense. A Monero wallet address can become tainted like bitcoin and Ethereum addresses, but not the amount of Monero in that address because it’s impossible to know the amount inside it. Once that Monero is moved to another wallet address, all links to that previous address are now gone. Just like cash, gold, or silver.

Monero is fungible.

Final assessment.

Monero is the best contender to be a money.

Are they digital gold?

This table summarizes our findings.

So, is Monero is digital gold? Ultimately, we’re not sure. But we feel strongly, based on its properties, that it’s the best contender out of the 22,000+ cryptocurrencies out there. It has almost all the properties that made gold and silver money.

Wrapping Up

Most cryptocurrencies have non-fungible coins with public ledgers or lack other properties making them ineligible to be considered a digital gold or money.

It’s possible other cryptocurrencies could begin a push toward sound money without extra layers or complex software schemes to add those features but until they do, only Monero stands as the closest thing we have to being digital gold.

As fans of sound money, we prefer holding real time-tested value. We believe that cryptocurrencies aren’t going anywhere and no, we don’t believe the internet is at risk of being shut down anytime soon. As an new asset class, cryptocurrencies have a real potential to disrupt the legacy financial system in some way.

Do we think they’ll replace gold and silver as money? Not at all. Precious metals will always be a form of money and it’s up to the new kid on the block to prove they can be just as sound as gold and silver have for thousands of years.

There’s so much negative noise out there right now vying for your attention. All we see and hear is that the world is on fire. How could we possibly do anything about our own finances when it seems the world is crumbling around us?

The headlines proclaim…

War Drums.
Right vs Left.
Poison Shots.
Inflation Fears.
Political Unrest.
Deflation Fears.
BRICS vs DAVOS.
Housing Collapse.
Economic Collapse.
Neighbor vs Neighbor.
Record Household Debt.

Don’t let the headlines win. Don’t Consume Fear.

Your fear is trying to take your rational action and turn it into paralysis. It wants you to do nothing so that it can take from you what you’ve built or intend to build.

Now, I’m not saying none of those fears are unfounded. Far from it. I’m saying we can’t let the fear get the best of us when it comes to our financial independence. Just like we can’t allow fear to consume us lest we become fear ourselves.

The Stoic Stacker

Before we move on, what is Stoicism? Stoicism is a philosophy that advocates mastering one’s emotions and focusing on virtue to achieve a life of wisdom, courage, and inner tranquility, guided by the understanding of what is within and outside of one’s control.

All those fears I mentioned at the beginning are turning our precious focus from ourselves. Fear can lock us into action paralysis- the human version of “deer in the headlights”. All those awful things capture our attention and we feel helpless.

First of all, I’m not telling you to become a Stoic. I’m certainly not- nor do I want to be (Who actually finds the idea of being bound by arbitrary labels appealing?). But I find the idea of understanding what I can and cannot control very useful to me. If I know what I’m truly helpless against, then what sense does it make to put energy into it? I can safely be unafraid of an asteroid hitting Earth because I’m not capable of stopping it.

Starve your fear. Let it go.

So how does this relate to stacking money?

All Weather Stacking

When we’ve begun the process of reducing fear we find ourselves in a place of creation. We can make better decisions. We can follow our plans better. We can even spot opportunities when they come our way. And considering there’s no bad time to accumulate gold or silver, we just do it without thinking about it. But how… ?

Arguably the easiest investment strategy in the world is Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA). It’s the idea that it doesn’t matter what the metal price is, you accumulate the asset because the varying prices of when you bought it will average out over time.

DCA is so easy to do that I’ll explain it using generic examples:

The market goes up? Accumulate.
The market goes down? Accumulate.
Team Blue wins the White House? Accumulate.
Team Red wins the White House? Accumulate.
The USD spirals into hyperinflation/hyperdeflation? Accumulate.
The war in [insert nation here] won/lost? Accumulate.
Protests in the streets? Accumulate.

See a pattern?

Fundamentally… is it a good time to Accumulate? The answer is always “yes”.

Over the long term you’ll be in a better place than those who don’t. If you’re fearful of the world around you, the only way to alleviate it (aside from transformative meditation) is to do something about it. Stack. Keep stacking. Stack when others think you’re foolish for it. Stack when you’re afraid. Stack when you’re happy. Stack when your favorite sports ball team loses. Stack when you’re at home and when you rise up.

The future of your financial stability depends on what you’re attracting. If you’re attracting wealth, then it doesn’t matter what the political weather looks like: Accumulate.

Be a Stoic Stacker. Accumulate without fear.

None of this is should be construed as financial advice, obviously… but enjoy the content nonetheless!

This is another entry in our series highlighting cryptocurrencies with the properties of money, focusing on those that preserve your privacy. As always, we're keeping the technical jargon to a minimum while giving you the essential information you need to understand what makes this currency special.

[Note: I'll update this page as the ecosystem evolves to keep you informed about Beam's development.]

Also, special thanks to @dbadol2000 and @maxnflaxl for helping me keep this document accurate and readable!

Illuminating Financial Privacy

Beam (Ticker: $BEAM) is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that uses innovative technology to ensure your transactions remain confidential. Like physical cash, Beam keeps the details of your financial activities between you and whoever you're transacting with.

What makes Beam particularly interesting is its use of the Mimblewimble protocol (yes, that's a Harry Potter reference) combined with some clever innovations that make private transactions both secure and efficient. We'll get into the cool tech stuff below, but first, as we always do, let's check out how Beam stacks up as a money:

*** Beam's scalability is actually pretty impressive thanks to its underlying protocol, which keeps the blockchain lean by pruning historical transaction data while maintaining security. However, as with all blockchain systems, we'll need to monitor how it handles increased adoption.

Tokenomics

Beam's monetary system follows a straightforward emission schedule with periodic halvings- similar to Bitcoin's approach but with its own unique parameters. The last halving was scheduled for January 7th, 2024, which reduced the block reward and affected the rate at which new $BEAM enters circulation.

What makes Beam's monetary approach interesting is the combination of predictable emission with privacy features. While your individual transactions stay private, anyone can verify the current circulating supply and emission rate by looking at the blockchain. This is possible because even though transaction amounts are hidden using something called Pedersen Commitments (⚠️ This video link is technical but does a good job explaining them), the system still mathematically proves that no new coins are being created beyond the scheduled emission.

For the numbers folks out there:h

• Coins are denominated in BEAM, with the smallest unit being a "Groth" (0.00000001 BEAM)
• Block rewards follow a periodic halving schedule
• The emission is coded into the protocol and publicly verifiable

The Beam supply is capped at 262,800,000 BEAM making it unable to expand with the growth rate of the population. This means if Beam ever hits global adoption its price won't be stable for merchants to price goods against- a concept we've covered extensively here. That said, it will be useful as a privacy preserving currency like Monero, Zano, Pirate Chain, Gold, and Silver.

FYI: The unit "Groth" is named after Jens Groth, Professor of Cryptology at University College London whose work on efficient cryptographic proofs and arguments is fundamental to Mimblewimble and other privacy-focused cryptocurrencies.

Merchant Adoption

If you're a business you'll need a way to accept $BEAM. Fortunately, if you use WooCommerce or their integrated API, NOWPayments allows you to create Invoices for payment using $BEAM.

In fact, we here at Aquarian Metals already accept $BEAM as payment using NOWPayments!

If you're looking to spend $BEAM you could look through an aggregator like CryptoWerk.

Community

Beam maintains an active presence across multiple platforms where you can engage with developers, users, and privacy enthusiasts. You'll find regular technical discussions, development updates, and community initiatives happening on:

• Official Beam Home Page
• X: A very active group for general discussion and support
• Telegram: Another active group for general discussion and support
• Discord: Technical chat and development discussions
• Reddit: Community news and discussions
• Forum: Detailed technical discussions and proposals
• GitHub: Source code and technical documentation

The project maintains a comprehensive knowledge base called Beampedia, which serves as a reference for everything from basic concepts to technical deep-dives. They've also got a regularly updated blog where they share development progress and technical insights.

Development activity remains steady, with the team currently working hard to improve privacy and usability.

Mining

Getting involved with Beam mining is straightforward, though you'll want to check the latest mining guides as the specifics can change with protocol updates. The important thing to know is that Beam uses a mining algorithm designed to be ASIC-resistant, meaning regular folks with GPUs can still participate in securing the network.

Designed for Privacy and Flexibility

What sets Beam apart is its multi-layered approach to privacy and functionality. It combines an innovative dual transaction system with powerful confidential assets features, making it both flexible and private.

The Foundation

Two Ways to Send Beam offers two distinct ways to send money, each designed for different situations:

Interactive (Online) Transactions use the Mimblewimble protocol and require both sender and receiver to briefly connect within a 12-hour window. While this might sound inconvenient, it actually provides a powerful benefit: coins can never be lost by sending them to incorrect or dead addresses. If the recipient doesn't come online to complete the transaction, the funds simply stay with the sender. Think of it like a digital handshake- both parties need to be present to complete the exchange, ensuring nothing gets lost in the process.

One-sided (Offline) Transactions use the Lelantus protocol (the link has a great write up) and work more like traditional cryptocurrency transfers. The sender can transmit funds without the receiver being present, making them more convenient for certain situations. These transactions use a special "shielded pool" system that maintains privacy while allowing recipients to collect their funds whenever they're ready.

Beyond Basic Transactions

Confidential Assets

Like Zano, which we covered in our previous analysis, Beam extends its privacy features through a powerful Confidential Assets system. While many privacy coins focus solely on transferring a single currency type, Beam goes several steps further by creating what amounts to a super-powered digital wallet that can hold different types of private assets while still letting you prove transactions when needed (like for business compliance).

Confidential Assets in Beam lets you create and transact with different types of tokens while maintaining privacy- all the tokens inherit the same privacy features that make Beam special. You can have your regular Beam coins, plus any other assets you create or receive, all protected by the same powerful privacy tech.

One of Beam's most important features for real-world adoption is its approach to business compliance. Think about the challenge businesses face with most privacy coins: they need both transaction privacy and the ability to keep records for accounting and regulations. Beam solves this elegantly: businesses can generate special auditing keys that let them prove their transaction history to specific parties like accountants or regulators, while keeping everything else private. Like Monero and Zano, this practical approach makes Beam a viable choice for merchants who want privacy without sacrificing their ability to operate legally. And for individual users? Your transactions simply stay completely private by default.

If you're looking to play with Confidential Assets you can get started here.

Smart Contracts: More Than Just Tokens

While we talked about Confidential Assets above, Beam also lets you create something even more powerful: smart contracts. But unlike Confidential Assets (which are basically different types of private tokens), smart contracts let you create actual programs that run on Beam's network- similar to how Ethereum's smart contracts work, but with built-in privacy.

Think of it this way: if Confidential Assets are like different types of private digital cash, smart contracts are like adding rules and logic to how that cash moves around. You could create things like private trading systems, time-locked savings accounts, or even complex financial agreements- all while keeping the privacy features that make Beam special.

What makes Beam's approach unique is how they split these contracts into two parts. One part runs on the network (they call these Contract Shaders) and handles all the secure stuff like moving funds around. The other part (Application Shaders) runs in your wallet and makes it easier to actually use these contracts. This split setup helps keep things both secure and user-friendly.

Unlike Ethereum's contracts that can run automatically based on various triggers, Beam's contracts only run when someone specifically uses them- kind of like how a vending machine only operates when you put money in and make a selection. This was a deliberate choice to keep things simple and secure.

The really cool part? These contracts inherit Beam's privacy features, so you can create sophisticated financial tools without sacrificing your privacy. And just like with Confidential Assets, businesses can still generate those special auditing keys if they need to prove what's happening with their contracts.

So what can you actually build with these smart contracts? Think private decentralized exchanges where you can swap different tokens without anyone seeing your trades. Or crowdfunding campaigns where donors stay anonymous. You could even create private NFT marketplaces, automated savings accounts that lock your BEAM for a set time, or completely private voting systems. And for businesses, you could set up private payroll systems or automated vendor payments- all with that optional auditability we talked about earlier.

If you're technically inclined, and I hope you are, you could begin by adding to the Beam ecosystem by build applications. Check out this link to Beam's Smart Contract documentation.

How to Get Beam

First, get yourself a wallet that supports $BEAM. You can find several for different platforms on the official page.

The most anonymous way to get BEAM is to mine it. But if that's not your thing you can get it from a bunch of different places like:

• MEXC Exchange
• NonKYC Exchange
• Trocador Instant Exchange

And of course you can ask for donations or sell goods and services for Beam.

Beam, like other cryptocurrencies, was created to be used as a currency! So we should!

For the Nerds

This gets fairly technical. You've been warned. 😀

Security

Beam's security model is built on the foundation of two complementary protocols: Mimblewimble and Lelantus. Each protocol handles a different type of transaction, providing users with flexibility while maintaining strong privacy guarantees.

Interactive Transactions through Mimblewimble form the backbone of Beam's security model. These transactions require active participation from both the sender and receiver, creating a robust two-party security protocol. When initiating a transaction, both parties must contribute their signatures to create a complete kernel signature, ensuring that no funds can be lost through incorrect addresses or user error. The system enforces a 12-hour window for completion, during which both parties must come online to verify and complete the transaction. This direct peer-to-peer verification process creates a secure channel between participants, making it mathematically impossible for funds to be misdirected or lost.

Lelantus protocol powers the One-sided Transactions, providing a different security approach focused on convenience without compromising privacy. These transactions utilize a sophisticated shielded pool system where funds can be sent without requiring immediate receiver participation. The protocol implements advanced zero-knowledge proofs to ensure that while transactions are convenient, they remain completely private. When funds enter the shielded pool, their transaction history becomes cryptographically obscured, preventing any outside observer from tracing the flow of funds. This mechanism supports traditional cryptocurrency workflows while maintaining strong privacy guarantees.

At the network level, Beam implements the Dandelion++ protocol, adding an extra layer of privacy before transactions even reach the blockchain. This protocol obscures the origin of transactions by routing them through a series of nodes in a way that makes it practically impossible to determine where a transaction originated. Think of it as a privacy shield that activates the moment you initiate a transaction, protecting your network identity alongside your transaction privacy.

Confidential Assets Technical Implementation

Beam's Confidential Assets system extends the core privacy protocols with sophisticated cryptographic techniques that enable private multi-asset transactions. At its heart, the system uses unique generator points for Pedersen Commitments for each asset type. This mathematical foundation allows the blockchain to handle multiple types of assets while maintaining complete privacy about both the asset type and amount being transferred.

The cryptographic implementation ensures that while transactions remain private, they're still mathematically verifiable. When you create or transfer any asset on Beam, the system generates specialized zero-knowledge proofs that verify the transaction's validity without revealing any details about the assets involved. This means you can prove that a transaction is legitimate and that no assets are being created or destroyed, all while keeping the specific details confidential.

A particularly innovative aspect is the opt-in auditability system. Through a clever implementation of auditing keypairs, users can generate specific keys that allow transaction viewing without enabling any spending capability. These keys can be selectively shared with auditors who need to verify transaction histories, making it perfect for business use cases where compliance matters. This selective transparency is achieved without compromising the underlying privacy of the system. Transactions remain private by default, and only become visible to those specifically granted viewing access through these specialized keys.

The system also includes safeguards against common pitfalls in multi-asset systems. The unique generator points for each asset type ensure that different assets cannot be accidentally mixed or confused during transactions. Meanwhile, the mathematical properties of the Pedersen Commitments maintain the ability to verify that no inflation occurs within any asset type, preserving the integrity of the entire system.

Smart Contract Implementation

Beam's smart contract architecture introduces an innovative dual-layer approach through what they call "shaders" (a term borrowed from 3D graphics). The system splits contract execution into two distinct components: Contract Shaders and Application Shaders, each serving a specific purpose in the privacy-preserving ecosystem.

Contract Shaders form the on-chain component, executing in Beam's Virtual Machine (BVM) within a sandboxed environment. These shaders are implemented in WebAssembly (WASM), typically written in C++, allowing for Turing-complete programming while maintaining strict security boundaries. What makes this approach particularly powerful is how contracts maintain Beam's privacy features while supporting complex programmable logic.

Now, for those of you who love getting into the nitty-gritty details (I see you, fellow tech nerds!), let's break down how these contracts actually live on the network. The lifecycle of a contract follows three distinct phases:

1. Creation: Contracts are instantiated using two parameters: the shader bytecode and constructor arguments. Each contract receives a unique ID derived from a hash of these parameters, ensuring contract integrity.
2. Method Invocation: Users can interact with contracts through ContractInvoke kernels, which specify the contract ID, method number, and arguments.
3. Optional Destruction: Contracts can be destroyed only if they've cleared all state variables and have no locked funds or external dependencies.

One of the most interesting aspects is how Beam handles contract validation. They've extended Mimblewimble's commitment model to support contract operations. When a contract is invoked, the system:

• Executes the contract method
• Adjusts kernel commitments based on funds locked/unlocked
• Verifies multi-signature proofs for any required public keys
• Ensures mathematical validity of all operations

To prevent blockchain bloat and maintain network efficiency, Beam implements strict constraints on contract execution:

• Limited execution cycles
• Bounded memory access
• No floating-point operations (using multi-precision integers instead)
• No automatic triggers or timers (contracts must be explicitly invoked)

Application Shaders, running wallet-side, complement the on-chain components by providing user interfaces to contract functionality. These shaders can read blockchain state and prepare contract interactions but require explicit user authorization for any operations affecting funds or network state.

What sets Beam's implementation apart is its preservation of privacy within a smart contract context, something many other platforms struggle with. While contract data itself is visible on-chain, the actual transaction amounts and participant details remain confidential through the same cryptographic techniques that protect standard Beam transactions.

For developers, this creates an interesting paradigm where they can build complex DeFi applications that inherit Beam's privacy features while maintaining auditability where needed. The system supports everything from basic token swaps to complex multi-party agreements, all while keeping transaction details confidential by default.

You can read more about this on the official Beam Smart Contract page.

Scalability

One of Beam's strongest features is how it handles scalability, and this comes from two main architectural decisions:

First, the Mimblewimble protocol itself is incredibly efficient. Thanks to its design, nodes can prune spent outputs from the blockchain while maintaining full security. This means the blockchain size grows much more slowly compared to traditional cryptocurrencies.

Second, Beam's implementation of Confidential Assets doesn't add significant overhead to transactions. Despite supporting multiple asset types with full privacy, the cryptographic proofs remain compact and efficient.

Per Beampedia: "A Beam block will be generated approximately every minute and contain about 1000 transactions. Block size will be roughly 1MB."

Development Activity

Beam's development team has consistently pushed the boundaries of privacy tech in the crypto space. Some notable technical milestones:

• Implementation of Lelantus-Mimblewimble hybrid protocol
• Development of the Secure Bulletin Board System (SBBS) for offline transactions
• Creation of the Confidential Assets framework
• Integration of opt-in auditability without compromising base privacy
• Upcoming EVM compatibility

Beaming the path forward

None of this should be construed as financial advice, but if you care about financial privacy, here's what makes Beam worth your attention.

When we talk about sound money in the digital age, most conversations focus on scarcity, reliability, or transaction speed. But there's something more fundamental at stake: your right to financial privacy. Physical cash gave us this naturally- when you handed someone a dollar bill, that transaction stayed between you and them. Beam preserves this essential feature of money while adding capabilities that cash never had.

Through its implementation of Mimblewimble-Lelantus and Confidential Assets, Beam proves that privacy and functionality aren't opposing forces. You can have private transactions and still create various asset types. You can maintain your privacy while giving selective visibility to auditors when needed. You can even bridge to Ethereum's DeFi ecosystem through Wrapped $BEAM while maintaining the core privacy features that make Beam special.

Along with other privacy-preserving currencies like Monero, Pirate Chain, and Zano, Beam is part of a technological movement pushing back against the erosion of financial privacy. Each project takes its own approach, but they share a common goal: protecting your fundamental right to transact without surveillance.

As governments and corporations push for more financial surveillance, the need for privacy-preserving currencies becomes more urgent. The choice between privacy and functionality is a false one- Beam and its peers demonstrate that we can have both. The future of money should enhance our financial sovereignty, not diminish it.

Is it money?

I would argue that it is until (or if) it becomes hyper-deflationary due to its absolute supply cap. It's the same long term issue that Pirate Chain could potentially have and the issue bitcoin (btc) has already. But that's not to say that couldn't change in the future. Until then, I would say, yes absolutely, Beam is money for the foreseeable future.

Beam has a really bright future I'm glad to add it to the pantheon of crypto coins that put preserving financial rights above surveillance greed.

Unraveling the mysteries of gold investments for a secure financial future

For millennia, gold has been a symbol of wealth, power, and prestige. Its lustrous appearance, scarcity, and resistance to corrosion have made it a highly sought-after precious metal throughout human history. Gold is still a popular investment option today, serving as a reliable store of value as well as a hedge against inflation and economic insecurity. If you’re thinking about getting into gold investing, this comprehensive guide will help you understand the basics and get started with confidence.

1. Understanding the allure of gold

Gold’s universal appeal stems from its distinct characteristics. Because it is a limited resource, its value tends to rise over time as supplies dwindle. Gold is also a tangible asset, giving investors who prefer to hold physical commodities a sense of security. Furthermore, gold is frequently regarded as a “safe haven” investment, meaning that it performs well during times of economic uncertainty or geopolitical tensions.

2. The different ways to invest in gold

There are several ways to invest in gold, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Here are some of the most popular options:

A. Physical Gold

Physical gold refers to the ownership of gold bullion in the form of coins, bars, or ingots. This type of investment allows you to hold, store, and potentially sell your gold at a later date. Some of the advantages of investing in physical gold include:

• Direct ownership and control over your asset
• Privacy and anonymity
• A hedge against inflation and economic instability

However, investing in physical gold also has its drawbacks, such as:

• Storage and security concerns
• High transaction costs, including premiums and fees
• Limited liquidity compared to other investment options

B. Gold ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds)

Gold ETFs are investment funds that track the price of gold and trade on stock exchanges. They provide an easy and cost-effective way to gain exposure to the gold market without physically owning the metal.

Advantages of gold ETFs include:

• Lower transaction costs compared to physical gold
• High liquidity, allowing for easy buying and selling
• Exposure to gold prices without the need for storage or security

The downsides of investing in gold etfs include:

• No direct ownership of physical gold
• Dependence on the performance of the fund manager
• Potential counterparty risks and management fees

C. Gold Mining Stocks

Investing in gold mining stocks involves purchasing shares in companies that mine, explore, and produce gold. This option offers exposure to the gold market as well as the possibility of investment growth as the mining company grows and profits. Some advantages of investing in gold mining stocks include:

• Potential for higher returns compared to physical gold and gold ETFs
• Diversification of your investment portfolio
• Access to gold-related assets without the need for storage or security

However, there are also some disadvantages to investing in gold mining stocks:

• Higher risk, as the performance of the stock depends on the company’s success in finding and mining gold, as well as overall market conditions
• Exposure to the operational, financial, and environmental risks associated with mining
• Dividends are typically lower or nonexistent compared to other stock investments

D. Gold mutual funds and index funds

Gold mutual funds and index funds, like gold ETFs, track the performance of gold or gold-related assets. The main distinction is that mutual funds are managed by professional portfolio managers, whereas index funds are managed passively, with the goal of replicating the performance of a specific index. The following are some of the benefits of gold mutual funds and index funds:

• Diversification of your investment portfolio
• Professional management of your investment (in the case of mutual funds)
• Low investment minimums and automatic investment options

The downsides of investing in gold mutual funds and index funds include:

• No direct ownership of physical gold
• Management fees and potential sales charges
• Dependence on the performance of the fund manager

3. Assessing your investment goals and risk tolerance

Keep in mind: before investing in gold, you must first determine your investment goals and risk tolerance. Are you looking for a long-term store of value, a hedge against economic insecurity, or a speculative investment with high potential returns? Your answers to these questions will guide your decision-making process and help you select the best gold investment option for you.

Ultimately, stay informed and monitor your investment.

Regardless of the gold investment method you choose, it is critical to stay informed and monitor your investment. Keep up with the latest gold market news and developments, as well as the overall economic landscape. This will allow you to make more informed decisions and potentially capitalize on golden opportunities as they present themselves.

4. Tax implications and reporting requirements

Before you start investing in gold, you should be aware of the tax implications and reporting requirements associated with your chosen investment method. Gold investments may be subject to capital gains tax in many countries, which is levied on the profit made from selling your gold assets. Certain countries have additional reporting requirements for physical gold holdings or transactions. Consult with a tax professional or financial advisor to ensure you understand and comply with all applicable tax laws and regulations.

5. Diversifying your gold investments

Diversification is essential when investing in gold, just as it is with any other investment. A well-balanced portfolio should include a variety of gold and silver investment strategies as well as other asset classes such as stocks, bonds, and real estate. You can reduce the risks associated with any single investment type while potentially increasing your overall returns by diversifying your gold investments.

6. Recognizing the risks and rewards

Investing in gold carries risks, which you should be aware of before committing your hard-earned money. Market volatility, currency fluctuations, and geopolitical events that can affect the price of gold are all common risks associated with gold investments. Furthermore, investing in gold mining stocks or gold-related funds entails additional risks, such as company-specific issues, regulatory changes, and environmental concerns.

Despite these risks, gold has a long history of preserving wealth and acting as a hedge against inflation and economic uncertainty. You can make better decisions and manage your expectations if you understand the risks and rewards of gold investing.

7. Timing your gold investments

While it is impossible to predict the best time to invest in gold, there are some strategies you can use to maximize your returns. One strategy is to use dollar-cost averaging, which entails investing a fixed amount of money in gold on a regular basis, regardless of the current price. This method can help you spread your investment risk over time and reduce the impact of short-term price fluctuations.

Another strategy is to keep an eye on key economic indicators and geopolitical events that may have an impact on the gold market. Gold prices, for example, frequently rise during periods of economic uncertainty, inflation, or currency depreciation. You can potentially capitalize on these trends and make well-timed investments if you stay informed and vigilant.

8. Rebalancing your gold investments

As the value of your gold investments fluctuates, it is critical to review and rebalance your portfolio on a regular basis. Rebalancing entails adjusting the allocation of your gold investments to ensure that they remain consistent with your overall investment objectives and risk tolerance. This process may entail selling some of your gold assets or purchasing more gold in order to maintain the desired balance.

9. Working with a professional

The world of gold investing can be complicated and overwhelming, especially for beginners. Consider working with a financial advisor or wealth manager who specializes in gold investments if you are unsure how to proceed or would like expert advice. These experts can assist you in developing a customized investment strategy, providing insights into current market trends, and managing your gold investments.

Wrapping up

Investing in gold can be a rewarding and exciting financial venture, providing a one-of-a-kind opportunity to diversify your portfolio and protect your wealth from economic uncertainty. You can confidently begin your gold investing journey by understanding the various gold investment options, assessing your goals and risk tolerance, staying informed, and employing sound investment strategies.

Remember that gold investments should be viewed as a long-term strategy rather than a quick way to wealth. As with any investment, patience, discipline, and keeping your expectations realistic are essential. By doing so, you can leverage the time-tested value of gold to help secure your financial future and potentially profit from golden opportunities.

With this in mind, take your first steps toward a more secure financial future.

Happy investing!

Are you new to investing in precious metals? If so, you might have come across terms like bullion, rounds, and numismatics. While these terms may sound confusing at first, they are essential to understanding the different types of precious metals available for investment. We will discuss the differences between bullion, rounds, and numismatics to help you better understand the world of precious metals.

Bullion: The Foundation of Precious Metal Investing

Bullion is the foundation of precious metal investing. Bullion coins are typically made of gold, silver, platinum, or palladium and are issued by government mints. They are legal tender and have a face value that is typically much lower than their intrinsic value. Bullion coins are primarily valued for their precious metal content and are generally considered a form of investment in precious metals.

One of the main advantages of investing in bullion coins is their high liquidity. Because they are issued by government mints, bullion coins are widely recognized and accepted, making them easy to buy and sell.

Rounds: A Cost-Effective Alternative to Bullion Coins

Rounds are similar to bullion coins in that they are also valued for their metal content, but they are not considered legal tender and are not issued by government mints. Rounds are produced by private mints and typically have a wide variety of designs. They are often sold at a lower premium than bullion coins and are popular among investors who want to buy precious metals at a lower cost.

Rounds can be made of the same precious metals as bullion coins, such as gold, silver, platinum, or palladium. They are also available in smaller denominations than bullion coins, which makes them more accessible to investors on a budget. However, it is important to note that rounds may not be as widely recognized or accepted as bullion coins, which can affect their liquidity.

Numismatics: Collectible Coins with Historical Significance

Numismatic coins are valued for their rarity, historical significance, and aesthetic appeal. They’re produced by government mints and have intricate designs that often feature famous figures or events from history. Numismatic coins are often sold at a much higher premium than bullion coins or rounds due to their collector’s value, which can be influenced by many factors, such as rarity, condition, historical significance, and demand among collectors.

Unlike bullion coins and rounds, numismatic coins are not primarily valued for their precious metal content. While they may contain precious metals, the value of numismatic coins is primarily determined by their historical significance and collector’s value. Numismatic coins can be of great historical value and are often sought after by collectors and investors.

Choosing the Right Precious Metal Investment for You

Now that you understand the differences between bullion, rounds, and numismatics, you may be wondering which one is right for you. The answer to this question depends on your investment goals and budget.

If you are looking for a cost-effective way to invest in precious metals, rounds may be a good option. They are often sold at a lower premium than bullion coins and are available in smaller denominations. However, it is important to note that rounds may not be as widely recognized or accepted as bullion coins, which can affect their liquidity.

If you are looking for a highly liquid investment that is widely recognized and accepted, bullion coins may be a good option. They are legal tender and have a face value that is typically much lower than their intrinsic value. Bullion coins are primarily valued for their precious metal content and are considered a form of investment in precious metals. Their wide recognition makes them easier to buy and sell.

If you are interested in collecting coins with historical significance, numismatic coins may be a good option. Numismatic coins are highly valued by collectors and can be of great historical value. However, they are often sold at a much higher premium than bullion coins or rounds, which can make them more expensive to acquire.

It is important to do your research.

Wrapping Up

Bullion, rounds, and numismatics are the three main types of precious metals available for investment. Each type has its own unique characteristics and is valued for different reasons. Bullion coins are highly liquid and widely recognized, rounds are a cost-effective alternative to bullion coins, and numismatic coins are valued for their historical significance and collector’s value.

When choosing a precious metal investment, it is important to consider your investment goals and budget. Additionally, it is important to do your research and invest wisely, as the prices of precious metals can be highly volatile. By understanding the differences between bullion, rounds, and numismatics, you can make an informed investment decision that meets your needs and helps to protect your portfolio.

If you want to keep learning about the different types of precious metals you can invest in, check out our post Coins Versus Bars: Which is the best investment option? You might discover a new way to invest!

When it comes to precious metals, you’re faced with a ton of options which can potentially impact the way you manage your holdings. In our case, does it matter if you buy coins or bars? I mean, gold is gold. Silver is silver. Why would anyone care?

Surprisingly, it can matter!

Knowing when coins versus bars matters is key. Let’s get into it!

What’s your use case?

If you’ve seen our other posts, you’ll know we often stress having financial goals. It’s the most important part of investing and collecting precious metals since all your decisions will be influenced. Not having goals can lead to overpaying, being scammed, or worse. Take the time to explore those goals if you haven’t already. If you need help, start with the following questions.

Are you a Collector? Or are you an Investor? Do you plan on selling? If so, long term? Short term? How much do you plan on buying? Are you buying Gold or Silver? How are you storing your precious metals? Now, keep these questions in mind as we go through our comparison and hopefully it’ll help making decisions a little easier for you.

Liquidity

In this category, coins win. Coins are more liquid because they’re more popular than bars. They’re the most produced shape.

Knowing coins are more liquid, can be useful when deciding to sell your stack. Dealers must consider whether each asset can be turned around and sold in a timely manner. This means they might be less inclined to buy your bars.

That said, if you’re a collector and don’t necessarily care about selling right away, it might not matter. In this case, lack of liquidity may work in your favor as scarcity is king for collectors.

Obviously, each dealer will have different considerations, so it’s a good idea to get to know them and find out what they’re more willing to buy so that it can help you decide which option is best for you.

✅ Winner: Coins

Diversification

When it comes to diversification, coins are the clear winner. This is because coins offer a wider range of options than bars. Coins come in different denominations, metals, and designs, and that can help spread your risk. For example, you could invest in gold, silver, copper, palladium, and platinum coins, each with different designs and denominations, however it’ll be more difficult to find ones that aren’t gold and silver.

That’s not to say bars don’t have their place in a diversified portfolio. They have a clear advantage over coins that isn’t matched- bars can contain more metal.

The 1 Kilogram bar is far more popular than 1 Kilogram coin. This is because the higher the metal content, the better the bar form factor is to store…

✅ Winner: Coins

Storage

There’s a couple considerations when storing coins and bars. Coins are generally easier to store because they can be stacked into neat little tubes or boxes. This makes it easy to buy small amounts at a time- giving you the flexibility to time your trades with the whims of the market. It’s also easier to sell smaller denominations than larger ones. For that alone, Coins comes out ahead.

But like I insinuated in the Diversification section, Bars have an advantage when it comes to long term storage.

Bars are typically sold with higher metal content. Scrolling through the list of silver bars in any coin shop, you’ll typically find the bars are denominated in 1 Kg, 5 oz, 10 oz, and 100 oz. When it comes to gold, you’ll rarely find a coin larger than a 2 oz or 5 oz- silver bars are the most common.

Let’s look at an example: If you have the choice between 100 1 oz coins of silver versus a single 100 oz silver bar, it may make more sense to get the bar. The reason for this is that the the space the coins consume is higher than the bar. It’ll make storing easier. This is an important consideration when deciding how you store your wealth. If you don’t plan on selling your holdings any time soon, then higher metal content bars might be the right way to go!

✅ Winner: Bars & Coins… depending on the situation.

Premiums

Here are the general rules:

The lower the metal content, the higher the premium. The higher the metal content, the lower the premium Thus, 1 oz bars or coins will typically have higher premiums than the larger denominated bars or coins.

This has to do with the margins dealers set when buying and selling metals. A 10 oz bar might take longer to sell than a 1 oz bar/coin. The reason is that the market tends to favor those assets which have better liquidity. Dealers know this and can charge a higher premium on their already razor thin margins when selling. That’s why if you’re looking for a deal, it’s usually a good idea to buy in larger quantities. Silver bars (10 oz+) are a popular option for buying at a lower premium. Same with gold.

Since we know that bars are already slower to sell than coins but typically have a higher metal content, you might find that this might be the most ideal way to save on the premium for your investments which are longer term. It’s more metal for your buck!

✅ Winner: Bars

Collectibility

There’s a reason it’s called “Coin Collecting”.

Coins offer a far wider range of options than bars. Check your local or online dealer and you can confirm this. There are thousands of generic, collectible, “constitutional”, and legal tender coins out there. Not to mention the huge number of numismatic.

Mints and dealers can make a limited run of these coins and charge a higher premium for them because of their scarcity. And depending on the popularity and rarity of the collection, the collector might be able to turn around and sell at a later date and double or triple their original investment. While this does carry risk, collectors are usually selling coins, not bars. That’s not to say there aren’t any collectible bars- there are. They just aren’t as common.

✅ Winner: Coins

##So… Coins Versus Bars: Which is better? Let’s recap:

Coins are the general winner for the flexibility of buying and selling smaller quantities, diversification, liquidity, storage, and collectibility despite their generally higher premiums.

Bars are the general winner of long term storage options and lower premiums.

If it seems coins are the clear winner here- you’re right! Coins go back thousands of years because of their shape and smaller metal content. They make it easy to trade and store and are generally accepted everywhere.

We also know that bars also have an important place and are the winner for their respective options. So while coins are a better general option, bars are by no means the lesser.

And at the end of the day, everyone has a unique situation. Knowing what works for your situation is the only thing that matters!

No convenience. No adoption.

This unintentionally ended up being a crypto-specific companion piece to my other article How to Replace the US Dollar: The Real Power of Alternative Currencies. I love when things reference other things.

Mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency has been on my mind for years. When I first got into it, everyone dreamed of walking into a local shop, pulling out their phone, and paying with the ease of Apple Pay, living entirely on crypto.

Quick. Easy. Reliable.

But around 2018-2019 the narrative shifted. It stopped being about mass adoption and the focus became institutional adoption of bitcoin. Essentially, after its hard fork, bitcoin's underlying technology was crippled and became unusable as a currency; as a response the maximalist narrative shifted to match its new reality: as a highly speculative asset, no different than stocks. bitcoin maxis stopped publicly promoting bitcoin as a currency and instead focused on merely holding it- "never sell" they say. It's not uncommon to see maxis pat themselves on the back for this.

The book Hijacking Bitcoin did a really great job at chronicling bitcoin's hijacking and ultimate death as a currency so I won't go into great detail here. Suffice it to say, bitcoin's narrative shift from currency to gamblers token negatively shifted the rest of the crypto space as well- arguably setting mass adoption back, potentially for a decade or more.

What sparked my inspiration for this article was a recent 𝕏 post made by cryptocurrency advocate Joël Valenzuela. Check it out here:

Everyone knows I'm an advocate for many forms of digital cash, but I focus most of my time on Dash, because I still think it's our best, quickest path to financial sovereignty.

What would it take for another coin to rise to my standards? Let's start a thread!

First, to really…

— Joel Valenzuela (@TheDesertLynx), August 26, 2025

You need to follow Joël if you're not- rational thinkers are at a premium in this space.

Essentially, Joël came up with a list of features he believed are necessary to aid in wider crypto adoption and looked at several coins to see how they measured up.

It's a basic fundamental analysis- something I'm sort of passionate about. I studied the features he chose and realized there was a common theme: convenience. Things which made life easier as it relates to using crypto. They weren't features that made the price pump, like burning coins to create artificial scarcity, they were usable features.

This is the difference between gamblers and visionaries. One thinks about their gains, the other works on solving big problems with experience and intuition. In the crypto space, visionaries are at a premium. We need people living the big ideas no one else is willing to push.

Why should you care what he thinks?

Joël is worth paying attention to on mass crypto adoption. He's been living off cryptocurrency since 2015. That means he's not using the legacy financial system to live his daily life, rent, food, entertainment, all paid for using cryptocurrencies.

You'd think crypto influencers who believe in cryptocurrencies would live this way but most don't. They're invested in crypto like a stock. They see it as a way to grow wealth**†**, rather than a daily driver to opt out of the parasitic legacy financial system.

Sure those influencers might have some experience paying for things with crypto but they fundamentally lack the actual experience of living their life off of crypto alone. Let's be honest, going to a crypto convention and paying for a coffee from a crypto vender isn't the same as walking into your local coffee shop and paying for one from someone who knows nothing about crypto.

†There's nothing wrong with building wealth. In fact, I'm a wealth-generation educator. The world is suffering under a monetary regime created by psychopaths and pedophiles. If using crypto is your tool to build wealth, go for it, it's smart to do. But if that's all it is to you, you're not helping fix the underlying problem that government currency is destroying the world. The sooner you wean yourselves off the dollar, the sooner the world heals. Opt-out peacefully with cryptocurrencies.

Influencers that don't live off of crypto have no idea what goes into adoption if they aren't living it. They can't comprehend the reality of it. I wonder if that's why they're against scaling on chain or lowering transaction fees. It doesn't apply to them. Why else would anyone be against convenience?

If you truly believe in something, you don't half-ass it. Joël is living what he preaches. Fortunately, he's not the only one.

It takes someone willing to go through the pain of finding what works and what doesn't. And there is some initial pain.

You must ask yourself: How do you pay rent/mortgage? How do you pay other debts? Food? Entertainment? Taxes? How do you pay for things when you leave the house or travel for an extended period of time? How do you pay employees or contractors? What about when a bank is required? And so much more.

This is the core question: "How do I pay for something using cryptocurrency?"

This question drives the thematic core of crypto adoption. It's the most important question because that's the question non-crypto users are going to ask when they inquire about switching to cryptocurrency and if it's not easy they aren't going to adopt it. It's that simple.

This is why when normies inquire about blockchain my answer is always, "it's just money". I don't explain what a blockchain is or how mining rewards work or anything else outside the scope of what it's actually used for. I've made too many regular people suffer through technical explanations and I'm pretty sure they assumed it was too complex for them to use, ultimately defeating the purpose of my explanation.

How Mass Adoption Happens

Mass adoption of anything has to do with the utility of the thing being adopted. There's three primary components to whether some thing or some technology will be adopted and I already mentioned them:

Quick. Easy. Reliable.

Those three properties round out the idea of utility, or usefulness.

If you look at any technology, whether or not it gets adopted is defined by the masses ability to actually use them- the quality of its utility.

• The internet was around for decades before someone realized a friendly user interface might make it more accessible to the masses.
• Gold has been around for thousands of years but lost favor to digital fiat. Recently Goldbacks made gold easy to use as cash and is seeing amazing adoption.
• Cars beat horses because they were faster, needed less upkeep, and went farther, but only after Ford made them reliable enough to trust.
• AI chatbots are the fastest adopted technology to date because they're accessible through a web browser or smartphone, intuitive to use, and widely available.
• bitcoin, pre-2017, was gaining adoption by Microsoft, Steam, and other large corporations because it was fast, easy to use, and reliable.
• Variants of the smartphone including Palm Pilot and Handspring were around a full decade before the iPhone but they weren't…

Quick. Easy. Reliable.

Mass adoption happens when a technology is just too convenient not to use.

I'm not claiming that all things that are quick, easy, and reliable will be adopted by the masses, I'm simply saying those that do… are. Products or technologies have a better chance of being adopted when they have these properties.

This is why most cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin core, are so devastatingly disappointing today.

The Current State of Crypto Adoption is just more Friction

There was a time when it was easy to get your hands on crypto without government violating your privacy. It's still possible but there are fewer doors now and people assume they're probably illegal. Most people are using centralized exchanges to get their hands on regulated crypto, but that means forking over different forms of ID and giving away sensitive data that will be stolen by bad actors and made public on the dark web. We can blame government and exchanges for making this difficult… they rolled over.

In terms of mass adoption… it's not a good start for the average person. If it's difficult to get your hands on a cryptocurrency, most people won't bother. Some apps have made the onboarding process easier, like Robinhood, but the KYC barriers remain, so many people just won't bother.

Where else can people get crypto? You can sell things online for crypto or find someone you know and pay them with fiat in exchange for crypto… but be careful because the government might classify that as money transmitting and arrest you for a victimless crime. Ask for crypto donations then? 😞

So let's say you jumped through the KYC hoops and made your first crypto purchase. Now what? To use it as a daily currency we have to get that crypto off the exchange and into a wallet we can control.

That means we need to download a wallet to our phones and create an address to send your crypto to. You go to the app store and type in 'crypto wallet', see what comes up, and are hit with hundreds of wallets. You download one, open it up, and can't find the coin you bought. Then you realize, does this wallet even support the coin I bought? Now you have to do some research causing some friction. You download your wallet and follow the easy on screen instructions to make a crypto address.

Next you go to withdraw your crypto from the exchange using the crypto address you created and… discover the exchange is going to hold it for the next 5 business days for your protection, you know, to make sure you're not a terrorist or something even though you've lived in the "Land of Liberty" your whole life.

Friction.

Five days later, you finally get the crypto in your wallet. Now… here's where the real pain begins.

It's Not a Cluster Headache, it's Crypto

In my opinion, it's worth the previous pain to get your hands on a technology which can free you from the much bigger pain of the legacy financial system. The previous headaches weren't caused by the free market… it was the extensive overreach of your government. But in terms of mass adoption… it's a big ask for most average people. Sadly, this is the farthest many are willing to travel.

Going forward, we cannot blame the government for the lack of mass adoption… we can blame the free market- ourselves.

Not every cryptocurrency is created equal. They all have different features and limitations and you won't get a feel for what they're like until you use them for real life transactions. In theory, you add the address, enter the amount, and hit send. In a perfect world it would be that simple, but most miss the mark by a mile.

Modern bitcoin core (btc) users can add an address, an amount, and hit send… but not before checking transaction fees which can be as high as $200 if the network is busy. If it's clogged, your transaction sits there, unconfirmed for days, or weeks. Not convenient for the grocery store.

Other coins also have high fees or slow network times. Ethereum suffers from both. Tron has high transaction fees ($6/transaction is stupid). Some coins are so difficult you need a video tutorial (fucking GRIN). I've lost a ton of coins because what should've been easy was complex for no logical reason. Some require a memo. Some need both sender and receiver online at the same time. Some have long confirmation times. Some have multiple native coins (like Avalanche) and you have to ensure you're using the right one.

Here's an example of choosing to build negative crypto adoption: To send a private GRIN transaction you have to create a file, send it through email or chat, then the other person downloads it and opens it with their wallet and agrees to receiving the funds. No one is going to use this no matter how private it is. Besides, lulz, what is even the point of GRIN?

I've used so many coins and there's just a handful close to mass adoption but, to be honest, not one is good enough yet. Not one.

Why though?

Yes, Blame the Blockchain Developers

This is a controversial take but I stand by every word.

⚠️ I'm not calling out ALL blockchain developers. If you're triggered calm down and assume I'm not talking about you. Chill out with this rad metal cover of Africa's Toto. ⚠️

Most blockchain developers are not entrepreneurs. They're developers. They love building things. They're responsible for designing and architecting the way the blockchain works. It's no small feat. A blockchain is a complex system. I have a lot of respect for the work that goes into making one.

But here's the thing: They're not product specialists. They're not salesmen or business owners. They're generally not customer facing and are often siloed within their team. They may not care about customer feedback unless it aligns with what they want to build.

Think of blockchain developers as the crew who lays the concrete foundation, and front-end developers as the team building the house. The foundation crew don't necessarily care what's built above… they focus on their slab. If it lacks rebar supports, house builders get stuck with a slick, unstable mess. End users notice when things go wrong and blame the house builders… because that's the visible part they experience.

If blockchain developers implement code that hinders convenience, front-end developers building wallets and apps face an uphill battle. High fees, slow confirmations, and requirements like time locks preventing use for a period, adding mandatory memos, or blockchain syncing (which can take up to 24 hours or more) happen because convenience isn't built into the protocol.

What front-end developers build around these limitations aren't solutions- they're prosthetics. Wallet developers can't make transactions cheaper or faster without complex second-layer hacks. The result? Usability issues that make Apple Pay look like magic while crypto feels clunky.

Compare that to Coinbase, Kraken, and Robinhood… man… it's night and day. Centralized exchanges are incentivized to make it easy despite onboarding headaches. Their apps are intuitive and reliable. The caveat? They hold your crypto… which means it's not your crypto.

Ok… so why don't blockchain developers focus on user experience?

Again… I'm making a generalization here so if you're a blockchain dev, don't assume I'm talking about you. lol

Fundamentally, they don't because they're not incentivized to. I'm a developer myself. I started building customer apps, then moved to build back-end infrastructure later. I was paid to make interfaces work. If customers couldn't use it, they blamed me. To users, it either works or it doesn't.

Back-end developers (what blockchain devs essentially are) generally don't think about UX… they assume some front-end dev will make it work. Their goal? Secure, decentralized transactions. Little thought goes into scaling, low fees, or near instant/simple transactions. Again… I'm generalizing, not all coins are like this- but they're too few.

This sole focus on security with little regard for usability is, in my estimation, why mass adoption hasn't exploded. It's an obvious blindspot. Almost no one talks about it. Centralized exchanges prioritize both security and usability… there's no reason blockchain devs couldn't do the same for the same reason.

There are technical challenges, sure. But with 22,000+ cryptocurrencies… there's no excuse not to pilfer what's working elsewhere.

Honestly, if I knew anyone in the real world, I'd lead an initiative to get the best possible blockchain built. Not a joke. I'm serious about mass adoption and killing the legacy parasite financial system.

The End User

So if cryptocurrencies aren't as good as they should be, why aren't end users demanding blockchain-level convenience?

Let me quickly distinguish between different users.

The users I've been referring to are the average Joe. Normies. People who aren't in crypto to speculate. They may not even be in crypto. These are the people who didn't buy the Palm Pilot but bought the iPhone because it was easy to use. They didn't use Netscape, they used AOL because it was easy. You know… normies. Your grandmother. Your aunt and uncle. Your English professor in college.

These people are, in my opinion, the real end user I'm aiming for. They're the ones who will unshackle the legacy financial system from the government by using decentralized peer-to-peer cryptocurrencies at scale.

The most prolific end user now are investors and crypto bros. They believe more in wealth generation than the mission to change the world (nothing wrong with wealth generation but it's not the same mission). They're not fighting to end the parasite financial system… they're trading cryptos FOR those parasite dollars. They push the crypto ecosystem to not scale or not have lower fees because it impacts their bottom line. It's a cultural problem. It's an incentive problem.

Relative to the normie population… investors and crypto bros are dwarfed. Once the average Joe uses crypto to pay for their coffee, nothing crypto bros or investors do will matter.

These are the end users I'm working to onboard. They're the ones who will push crypto into the forefront… but we can't do it without addressing the problems on the blockchain itself.

The Optimistic Path Forward

Joël's post made me passionately write about all this because it hit something fundamental: convenience is primary. We already know how to implement security- it might be complex work, but it's ultimately routine. Convenience needs to lead.

It's the only path forward toward crypto adoption. I know the idea of convenience can sound trivial but its role in adoption is undeniable. If normies can use CashApp but can't pay their bills with crypto because it's hard to use, that's a huge red flag something is wrong.

We need a movement that pushes blockchain developers to build things that make it easier for front-end developers and the end user. If we can't do that… there's no sense continuing because nothing else is as important, including privacy (There's an argument that privacy is just as important… but what good is privacy if the world can't use it because it's hard to use? I'm looking at you GRIN!).

I've been radicalized to promote convenience as much as privacy because without it, the parasitic financial institutions win and normies will never know financial freedom.

What Features Make a Crypto Ready for Mass Adoption?

I was fully planning on making a comprehensive list of features I thought were important to crypto adoption like Joël did but I realized I didn't need to.

You do.

You need to figure it out for yourself and get vocal. Find the pain points when using a crypto. Find the things that would make your life easier and ask for changes… respectfully at first… get louder if they refuse to hear you. The more people push the pain they experience to developers, the more likely they are to do the things you want. If they don't, consider other options and share your experience. Reputation matters and if a blockchain doesn't make your life easier, let others know.

Obviously, don't be a douchebag. It takes time to build things so watch and see if they're making changes or if it's on the future roadmap. It takes no effort to be kind but firm.

I had a really great experience with the Zano dev team. I asked about a feature needed for a business case that didn't exist yet. I outlined the specific use case, how other chains do it, they spoke with me about it, and found the time to implement it! They were great!

There's no reason we couldn't radically change the narratives on many blockchains. I think it's worth it for the long term.

It's on you now

There's a big topic I didn't talk much about. And that's what it's like living completely on crypto. I'll save that for another day. But if you're interested in that topic right now start following Joël Valenzuela on 𝕏. Or you can follow Aaron Day on 𝕏- another passionate crypto advocate who also knows what it takes to get off the dollar and live exclusively on crypto. Both share a lot of useful information and have the experience to understand what it really takes to make crypto reach the masses.

Endgame

I touched on two big topics: accessibility of the coins and convenience.

1. If you can't get the coins easily, you lose potential users.
2. If you can't use the coins easily, you lose users.

The first is hard to get around because it requires jumping through exchange hoops, learning about mining, selling products or services for coins, or asking for donations. [I might even add this: You have a right to peaceful civil disobedience and doing anything moral, even if it's illegal, is your natural born right to engage in. I'm not saying break laws… I'm saying do what is morally right. Get your coins. Help others get theirs.]

The second is easy to get around because the tech exists to make it happen. We just need to respectfully pressure developers to make blockchains easy to use at the protocol level.

Some coins are a pleasure to use because they are convenient: Choose a sender, enter the amount, and hit send. Cheap, near instant, no headaches.

We can still have the dream of the crypto future, unbound from the surveillance dollar. We have to fight for it where it counts. We have to consider the normies… they're the ones who will tear down the legacy system… and we can't do it without them. Crypto adoption is within reach if we so choose.

I'll end it with this…

Crypto has to be at least as easy to use as the dollar if it's ever going to replace it.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you’re starting out in precious metals. There’s a lot of terms thrown around and without the context it’s easy to get lost. There’s no magic to any of this. It’s really simple. Get started with our glossary by using the Table of Contents and jump to something you want to learn. This page will continue to be updated.

The Precious Metal Glossary

Let’s dive in…

Measurement & Purity

.999 vs .9999

At some point you’ll go to buy gold or silver and you’ll see the description saying something like “.999 Fine” or “.9999”.

This is referring to the quality of the metal. Some coins like the silver Canadian Maple Leaf coins are .9999. This means it’s 99.99% pure gold or silver. If the coin says “.999” then it means it’s 99.9% pure gold or silver. It’s really as simple as that. Coins that are .999 are slightly more durable than coins that are .9999 because they add other metals like copper to the coin to make the coin more durable or scratch resistant.

Keep in mind however, that when you go to buy a 1 oz coin and it says in its description that the coin has 1 oz silver, then that’s what you’re getting. Even if it it says .999 and it has copper in it, your coin will absolutely still have at least 1 oz of gold or silver in that coin.

A good example of this in practice is the South African Krugerrand. It contains 1 oz of 22-karat gold (.9167 or 91.67% gold). Even though 0.0833 parts are not gold, the round itself has still at least 1 oz of gold. This means when you sell a Krugerrand, it’s sell value will be worth 1 oz of gold.

Does .9999 or .999 matter?

Not really. .999 means the coins you get will be more durable than the .9999 coins. If you’re buying 1 oz of gold or silver from a reputable dealer, then you’re going to get at least 1 oz of gold or silver.

To some investors, having pristine coins matters and they’ll prefer .999 coins to ensure the coins don’t scratch as easily. To us, it doesn’t matter. We’ll store our metal away and not handle them very much so it’s a non-issue.

Fineness

Fineness is a measure of the purity of a precious metal, expressed as parts per thousand. It indicates the proportion of pure metal in an alloy, with 1000 being the highest possible fineness, representing 100% purity.

Key points about fineness

1. Fineness is commonly used to describe the purity of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.
2. The fineness is typically stamped on precious metal products, such as jewelry or bullion, to certify their purity.
3. Common fineness values for gold include 999 (99.9% pure), 990 (99% pure), and 916 (91.6% pure, equivalent to 22 karat).
4. Silver often has a fineness of 999 (99.9% pure), while sterling silver has a fineness of 925 (92.5% pure).

Importance of fineness:

1. Quality assurance: Fineness provides consumers with a clear understanding of the purity and quality of a precious metal product.
2. Value determination: The fineness of a precious metal directly affects its value, with higher fineness generally commanding a higher price.
3. Legal compliance: Many countries have laws regulating the fineness of precious metal products to protect consumers and maintain market integrity.

Understanding fineness is crucial for anyone dealing with precious metals, whether for investment, jewelry-making, or consumer purchases. It ensures transparency and helps in making informed decisions when buying or selling precious metal products.

Note: Fineness and karat are both measures of precious metal purity, but they differ in their scales and usage.

Fineness:

1. Fineness is expressed as parts per thousand, with 1000 representing 100% purity.
2. It is used for various precious metals, including gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.
3. Fineness is more commonly used in the context of bullion, coins, and industrial applications.
4. Examples of fineness include 999 (99.9% pure), 9999 (99.99% pure), and 950 (95% pure).

Karat:

1. Karat is a fractional system based on 24 parts, with 24 karat representing 100% purity.
2. It is primarily used for measuring the purity of gold in jewelry.
3. Each karat indicates 1/24th of pure gold content in an alloy. For example, 18 karat gold contains 18 parts gold and 6 parts other metals.
4. Common karat values include 24K (100% pure), 18K (75% pure), and 14K (58.3% pure).

Conversion:

• To convert karats to fineness, multiply the karat value by 1000 and divide by 24. For example, 18K gold has a fineness of 750 (18 × 1000 ÷ 24 = 750).
• To convert fineness to karats, multiply the fineness by 24 and divide by 1000. For example, gold with a fineness of 900 is equivalent to 21.6 karats (900 × 24 ÷ 1000 = 21.6).

Karat

Not to be confused with “carat”, which refers to the weight of a gemstones, the karat, abbreviated ‘K’, is the measure of a gold’s purity.

The karat system is based on 24 parts. For example, 18K gold contains 18 parts gold and 6 parts other metals (18/24 = 75% pure gold).

A couple things to consider:

• Higher karat gold is more valuable due to its higher purity but is also softer and less durable.
• Lower karat gold is more affordable and more durable, making it suitable for everyday wear.

Melt Value

Melt value is the value of a precious metal object based solely on its metal content, disregarding any artistic, historical, or sentimental value. It is the price that a refiner or smelter would pay for the item if it were melted down and sold as raw metal.

Key points about melt value:

1. Melt value is determined by the weight and purity (fineness or karat) of the precious metal content in an object.
2. It is calculated by multiplying the current spot price of the metal by the weight of the metal content in the object.
3. Spot price refers to the current market price of a precious metal per troy ounce.
4. Melt value is often lower than the retail price of a precious metal object because it does not account for craftsmanship, design, or other factors that contribute to its overall value.

Importance of melt value:

1. Establishing a baseline: Melt value provides a fundamental understanding of the value of a precious metal object based on its metal content, separate from its aesthetic or collectible value.
2. Recycling and refining: When precious metal objects are sold for their melt value, they can be recycled and refined to create new products, conserving resources and reducing waste.
3. Investment decisions: Understanding melt value can help investors make informed decisions when buying or selling precious metal objects, as it represents the minimum value they can expect to recover based on the metal content alone.

It’s important to note that while melt value is a crucial factor in assessing the worth of a precious metal object, it is not the only consideration. Factors such as rarity, historical significance, and craftsmanship can significantly impact an object’s overall value beyond its melt value.

Troy Ounce

A troy ounce is a unit of measure used specifically for weighing precious metals, such as gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. It differs from the more common avoirdupois ounce used for everyday items.

Key points about the troy ounce:

1. One troy ounce equals 31.1034768 grams, which is slightly heavier than the avoirdupois ounce (28.35 grams).
2. The troy ounce is the standard unit of measurement in the precious metals market, used globally for pricing and trading.
3. The term “troy” comes from the French city of Troyes, a major trading center in the Middle Ages.
4. China has begun to use grams and kilograms to measure their legal bullion, departing from the troy ounce typically used everywhere else.

Importance of the troy ounce:

1. Standardization: Using a consistent unit of measure ensures clarity and uniformity in the precious metals market, facilitating global trade.
2. Pricing: Precious metal prices are typically quoted in troy ounces, making it essential for buyers and sellers to understand the unit.
3. Investment: When investing in precious metals, understanding the troy ounce is crucial for accurately assessing the value and quantity of one’s holdings.

It’s important to note that while precious metals are measured in troy ounces, smaller quantities may be expressed in grams (especially gold). The use of avoirdupois ounces is not a standard practice in the precious metals market. To avoid confusion, always confirm the unit of measure being used when dealing with precious metals.

Sterling Silver

Sterling silver refers to a specific silver alloy- specifically 92.5% silver or more commonly known as “Nine Two Five”. You typically find .925 Silver used in silverware (it’s where the phrase “born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth” comes from), plates, candle holders, and more.

The silver is 92.5% pure with a 7.5% added copper or zinc impurity to add hardness to the metal. Silver is antibacterial so it’s idea for silverware. In the past, where it was relatively difficult to keep things clean, having access to Sterling silverware was a way to promote healthy eating. And since it’s mostly silver, it carries the silver premium… meaning it tends to be more expensive than non-silver counterparts.

Some investors collect Sterling silver pieces as part of their portfolio since Sterling Silver is still silver! If you’re interesting in buying Sterling Silver pieces, look for a stamp (called a Hallmark) that says “925” or “Sterling”. There are test kits you can get to test the metal for purity. Do your homework before diving in.

Production & Authentication

Assay

An assay is a process used to determine the content, purity, or quality of precious metals. Assaying is essential for several reasons:

1. Purity determination: Assaying helps establish the exact purity of a precious metal, expressed as a percentage or fineness (e.g., 99.9% pure gold).
2. Value assessment: By determining the purity, assaying enables the accurate valuation of precious metal items, such as jewelry or bullion.
3. Quality control: Assaying ensures that precious metal products meet the required standards and specifications, protecting consumers and maintaining market integrity.

Common assaying methods include:

1. Fire assay: A sample is melted with a flux to separate the precious metal from impurities.
2. X-ray fluorescence (XRF): A non-destructive method that uses X-rays to analyze the composition of a precious metal.
3. Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) analysis: A sample is dissolved in acid and analyzed using plasma technology.

Assaying is typically performed by certified assayers or reputable metal dealers to guarantee the accuracy of the results and maintain consumer trust in the precious metals market.

Investment and Finance

Bullion vs Coin vs Round

You’ll hear these terms all the time. They typically mean different things but sometimes can be referring to the same thing so it can be a little confusing without the context.

Generally speaking, however, bullion, coins, and rounds are different things.

Rounds are never legal tender. That’s the easiest way to start getting a handle on these terms. They’re usually produced by private mints and don’t have a face value. People usually collect them for their designs and/or metal content.

These include custom designs.

Coins are always legal tender and are issued by the government. They always have a face value and are usually the most popular form of investment.

These include American Eagles and Buffalos, Canadian Maple Leaf’s, and Krugerands.

Bullion usually refers to bulk bars or ingots and are solely valued for the metal content. Rounds are not typically referred to as bullion but some coins are as in “bullion coins” which are those coins used primarily for investment purposes.

Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF’s)

An Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) is an investment vehicle that tracks the performance of a particular asset or group of assets, such as precious metals. ETFs are traded on stock exchanges, much like individual stocks, and can be bought and sold throughout the trading day.

Key points about precious metal ETFs:

1. Precious metal ETFs invest in physical bullion, such as gold, silver, platinum, or palladium, or in shares of companies involved in mining, refining, or trading these metals.
2. These ETFs provide investors with exposure to precious metal prices without the need to physically store or insure the metals themselves.
3. Precious metal ETFs often have lower transaction costs compared to buying and selling physical bullion due to their liquidity and the absence of storage and insurance fees.

Importance of precious metal ETFs:

1. Diversification: Precious metal ETFs allow investors to easily diversify their portfolios by adding exposure to precious metals, which can act as a hedge against inflation, currency fluctuations, and economic uncertainty.
2. Accessibility: ETFs make investing in precious metals more accessible to a wider range of investors, as they can be bought and sold through standard brokerage accounts.
3. Flexibility: Investors can easily adjust their exposure to precious metals by buying or selling ETF shares as market conditions change.

Examples of popular precious metal ETFs include:

1. SPDR Gold Trust (GLD): Tracks the price of physical gold bullion.
2. iShares Silver Trust (SLV): Tracks the price of physical silver bullion.
3. Aberdeen Standard Physical Palladium Shares ETF (PALL): Tracks the price of physical palladium bullion.

Do your own research about these. Don’t just throw money into something you don’t understand.

Numismatic Coins

Numismatic coins are coins that have a collectible value beyond their face value or melt value. These coins are prized by collectors for their rarity, historical significance, design, or condition.

For a deeper dive, check out our article Invest in numismatics: To Big a Risk or Golden Opportunity?

Key points about numismatic coins:

1. Numismatic coins can be from any era, ranging from ancient to modern times.
2. They are often sought after for their unique features, such as low mintage, specific year of issue, mint marks, or error coins.
3. The condition or grade of a numismatic coin is a crucial factor in determining its value. Coins are graded on a scale from Poor (P-1) to Perfect Uncirculated (MS-70) based on factors such as wear, luster, and overall appearance.
4. Numismatic coins are not typically valued for their precious metal content, but rather for their collectible value.

Importance of numismatic coins:

1. Historical preservation: Numismatic coins serve as tangible links to the past, providing insights into the economic, political, and cultural landscapes of different eras.
2. Investment potential: Rare and high-quality numismatic coins can appreciate in value over time, making them an attractive option for collectors and investors.
3. Educational value: Studying numismatic coins can enhance one’s knowledge of history, art, and economics.

Collecting numismatic coins requires knowledge, research, and careful consideration of factors such as authenticity, condition, and market trends. Collectors often specialize in specific eras, regions, or themes to build focused and valuable collections. It’s essential to purchase numismatic coins from reputable dealers and to have them authenticated and graded by professional services to ensure their quality and value.

Sovereign Coin

A sovereign coin is a gold coin produced by a government mint and considered legal tender in its country of origin. Examples include the American Gold Eagle, Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, and British Gold Britannia. Sovereign coins often have a face value and are guaranteed for weight and purity by the issuing government.

For a deeper dive, check out our article Sovereign vs Non-Sovereign Precious Metals: What You Need to Know.

Key points about sovereign coins:

1. Sovereign coins are minted by government-owned or government-authorized mints, ensuring their authenticity and quality.
2. These coins have a face value denominated in the currency of the issuing country, although their actual value is primarily determined by their gold content and market conditions.
3. Sovereign coins are guaranteed by the issuing government for their weight, purity, and gold content, providing investors with a high level of confidence in their purchases.
4. These coins are often available in various sizes, such as 1 oz, 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz, and 1/10 oz, catering to different investment budgets and preferences.

Importance of sovereign coins:

1. Trust: Sovereign coins carry the backing and guarantee of the issuing government, instilling trust among investors and collectors.
2. Liquidity: Due to their widespread recognition and acceptance, sovereign coins are highly liquid and can be easily bought, sold, or traded in the global precious metals market.
3. Portfolio diversification: Sovereign coins offer investors a way to diversify their portfolios with tangible, government-backed assets that have historically served as a hedge against inflation and economic uncertainty.

Junk Silver

1. Junk silver refers to older circulated coins that contain a specific percentage of silver, typically 35% to 90%, but are not considered rare or collectible. Examples include pre-1965 US dimes, quarters, and half dollars. Junk silver is often bought and sold for its silver content rather than its numismatic value.

For a deeper dive, check out our article Unlocking the Treasure Trove: The Hidden Value of Junk Silver Coins.

Key points about junk silver:

1. Junk silver coins are common, circulated coins that have a lower silver content compared to fine silver bullion.
2. The silver content in junk silver coins varies depending on the country of origin, year of minting, and denomination. For example, pre-1965 US silver coins contain 90% silver, while later issues contain 40% silver.
3. Junk silver is typically sold in bulk quantities, such as by the bag or face value, rather than individually.
4. The value of junk silver is primarily determined by its silver content and the current spot price of silver.

Importance of junk silver:

1. Affordability: Junk silver offers a more affordable way for investors to acquire physical silver compared to high-purity silver bullion.
2. Divisibility: Due to the smaller denominations of junk silver coins, investors can easily divide their holdings into smaller, more manageable units for selling or trading.
3. Historical significance: Junk silver coins often have historical value and can be appealing to collectors who appreciate their connection to the past.

Scrap

Scrap precious metals are leftover or reclaimed pieces of gold, silver, platinum, or palladium from various sources, such as old jewelry, dental fillings, or industrial byproducts. Scrap metal is typically sold to refiners who melt it down and purify it for reuse in new products.

Key points about scrap precious metals:

1. Scrap precious metals can come from a wide range of sources, including broken or outdated jewelry, dental fillings, electronic components, and industrial waste.
2. The value of scrap precious metals is determined by their purity and weight, which is typically assessed through assaying techniques.
3. Refiners purchase scrap precious metals at a percentage of the current spot price, taking into account the costs associated with refining and purifying the metal.
4. The process of recycling scrap precious metals involves melting down the scrap, removing impurities, and casting the purified metal into new forms, such as bars or ingots.

Importance of scrap precious metals:

1. Recycling: Scrap precious metals play a crucial role in the recycling process, reducing the environmental impact of mining and conserving natural resources.
2. Economic value: Selling scrap precious metals can provide a source of income for individuals and businesses while also contributing to the overall supply of these metals in the market.
3. Sustainability: Recycling scrap precious metals helps to create a more sustainable and circular economy, minimizing waste and reducing the need for new mining operations.

Storage and Legal

Depository

A depository is a secure storage facility specifically designed to hold precious metals, such as gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. These facilities offer a safe and insured environment for individuals, investors, and institutions to store their precious metal assets.

We talk about vaulting and custody with our article 9 Proven Ways to Store Your Precious Metals

Key points about depositories:

1. Depositories are equipped with state-of-the-art security systems, including 24/7 surveillance, armed guards, and secure vaults.
2. They often provide insurance coverage for the stored precious metals, protecting against theft, damage, or loss.
3. Depositories can offer allocated or unallocated storage. Allocated storage means that each investor’s holdings are separately identifiable and stored, while unallocated storage involves pooling the metals together.
4. Some depositories also offer services such as buying, selling, and transporting precious metals on behalf of their clients.

Importance of depositories:

1. Security: Depositories provide a highly secure environment for storing precious metals, reducing the risk of theft or damage compared to personal storage.
2. Peace of mind: By using a depository, investors can have peace of mind knowing that their precious metal assets are protected and insured.
3. Convenience: Depositories offer a convenient solution for those who want to invest in precious metals without the need to handle or store the physical assets themselves.

Vaulting

Vaulting refers to the process of storing precious metals in a secure vault within a depository. Vaulted precious metals are typically allocated, meaning that each investor’s holdings are separately identifiable and stored, rather than being pooled together.

Key points about vaulting:

1. Vaulted precious metals are stored in a highly secure, access-controlled environment within a depository.
2. Each investor’s holdings are typically stored separately, with unique serial numbers or other identifiers to ensure clear ownership and accountability.
3. Vaulting services may offer various storage options, such as segregated or non-segregated storage, depending on the investor’s preferences and the depository’s policies.
4. Investors can often arrange for audits or inspections of their vaulted precious metals to verify their existence and condition.

Importance of vaulting:

1. Ownership: Vaulting ensures that each investor’s precious metal holdings are clearly identified and owned, reducing the risk of confusion or disputes.
2. Accountability: With vaulted storage, depositories are accountable for maintaining the integrity and security of each investor’s holdings.
3. Flexibility: Vaulting allows investors to store their precious metals in a secure location while retaining the ability to sell, transport, or take delivery of their assets as needed.

London Bullion Market Association (LBMA)

The LBMA is an international trade association representing the global over-the-counter precious metals market. It sets standards for the purity, form, and provenance of precious metals traded between its members. LBMA accreditation is widely recognized as a benchmark for quality and reliability in the bullion market.

Key points about the LBMA:

1. The LBMA is responsible for setting and maintaining the “Good Delivery List,” which specifies the requirements for gold and silver bars traded in the London market.
2. LBMA accredited refiners must meet strict criteria for the purity, weight, and markings of their bullion products.
3. The association also promotes transparency, fairness, and integrity in the precious metals market through its “Responsible Sourcing Programme,” which focuses on issues such as human rights, environmental impact, and supply chain due diligence.
4. The LBMA works closely with regulators, central banks, and other market participants to ensure the efficient and effective functioning of the global precious metals market.

Importance of the LBMA:

1. Quality assurance: LBMA accreditation provides a globally recognized standard for the quality and reliability of bullion products, helping to maintain investor confidence in the market.
2. Market stability: By setting standards and promoting best practices, the LBMA helps to ensure the stability and integrity of the global precious metals market.
3. Facilitating trade: The LBMA’s work in standardizing bullion specifications and promoting market transparency facilitates efficient trade and liquidity in the precious metals market.

Check out this article for Investopedia which goes into detail about this called Gold Fix: What it Means, How it Works, Bullion Trading

London Fix

The London Fix is a benchmark price for gold and silver, determined twice daily by a group of participating banks. The fix is used as a reference point for pricing precious metal products and derivatives worldwide. The London Platinum and Palladium Market (LPPM) provides similar benchmarks for platinum and palladium.

Key points about the London Fix:

1. The London Gold Fix is conducted twice daily (10:30 AM and 3:00 PM London time) by a group of participating banks, while the London Silver Fix is conducted once daily (12:00 PM London time).
2. During the fixing process, participating banks declare their buy and sell orders, and the price is adjusted until the market reaches equilibrium, at which point the fix is declared.
3. The London Fix provides a transparent and widely accepted benchmark for pricing precious metal transactions, including physical bullion, futures contracts, and other derivatives.
4. The LPPM conducts similar fixing processes for platinum and palladium, providing benchmark prices for these metals.

Importance of the London Fix:

1. Price discovery: The London Fix helps to establish a fair and transparent price for precious metals based on actual market supply and demand.
2. Global benchmark: The London Fix is widely used as a reference price for precious metal transactions worldwide, helping to ensure consistency and comparability across markets.
3. Risk management: Market participants can use the London Fix as a basis for valuing their precious metal holdings, managing risk, and marking-to-market their positions.

Check out this article for Investopedia which goes into detail about this called Gold Fix: What it Means, How it Works, Bullion Trading

Premium

The premium is the additional amount above the spot price that a dealer charges for a precious metal product. Premiums can vary based on factors such as the product type, mintage, rarity, and market demand. For example, a gold coin may have a higher premium than a gold bar due to its collectible value and lower production volume.

Key points about premiums:

1. Premiums are typically expressed as a percentage or fixed amount above the spot price of the precious metal.
2. Factors influencing premiums include the cost of fabrication, distribution, marketing, and dealer markup, as well as the product’s rarity, condition, and market demand.
3. Premiums can vary significantly between different types of precious metal products, such as coins, bars, and rounds, as well as between different dealers and market conditions.
4. Investors should consider the premium when evaluating the total cost and potential returns of their precious metal investments.

Importance of premiums:

1. Pricing transparency: Understanding premiums helps investors to assess the total cost of their precious metal purchases and compare prices between different products and dealers.
2. Investment strategy: Investors can take premiums into account when deciding which types of precious metal products to include in their portfolio, balancing factors such as liquidity, divisibility, and potential collectible value.
3. Market indicators: Changes in premiums can provide insights into market conditions, such as supply and demand dynamics, investor sentiment, and market efficiency.

When considering premiums, investors should aim to strike a balance between the product’s overall cost and its potential benefits, such as liquidity, storage efficiency, and collectible value. Comparing premiums across different dealers and products can help investors make informed decisions and optimize their precious metal investments.

Author’s note (04/20/2025): I removed references to Store of Value because it doesn’t exist. Read why here.

Cryptocurrency, as a technology, is unlike anything the world has ever seen. As a financial instrument, it definitely shares many of the features of money but “feels” different enough that many so-called thought leaders in the space comfortably use the term “money” to refer to cryptocurrencies.

But is that even a fair assessment?

Can we honestly call cryptocurrencies money? Are they really different enough from traditional monetary assets that we must reinvent what money is?

Money Recap

If you want to reinvent something, you need to understand the thing being reinvented first.

If you’re not familiar with the definition of money, start here with our two part analysis of money: A Beginners Guide: Is it Money or is it Currency?

I’ll list the properties here for reference.

• Medium of Exchange
• Unit of Account
• Portable
• Divisible
• Durable
• Fungible
• Relative Scarcity

To understand how these properties fit together consider the following:

In order to be money, an asset must be easy to exchange and a unit of account for people to compare goods against. Along those lines it must be portable and thus durable so as not to lose value in transport. It must be divisible to make change and fungible so the asset can be traded for 1 equal unit with another exactly. Finally, the asset must have a relatively scarce supply.

A Beginners Guide: Is it Money or is it Currency

To get a sense of where these properties came from, its important to know these properties were discovered, not invented. Over thousands of years and through, quite possibly billions, of trade interactions the properties were discovered to be necessary to facilitate smooth trade. If you reread the quote above from the perspective of a merchant a thousand years ago, you begin to understand the relevance and importance of the monetary properties. Removing even one of those properties makes the trade potentially tenuous. This is why gold and silver have persisted as they have.

Another way to consider this is by viewing the market as an adversarial environment where people used competing currencies. Each transaction brought individuals knowledge about the nature of the transaction and of the medium being used. Over time, people began gravitating toward those properties which provided the best transfer of value while discarding those properties which didn’t satisfy smooth value transactions. They may not have known specifically about the properties, but they intuitively knew what was better or worse than others when it came to the transfer of value. Collectively, the world eventually settled on gold and silver as all other forms of currency failed.

Yes, there are other metals like copper which are used as currency but they’re usually used to facilitate the edge cases where gold and silver may fail to be useful. For example, extremely small transactions (although Goldbacks have recently solved that issue).

Key Takeaway: The properties of the asset make it money. If the asset lacks any one property, then it’s not money. If gold lacked even one monetary property, it wouldn’t be money.

It’s absolutely important to drill this into your head if we’re going to try and (re)invent properties of money for the digital realm.

So I’ll recap this one last time: The properties were discovered through billions of transactions in an adversarial environment spanning thousands of years. The properties define what is money. Those assets which had all of those properties inevitably became money. Those which are missing even one property, never became money.

Now we know the properties of money let’s look at the properties that make cryptocurrency… well… a crypto… currency.

Old Properties Still Apply

Before we look at potentially new properties of digital money, we must ask the question, “Does it make sense to apply the physical properties of money to digital assets?“

Let’s look at the properties again:

• Medium of Exchange
• Unit of Account
• Portable
• Divisible
• Durable
• Fungible
• Relative Scarcity

Now let’s ask, “Which one of those properties don’t apply to a digital transaction?“

The answer, if we’re honest, is none. They all apply.

A digital asset must be portable. Without good portability, you might end up with slow transactions which make it difficult to do commerce.

A digital asset must be divisible lest it become a collectible like artwork or a non-fungible token (NFT), which is just a digital collectible.

A digital asset must be durable, which in the context of the digital realm, means it must be resilient in the face of bad actors such as governments and hackers. That means digital coins can’t be hacked, transactions can’t be prevented/censored, or easily stolen.

A digital asset must be fungible in order to preserve value across transactions. If digital coins can be distinguished from others, then the quality of the transactions diminishes. We’ll explore this one in further detail below.

A digital asset must be a unit of account in order to assign value to goods. It must be the common denominator for expressing and comparing goods against.

A digital asset must be a good medium of exchange in order to facilitate transactions regardless of the size of the transaction.

A digital asset must be relatively scarce to protect the long term value of the asset.

Consider that cryptocurrency must undergo its own adversarial environment scenario if the market is to decide which ones can become money. We must consider the adversarial environment and those properties which are useful to protecting the transfer of value.

Exploring Digital Monetary Properties

As of this moment, there are over 20,000 cryptocurrencies. There are so many variations of technology that it’s become difficult to define what exactly makes a cryptocurrency.

What makes a crypto?

Grossly oversimplified… in general a cryptocurrency is a currency. You use it to pay for things like goods and services. The defining feature is its sovereign nature. It’s the first digital asset which can be defined using the same definition as physical property minus the physical qualities. It’s scarce, it can’t be copied, and you own it like you would land or other physically scarce things.

Cryptocurrencies have many different properties which could be good candidates to get this discussion going. These properties relate to their adversarial nature. In other words, these properties are potentially necessary for the cryptocurrency to survive in an environment where each participant in the cryptocurrency network is a potentially bad actor.

To get us started we’re going to grab the most common ideas and features which seem to bind cryptocurrencies into a single asset class and we’re going to analyze them. Those are concepts like decentralization, privacy, scalability, programmability and absolute scarcity. I’ll define them simply so you don’t have to make any assumptions.

I’ve spent some time looking for other potential candidate monetary properties and have found many that some people believe provide some kind of economic value but most are completely irrelevant or subsets of the potential properties I’ve listed above.

Let’s look at each of these concepts and see what, if anything, we can make of them. (For the less tech savvy among us, I’ll keep keep it simple. There’s no reason to over complicate these things).

Decentralization

Decentralization is the idea that no single party controls the cryptocurrency network, no one controls the issuance of the assets, and no single party can influence the state of the network. The software typically facilitates these things automatically without human intervention. Think of the network like a spider web where each point where threads meet is a computer connected to the network. If a single computer gets compromised, the rest of the network is safe because the software automatically detects bad actors and omits it from participation (The way this occurs is fairly technical but fascinating none the less. If you’re interested you can watch this video here.).

In terms of the internet, decentralization is a powerful property a cryptocurrency can have since it ensures a freedom to transact where no single entity, not even government armies, can prevent you from making transactions (not without turning off the entire internet). It’s a powerful concept. But is it a monetary property?

Gold can be considered a decentralized asset. No single party controls the supply or the issuance of the gold. No single entity can prevent you from making transactions using gold (not without physical violence). And no single entity can control the entire gold market.

Referring to gold as decentralized feels odd. Gold lives in the physical realm and we tend to use the word “decentralized” in context of the internet these days. So is it fair to refer to gold as decentralized? Yes, but it’s weird. Being decentralized is a natural property of things we pull from the ground so it’s not a feature we often associate with them. Almost no one before the cryptocurrencies was referring to gold as decentralized. Maybe they referred to people who hoarded gold or nations states who outlawed its use as centralizing the gold market but it’s not the same as completely controlling a monetary technology.

So in context of physical assets, the concept of decentralization is baked right into the asset. It’s not optional.

But what about in context of digital assets?

Decentralization is extremely important for a cryptocurrency. The reason for this is that software can be manipulated by bad actors or well meaning developers who inadvertently introduce bugs. Decentralization prevents manipulation of the software, and thus secures the network. This is important, because as a financial asset, cryptocurrency must be reputable in order for people to trust it enough to transact with.

If we put this in context of an adversarial environment, we can see that decentralization must be present in cryptocurrencies in order to protect itself from adversaries. That said, it’s possible to build a cryptocurrency without decentralization. This means, decentralization is an optional feature. Gold doesn’t have this optionality.

In terms of a monetary property, decentralization is a key property in ensuring the safety and resiliency of the network. The fact that decentralization is optional means a cryptocurrency without it cannot be considered safe from bad actors and may fail in an adversarial environment. We can conclude decentralization must be present to survive an attack.

Thus, decentralization must be a monetary property of cryptocurrencies seeking to be considered money.

So can we add “decentralization” to the properties of digital money? I’m inclined to say yes. It’s that important.

Privacy

Privacy in the digital world typically refers to your personal privacy. With social media and governments sucking up every scrap of possible data they can from you and using it for clearly nefarious purposes, privacy online is becoming extremely important for the purposes of protecting your financial privacy, as well as, more importantly, your right to pursue privacy and anonymity. Governments are working extremely hard to prevent your right to pursue financial privacy… but that’s a story for a different day.

When we’re referring to precious metals or even cash, we can say they preserve your privacy by virtue of not being connected to the internet. People can transact with physical cash and gold privately and no 3rd parties would be aware.

But like “decentralization”, it’s feels odd to refer to gold and cash as private because it’s baked into its nature. When you put it in your pocket, people don’t know it’s there. We get that cash and gold can be used privately, but we just don’t usually check its privacy because it’s not necessary.

In context of cryptocurrencies, privacy is definitely something they can be without. In fact, most cryptocurrencies don’t have privacy at all (Roughly, 0.0005% of the 20,000+ coins are private or have some sort of privacy feature). They can expose your data like your IP address, the contents of your wallet, to whom you’re transacting, what exchanges you use and more- it’s treasure trove of personal information!

Cryptocurrencies typically have a public ledger and software exists, called a Blockchain Explorer, which can allow anyone with access to the internet and your public address to see what you own by scanning that ledger. Imagine your bank having a search feature which allowed you to see all the transactions happening at your bank including the amounts and account numbers… including your own and anyone could look it up from anywhere on the planet.

This complicates cryptocurrency’s ability to be money. If every single digital asset can be tracked and traced, then we can say each and every digital asset has a unique history associated with it. This means governments or companies/exchanges can blacklist wallets and assets associated with a “tainted” history. In fact, this has already occurred and is still occurring. If you receive a blacklisted asset, even if you didn’t ask for it, you, as a US Citizen, can be sanctioned. Combine that with companies using software to associate your identity with your crypto and it’s complete history (in a process called Chainanalysis) we have to admit that an open and non-private, public ledger is the same as a surveillance ledger.

Scary stuff.

What I’m getting at here is this: each digital coin has a unique associated history. This means one digital coin isn’t the same as another. When you receive, say, a bitcoin, you inherit the entire history of that coin. There’s no way to make it private.

This means 1 bitcoin is not the same as 1 bitcoin; it lacks the fungibility of gold where with gold 1 oz is equal to 1 oz (this is also partly why bitcoin isn’t money).

In fact, any cryptocurrency with a public ledger cannot be fungible and thus cannot be considered money.

Why? Because it fails in the adversarial environment test. Bad actors can compromise your identity, track and trace you, know what you’re purchasing, how much you have, and more. This isn’t to say open ledgers can’t be currencies but they share more in common with Central Bank Digital Currencies than a mere national currency like fiat cash due to the surveillance prone nature of public ledgers.

Does that mean cryptocurrencies can never be money?

Not at all. This is where privacy comes in. It’s 100% possible for a cryptocurrency to be private by default and without a public ledger. One such coin is Monero. It’s so private that there isn’t a way for someone to see how much you have, or see with whom you’ve transacted, nor can they see the amount of the transactions.

It’s akin to using physical gold or cash- but online.

When it comes to digital assets: No privacy = No fungibility. It’s as simple as that.

People have been known to pay premiums for “freshly minted” bitcoins to ensure it has no transaction history. This means its public ledger breaks fungibility. If someone is willing to pay more for one bitcoin over another then 1 bitcoin does not equal 1 bitcoin.

But does that mean privacy is a monetary property for digital assets?

Absolutely yes! Privacy is a monetary property of digital money. Privacy is not the same as fungibility even though they overlap in this context. If privacy is optional then it isn’t inherent to crypto as it is with precious metals or physical assets. This means, if we want cryptocurrency to be fungible, it needs to be private. Privacy, like decentralization, isn’t negotiable in an adversarial environment.

So when it comes to digital assets, fungibility is intrinsically linked to privacy. Privacy is 100% necessary for a digital asset to be money.

Scalability

There’s a concept in decentralized networks known as “scalability”. It’s the ability of the network to scale with the demands of the network. As the number of people who use the network increases, the software should accommodate the added network pressures and automatically adjust to ensure the experience of using the network is similar for 100 people or a million.

If the network slows because it can’t scale with demand, then it compromises the ability of that asset to be a medium of exchange. Here’s how: In some blockchains transaction fees increase to de-incentivize people from using the network; in fact the network fees can jump to more than $200 per transaction. This makes it impossible to perform small transactions.

Imagine trying to use your debit card, but because it’s a busy shopping season Visa charges you an extra $200 on top of your $3 coffee purchase because the network is congested. $200 dollars isn’t an arbitrary number. This happened to bitcoin users recently during peak demand- this number can go even higher. This impacts people who can’t afford $200- many of whom are in poverty or live in 3rd world nations.

Right away we can see the importance of scalability in a network.

If the lack of the proposed property, scalability in this case, can compromise the monetary properties of the asset, then we have to conclude it’s an important monetary property.

In 2017, the bitcoin blockchain intentionally chose to cripple its ability to scale and now relies on high fees to de-incentivize users from using the network during peak usage (the argument at the time, without any scientific evidence provided publicly, was that bitcoin decentralization would be compromised if it was allowed to scale). Go back to our congested Visa example… that’s what’s happening on bitcoin.

As a result, bitcoin cannot support the global demand as a currency. If everyone wanted to use it as a currency, the network fees would skyrocket to the point where only the very rich could afford to make transactions. This essentially prohibits bitcoin from becoming a monetary system. It’s only use, at this point is as a savings technology like art or other scarce collectables. Sadly, Ethereum appears to be going down this path as well, sacrificing scalability- preventing it from becoming a good medium of exchange.

That said, there are many blockchains in the subsequent years which have proven that it absolutely can meet the demands of an increasing user base while keeping fees lows. Chains like Monero, Bitcoin Cash, and more can all scale without compromising usability and thus monetary properties.

Scalability is linked to a cryptocurrency’s role as a medium of exchange, just as fungibility is linked to a crypto’s privacy. You can’t have one without the other.

If a cryptocurrency can’t scale, then it can’t be a good medium of exchange, thus the asset cannot be money.

For some chains scalability is optional. This optionality, like privacy, and decentralization, is key to adding them as necessary properties of digital money.

So yes, scalability is absolutely a monetary property of digital money.

Interestingly, scalability is the first monetary property of cryptocurrency which has no real world counterpart. We’d be hard-pressed to say metals and cash are scalable. It’s not technically the same idea. Gold can be mined and cash can be printed to meet demand, so, I guess, we can say it’s scalable but we’re really having to bend the idea of the term. For physical currencies it’s more accurate to talk about them in terms of logistics (minting, storage, transportation, etc) rather than scalability.

Absolute Scarcity

Before we get into absolute scarcity, we need to understand relative scarcity as it relates to money.

Relative scarcity is the idea that an asset must be relatively scarce in order to hold some value. The US dollar can’t be said to be scarce and as a result we see that it has lost 99% of it’s purchasing power over the last 100 years. There are many factors which play into the USD losing it’s value including inflation but it serves as a model to understand relative scarcity.

Gold is relatively scarce. We continue to find more pockets of gold in the earth and we add it to our collective holdings. We can say that gold has a small inflation rate. This small inflation rate has allowed for gold to meet the demand pressures of a growing population. Historically, as the population grew, newer entrants to the market required gold to do business, applying demand pressure for the yellow metal. The inflation offset the demand ensuring the price of gold was relatively constant.

We can see the results of this relative inflation when we compare the prices of modern goods in terms of gold vs goods 100 years ago. If you were to price a house today in terms of gold, you’d see the price of a house 100 years ago is roughly the same. In fact, for some goods, you can go back a thousand years and the prices of those goods would be the same today in terms of gold.

Gold’s relative scarcity tells us that it’s low yearly inflation rate serves as a pressure release valve for demand, allowing for relatively stable prices.

I know people tend to freak out when they come across arguments FOR inflation but that’s usually due to the constant barrage of fear mongering about hyper-inflation carving out your cash savings. Mind you, it’s a real fear but it needs to be understood in context. Fiat isn’t money. It’s currency. Paper currency has no value beyond the cost of producing the paper itself and the wishes and dreams of whatever “full faith and credit of the US government” means when describing what backs the US dollar- faith is an interesting choice of words for a government that’s destroyed 99% of your purchasing power.

In it’s place, low constant inflation is just a tool that has successfully served gold and silver for thousands years.

With relative scarcity defined, let’s look at the new concept called “absolute scarcity”.

Absolute scarcity refers to a cryptocurrency’s fixed supply. In bitcoin’s case it’s fixed to 21 million coins and no more. As of this post, there are currently 19,688,637 BTC minted. As time goes on, more will continue to be mined until the supply reaches 21,000,000 coins and no more will be minted. Many other cryptocurrencies also have this feature although in different amounts.

There isn’t a good physical corollary to a fixed supply of something. Perhaps we can say original artwork has a fixed supply or your unique self has a fixed supply of you, but we’re reaching here. Objects that are often in fixed in supply tend to be collectibles.

In terms of crypto, a fixed supply is absolutely scarce. Unless the community decides to change the underlying software, the supply will be fixed forever.

Can something with absolute scarcity be money?

This is a very nuanced question which requires understanding a few things.

Inflation refers to 1) the value of some currency going down and 2) the price effect reflecting that falling change in value with the price of the goods of services going up. With inflation, as the currency loses value, the price of things measured against it goes up.

For example, taking into account gold’s low inflation rate, if the population growth was stagnant or less than gold’s yearly inflation rate, the value of gold would go down and the prices of things would go up like we would expect. But because the population continues to grow at a rate faster than gold is mined, the demand for gold acts a pressure keeping things priced in gold low and stable, offsetting the effects of golds inflation rate, and often, interestingly, lowering those prices over time.

This is known as deflation. Deflation is a decrease in prices due to demand pressures being higher than inflationary pressures.

If an asset has a fixed supply, what can we surmise will happen? A fixed supply will only experience demand pressures. This means, over time an asset will become more and more valuable. That’s great for people who hold it over a long period of time, but it means newer people will be able to afford less and less of it- affordability goes down- over time. If we account for a stagnant population, there would be constant unchanging demand for that asset (no new demand) and thus ultimate price stability- the demand for the asset is in equilibrium, thus prices would be perfectly stable relative to the asset. But we don’t live in that world. Our population is increasing exponentially. This means the demand for that asset will always go up. If an asset’s price always goes up, what does that mean for goods and services priced in terms of that asset? Well, their prices trend toward zero. It sounds great in theory, but how do merchants price their stuff to an asset whose price is always going up?

The world has never actually seen this situation making this idea theoretical but if we follow this to the logical conclusion, we can see that merchants would experience the opposite problem of hyper-inflation. Extreme inflation makes it so merchants are forced to reprice things on an almost hourly basis. It’s unsustainable. The same would be true for an asset which experiences only extreme hyper-deflation. How would a merchant effectively price goods against an asset whose value is pushing the price of goods to zero?

I can imagine a situation where merchants are constantly shifting decimals.

Small Coffee:
$1.00000
$0.10000
$0.01000
$0.00100
$0.00010
$0.00001

Again… this is unsustainable.

Obviously, the benefit of holding a deflationary asset like bitcoin is that the perceived purchasing power can increase over time due to gamblers and speculators believing the price will go up forever. However, this is an illusion. Clearly, bitcoin isn’t money because it’s a bad medium of exchange, not fungible, and has a surveillance ledger. Plus, a hyper-deflationary asset could spell bad news for merchants and customers unable to price in terms of that asset for the same reason they can’t easily price goods to a hyperinflationary currency. Gold, with its low steady inflation rate, already serves as money and a currency, unlike bitcoin.

We’re moving into a world where we’ll potentially see this extremely deflationary financial asset situation play out. While it’s still theory, I’m willing to wager that if the world were to adopt a fixed asset currency, the world would soon discover the huge drawbacks and fall back to something like gold or Monero.

There are few cryptocurrencies which buck the trend of absolute scarcity. Monero and Ethereum are two. Monero has a yearly inflation rate similar to that of gold, making it a solid money and currency and Ethereum has a low inflation rate as well but also burns its native coins at a larger rate than it inflates it making it disinflationary, so the value goes up.

Only Monero follows the trajectory of sound money like gold, so while Monero has a theoretical infinite supply (there’s ~18.5 million XMR at the moment) it’s inflation rate relative to the population is similar to that of gold’s inflation rate.

It’s my opinion absolute scarcity is NOT a monetary property. While it might make an asset more valuable over time and allow for the creation of extreme wealth for those who manage to get their hands on it early enough, it doesn’t necessarily make it a good currency, let alone a good money.

Programmability

Programmability is one of those fascinating ideas that people often over explain and thus confuses people. It’s a simple concept. Think of the blockchain as an operating system like Windows. You can run programs on it. These programs on the blockchain are called smart contracts- it’s less of a contract and more of a program. So a blockchains ability to run programs on it is programmability.

Think of these programs like a vending machine. You insert a coin and the program goes and does something.

Programmability opens the door to an incredible array of possibilities. You can build decentralized companies, create tokens of real world assets, decentralized exchanges, store data, use it as payroll system, create blockchain-based domain names, and more.

It’s a really earth shattering technology that will create new opportunities and new jobs as the technologies mature.

Even though a blockchain may be programmable, as in the cases of, say, Ethereum or Cardano, it’s not a requirement to be a currency.

In fact, many blockchains aren’t programmable and it’s fine- the use case for those assets are as a currency.

But…

Is programmability a monetary property?

No. Not even a little.

We can safely remove a blockchain’s programmability and doesn’t change the asset’s ability to transact. It can exist separately on the network without changing the underlying asset itself.

Programmability is not a monetary property.

The New Properties

The potential properties we went through are the most talked about properties in the space. Sure there are other discussions, but as I said earlier, they tend to be subsets of the potential properties we discussed.

I think it’s safe to say that Decentralization, Privacy, and Scalability are the new monetary properties of digital money.

We’ve explored how these three properties are not inherent to cryptocurrencies but must exist in order for them to protect the underlying value during a transaction in an adversarial environment.

I think it bodes well for cryptocurrencies that these properties can overlap with a physical asset like Gold. It means cryptocurrencies with these properties are primed to survive the long term adversarial environment of the market.

Coins like Monero are the few crypto’s which have the monetary properties needed to make it long term and provide that necessary transactional value where it’s needed, when it’s needed.

Crypto Comparisons

*You can use all of these as a medium of exchange, but the ones marked ❌ have fees which can be so high it effectively prevents the asset from being a good medium of exchange.

The world of precious metal investments has always been dominated by Gold and Silver. And when I first got started in precious metals I’d visit these bullion stores and see platinum and palladium but didn’t give them a second glance. I just assumed they were kitschy and had more in common with non-legal tender rounds. Boy, was I wrong.

Let’s see why.

First…

A Brief History of Platinum and Palladium

Palladium was discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston, who named it after the asteroid Pallas. Platinum, on the other hand, has a longer history dating back to ancient Egypt and pre-Columbian South America. However, it was not until the mid-18th century that Europeans began to appreciate its unique properties where Russia minted Platinum coins. Unfortunately it was for a relatively short period time and they eventually stopped due to the high costs of processing the metal.

It was only until 1997 that the United States issued the first platinum bullion rounds as legal tender. Then other countries followed suit. We had the technology to process them in a cheaper way and thus, it became possible to use as a form of currency. And since palladium has been added as a legal tender.

Both platinum and palladium are part of the Platinum Group Metals (PGMs), which are known for their remarkable properties, such as high resistance to corrosion and exceptional catalytic abilities. (This group also includes rhodium, iridium, osmium, and ruthenium- but for one reason or another, they aren’t used as currency or money).

While Platinum and Palladium are relative new comers to the scene, it’s important to note that they share the same characteristics of money that Gold and Silver do. If you want know the specifics about makes a money check out our article A Beginners Guide: Is it Money or is it Currency?

We don’t know if platinum and palladium will attain the same status as gold in silver in the world, but we do know they’re useful industrial metals with the same properties as money. This makes them interesting additions to the precious metal portfolio.

Pros of Investing in Platinum and Palladium

Diversification

Platinum and Palladium investments offer a diversification opportunity for investors looking to spread their risk across various asset classes. Since these metals tend to have a low correlation with traditional assets like stocks and bonds, they can provide a hedge against economic downturns and inflation.

Industrial Demand

Both Platinum and Palladium have extensive industrial applications, particularly in the automotive sector, where they are used as catalysts to reduce harmful emissions. As governments worldwide enforce stricter emission standards, demand for these metals is expected to grow, positively impacting their prices.

Supply Constraints

The supply of Platinum and Palladium is limited, with the majority of production coming from South Africa and Russia. Any disruptions to these supplies, whether due to geopolitical tensions, labor strikes, or other factors, can lead to a rapid increase in prices. Investment Vehicles: Investors have various options to invest in Platinum and Palladium, including physical bars and coins, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and mining stocks. This variety allows investors to choose the investment vehicle that best suits their risk appetite and investment objectives.

Relatively New Speculative Asset

If you tend to be more risk tolerant, then investing in Platinum and Palladium could be an interesting asset to consider. Smaller market capitalization can mean lower liquidity, and thus more volatility. If you’re a seasoned investor, then this might appeal to you. My personal belief is that it makes sense to hold long term against the dollar.

None of this is financial advice. Obviously.

Cons of Investing in Platinum and Palladium

Volatility

Platinum and Palladium prices can be quite volatile, partly due to their limited supply, fluctuations in industrial demand, and smaller market cap than gold and silver. This volatility may not be suitable for risk-averse investors or those with a short investment horizon.

Lack of Monetary History

Unlike gold and silver, platinum and palladium do not have a long-standing monetary history. As a result, they may not enjoy the same level of trust and recognition as traditional precious metals during times of economic uncertainty. This means you’ll probably be holding them longer than you expect and may not have a good way to offload them quickly if you need the money- low liquidity means harder to move.

Check with your dealer (online or local) to see if they’d be willing to buy, and in what quantities, before diving in.

Regulatory Risks

The demand for platinum and palladium is closely linked to the automotive sector and environmental regulations. Any changes in these regulations or a decline in the automobile industry could adversely affect the demand for these metals and their prices.

Key Factors to Consider

Investing in platinum and palladium can be a rewarding experience, provided you understand the risks and opportunities involved. Here are some essential factors to consider when venturing into this investment arena:

Risk Tolerance

Assess your risk tolerance and investment horizon before investing in platinum and palladium. These metals can be volatile, so it’s essential to ensure that you’re comfortable with the potential price fluctuations.

Market Research

Stay informed about the latest developments in the automotive industry and environmental regulations, as they can significantly impact the demand for palladium and platinum. Keep an eye on geopolitical events, particularly in South Africa and Russia, as they can affect the supply of these metals.

Diversification

While investing in platinum and palladium can provide diversification benefits, don’t forget to maintain a balanced portfolio that includes a mix of traditional assets like stocks, bonds, and other precious metals. This approach will help you manage risks more effectively.

Investment Vehicle

Consider your investment preferences and goals when choosing between physical metals, ETFs, and mining stocks. Each option has its pros and cons, so it’s crucial to evaluate them carefully before making a decision.

Self-Custody

As with Gold and Silver, you can stack Platinum and Palladium. With that comes the responsibility of securing and maintaining them. Check out our post Unlock Peace of Mind: The Top 10 Self-Custody Essentials For Stackers for information about how to do just that.

Wrapping Up

Platinum and palladium investments present untapped potential in the precious metals market. While they may not have the same monetary history as gold and silver, their unique industrial applications, growing demand, and supply constraints make them an attractive addition to an investor’s portfolio. By understanding the merits and consequences of investing in these metals and considering factors like risk tolerance, market research, diversification, and investment vehicles, you can make informed decisions and harness the power of platinum and palladium investments.

As you venture into the world of precious metal investing, remember to stay informed, be patient, and maintain a diversified portfolio to help you navigate the exciting and ever-changing landscape of platinum and palladium investments.

Stack safely!

Ever felt lost in the chaos of crypto investing? One day you're buying because everyone on X is hyped about a coin, the next day you're panic selling because of some FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt), and somehow you keep missing the really good opportunities until it's too late. I've been there- making emotional decisions, following the crowd, and hoping I'd get lucky. That's why I built Fundamentally: a platform that helps you cut through the noise and develop an actual strategy that works. Think Warren Buffett's methodology, but modernized for crypto and designed to help you make confident decisions based on real understanding rather than hype.

Full Disclosure: I created Fundamentally and own the company behind it… so yes, I'm biased about it because I truly believe in it, and I hope once you try it out, you'll become just as enthusiastically biased as I am! Also, nothing in this should be construed as financial advice. It's just my hard-won opinions.

The Road to Fundamental Analysis

The idea of turning your currency into an employee who goes out and makes more of itself has been my passion for well over a decade. Like many investors, I started with stocks- buying companies I personally used: Starbucks, Apple, Nintendo, Coca-Cola. Simple enough, right? Just dollar-cost average and hope the holdings go up over time.

Then I discovered Fundamental Analysis- you know, the whole "pour through annual reports, study price history, know the leadership team" deal. I loved the concept of deeply understanding what you're investing in, but as someone without a finance background, trying to decipher P&L statements and annual reports felt like reading ancient Greek. The amount of financial jargon was overwhelming. I knew there had to be a way to apply these principles without needing an accounting degree.

So I tried Technical Analysis instead- the seemingly sexy companion that promised fortunes if you just stared at charts long enough. After months of studying candlestick patterns and indicators, I gave it a shot. Three days of intense day-trading later, I had made a grand total of… $0.05. Yeah, you read that right. Five cents. Turns out, watching prices go up and down was too seductive, and I made poor choices. Day-trading felt like another 9-5 job, and I hate 9-5s.

Gold and Digital Gold

The breakthrough started when I found Mike Maloney's free Hidden Secret's of Money YouTube series, and it completely changed my understanding of currency and money. Through some serendipity, I then discovered a silver-bug named Bix Weir who made an incredible case for silver while exposing the rampant market manipulation by banks. This put all the pieces in place I needed to make better investment choices- but I didn't know it yet. I fell in love with gold and silver because you can hold them and invest in them with ease. They're tangible and shiny and ancient and still money. As a liberty-minded person, I loved that what you hold is truly yours, unlike stocks or ETFs.

Then Bitcoin core (btc) went from $5k to $20k.

Yes, I was allured by the thought of quick wealth in the crypto space. You heard stories about people becoming millionaires and buying lambos and leaving the working world. I don't care about lambos, but man, I wanted to leave the working world! While I already knew about bitcoin and had briefly mined it several years prior (my wife actually urged me to buy it at $1- lesson learned: try harder), I never took it seriously until I had my key insight: crypto was just another form of currency.

That's when everything clicked. As a programmer, I could actually understand the technical aspects without falling asleep. But more importantly, I could apply my knowledge of money and currency from precious metals to crypto. And here was the real breakthrough- I could perform Fundamental Analysis on crypto without needing a finance degree. Instead of drowning in P&L statements, I could analyze things that actually made sense to me: community engagement, technological innovation, tokenomics, and real-world use cases. The crypto ecosystem was filled with fascinating categories- privacy coins, meme coins, smart contract platforms- each with their own unique characteristics that don't exist in traditional markets.

The principles of Fundamental Analysis hadn't changed- deeply understanding what you're investing in- but the questions you ask are different. Just like you'd ask different questions about a stock versus a piece of real estate, crypto required its own framework. And when I finally developed a system to quantify these factors into numerical scores, everything changed. I could mathematically compare different assets, determine position sizes based on risk, and even create custom metrics for market timing.

Set Sails…

Here's what I learned: investing isn't about chasing profits- it's about letting profits come to you by placing yourself in the right place at the right time. Think of it like sailing: you can move in any direction regardless of where the wind is coming from, as long as you know how to adjust your sails. The same is true for investing. You just need to understand which way the market winds are blowing and adjust your strategy accordingly.

In crypto, these winds are driven by something called The Bitcoin Cycle. Bitcoin's price fluctuates based on a cycle that developed according to its halving schedule. Every four years, BTC reduces the reward miners receive for securing the blockchain network. This causes a strain on their bottom line as the supply dries up, forcing miners to sell their BTC on the open market to cover their costs. This strain, since the beginning of Bitcoin, has been the driver of the cycle.

Each cycle typically starts at the bottom of a 3-4 year bear market, slowly grinds upward in price towards a new all-time high, and then slowly grinds back down in price for the next 3-4 years. This is the wind we use to set our sails. Knowing whether we're closer to the top of the bull market or the bottom of the bear market is crucial for when we buy or sell- meaning our investment strategy depends on where we are in the cycle.

The investing lifecycle itself has three simple stages: Research, risk management, and trading actions. Everything breaks down into those three areas, regardless of your strategy. Research is like checking the weather and planning your route. Risk management is deciding how much sail to put up based on the conditions. And trading actions- buying, holding, selling, or doing nothing- that's adjusting your sails as conditions change.

Unlike day-trading, which feels like a 9-5 job (and I hate 9-5s… did I mention that already?), this investing timeline is months or years. This means we have time to breathe. Time to research different cryptocurrencies. Time to plan. The really big investors aren't day trading- they're setting themselves up for success by keeping their strategies simple and, most importantly, managing their risk.

Fundamentally Cryptocurrency

Following the lead of successful investors, I created my own system. I filled spreadsheets with parameters, added research, and turned it all into quantifiable scores. I spent countless hours collecting documents, links, images, performing basic technical analysis, writing code snippets for calculating bet sizes, and more. But I kept running into one massive problem: organization. I'd lose track of things and make silly mistakes which cost me investment money because there was just so much information to keep track of.

I'm someone who doesn't like to be frustrated for very long. So I often spend time breaking through it by learning or building. In this case, my solution came in the form of building my own investment management platform. It started with basic portfolio management, then I added pages where you could save documents and make notes. After using it for about a year and a half, I realized just how much time it saved me in research, managing notes, calculating risks, and more.

One instance really drove it home: I was looking at a coin that I had previously researched but completely forgotten a key thing about it- some reason why I wasn't going to invest in it that wasn't listed on its primary website. I navigated to the asset page in Fundamentally and found my old note about it. Two months later, that project imploded. That's when I knew there was something to this software.

By virtue of building Fundamentally according to the investment lifecycle, its power comes from its flexibility. Too many other platforms focus solely on Technical Analysis- they're built for traders who want to stare at charts all day. But what about us folks who prefer Fundamental Analysis? Who want to dig deeper, organize our research, track our thesis, and make systematic decisions based on solid fundamentals?

Think Warren Buffett's approach, but with modern tools. It follows the natural investment lifecycle- research, risk management, and trading actions- while keeping everything organized and accessible. To be clear: Fundamentally isn't an investment platform. We don't hold assets or allow trading. Instead, we're a platform designed for people who use Fundamental Analysis strategies, helping them manage their portfolios, organize their research, manage their risk, and make better-informed decisions based on metrics and analysis. It's strategy-agnostic, meaning you can adapt it to your personal investment style.

That's what Fundamentally is all about- turning the chaos of investing into a clear, organized system that helps you make better decisions. Because at the end of the day, isn't that what we're all trying to do?

Sailing Your Own Course

Here's the thing about investing- everyone's trying to sell you their "perfect" strategy. But what I've learned through this journey is that the best strategy is one you can actually execute. For me, that meant finding a way to do Fundamental Analysis that didn't require an accounting degree, but still gave me the deep understanding I needed to make confident decisions.

That's exactly what Fundamentally helps you do. It's not just a research organization tool- it's a full-featured professional portfolio manager. You can perform technical analysis when you need it, optimize your workflows to save time, and even get AI-generated reports that compare assets side-by-side. Everything you need to make informed investment decisions is right there at your fingertips.

Whether you're just starting out in crypto or you're an experienced investor looking to organize your research better, it gives you the tools to build your own systematic approach. No more scattered spreadsheets, lost notes, or forgotten red flags. Just clear, organized research and professional-grade portfolio management that helps you make better decisions.

I built this platform because I needed it. I use it every day because it works. And I'm sharing it because I believe it can help other investors who, like me, want to understand what they're investing in without drowning in jargon or staring at charts all day.

Ready to try a different approach to crypto investing? One that puts you in control of your research and helps you make decisions based on real understanding rather than hype? Come check out Fundamentally. Let's set those sails together.

Visit Fundamentally here.

Money has been a crucial part of human civilization for thousands of years. From shells and beads to coins and banknotes, its form has evolved throughout history. However, one material has remained a constant store of value: gold. In recent years, a new form of gold currency has emerged, offering a unique alternative to conventional currency – the Goldback. In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of Goldbacks, their potential to replace traditional currency, and how they’re a smart investment choice for beginners and professional investors alike.

A (really) Brief History of Gold as Money and the Gold Standard

Gold has been used as a medium of exchange and a store of value since ancient times. Civilizations such as the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans minted gold coins as a form of currency, and its usage continued throughout the Middle Ages and beyond.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many countries adopted the Gold Standard, a monetary system where a country’s currency was directly linked to a specific amount of gold. This system allowed for easy conversion between currencies and facilitated international trade. However, the Gold Standard ultimately failed in 1971 due to reckless government spending and their insatiable need to print money.

Find out what money is exactly by reading our primer: A Beginners Guide: Is it Money or is it Currency?

Introducing Goldbacks: A Solution to Currency Devaluation

Goldbacks are a revolutionary form of gold currency designed to address the problems of traditional currency, such as inflation and devaluation. They are physical bills made from a thin layer of 24-karat gold, deposited onto a durable polymer. Each Goldback bill contains a specific amount of gold, making them a stable and tangible store of value.

This means, you can use actual gold the way you already use cash! That comes with financial anonymity, privacy, and the knowledge of transacting with something of value.

Benefits of Goldbacks

1. Hedge against inflation: Goldbacks offer protection from the ever-present risk of inflation, as their value is tied directly to gold, which has historically maintained its value over time.
2. Durable and portable: The innovative production process used to create Goldbacks ensures that they are both durable and lightweight, making them ideal for everyday use and transportation.
3. Easy to understand: Goldbacks are denominated in specific amounts of gold, making their value easy to comprehend for people of all financial backgrounds.
4. Legal tender: Goldbacks are recognized as legal tender in several U.S. states, allowing them to be used for everyday transactions alongside conventional currency.
5. Privacy: Goldbacks offer a level of privacy in transactions that digital currencies and credit cards cannot provide, as they can be exchanged directly between individuals without the need for intermediaries.

Beyond investing, you can spend them too! In many states, Goldbacks are already being used as legal tender.

The Goldback: A Potential Currency Replacement

As trust in traditional currencies wanes and concerns about inflation and economic instability grow, Goldbacks offer a viable alternative. They combine the best features of gold and paper currency, making them suitable for everyday transactions and a reliable store of value.

Additionally, several states have made them legal tender allowing you to make purchases with Goldbacks! Those states are Utah, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Wyoming (that doesn’t mean you can’t buy them from anywhere in the country as a welcome addition to your portfolio).

Investing in Goldbacks: A Smart Choice for All Investors

Goldbacks are an excellent investment option for both beginners and experienced investors looking to diversify their portfolios. They offer exposure to the precious metals market, while also providing the benefits of currency-like liquidity and easy storage.

Beginner investors can use Goldbacks as an accessible entry point into precious metals investing, as they are available in small denominations and require no specialized knowledge to acquire or manage.

Experienced investors can take advantage of Goldbacks’ unique features, such as their legal tender status and potential for widespread adoption, to complement their existing investment strategies.

Drawbacks

One important drawback to consider, however, is the current premium on Goldbacks is due to their novelty and the fact that they are produced exclusively by one company. These higher premiums may be a barrier for some investors or users. However, as the market for Goldbacks expands and more companies potentially enter the production space, it is likely that these premiums will decrease, making Goldbacks an even more attractive option for those looking to invest in precious metals or use them as a stable form of currency.

Personally, I don’t care about premiums if I think they’re reasonable. Goldbacks, to me, are money. That means I don’t particularly worry about the premiums- I’m not in it to trade them… I’m in it to preserve my purchasing power.

Silverbacks… ?

Silverbacks are in limited quantities and were made as a proof of concept. There are others being developed but they’re not as popular, yet, as Goldbacks.

Will Silverbacks take off as Goldbacks have? Only time will tell. In the meantime, these are closer to being collectibles rather than an inflation hedge.

The only drawback we can see is the premium- considering the amount of silver these contain is 1/1000th of an ounce. That means, at current market prices of silver, it’s just a few cents worth of silver. That said, if you’re a collector, these would make a very nice addition to any collection given that these are the only ones in the world… so far.

Wrapping Up

Goldbacks represent a groundbreaking fusion of gold’s timeless value and the convenience of modern currency. As an innovative form of money that addresses the shortcomings of traditional currency, Goldbacks have the potential to transform the financial landscape. Investors at all levels should consider adding Goldbacks to their portfolios, as they offer numerous benefits, including protection from inflation, portability, and the opportunity to capitalize on the potential growth of this revolutionary asset.

Despite the current premiums on Goldbacks, their unique benefits and potential for widespread adoption make them a promising and valuable addition to any investment portfolio or financial strategy.

Oh! And check out this fun video from Valaurum, the company that manufactures Goldbacks:

Ahoy, treasure hunters and precious metal enthusiasts! Welcome aboard our adventure to unravel the mysteries of the lesser-known but undeniably valuable realm of junk silver. If you’ve been searching for new ways to add to your collection or make a smart investment in precious metals, this treasure trove might be just what you’re looking for.

But what exactly is junk silver? Is it really as “junky” as it sounds? In this blog post, we’ll dive deep into the world of junk silver coins, uncover their hidden value, and help you navigate the choppy waters of investing in these underrated gems.

The True Identity of Junk Silver

Contrary to its name, junk silver isn’t a heap of worthless, discarded metal. Rather, it refers to circulated coins with a silver content, typically minted before 1965 in the United States. Also called Constitutional Silver (a term we prefer), these coins have little to no collectible or numismatic value but are sought after for their precious metal content.

The term “junk silver” might sound derogatory, but it’s simply a term coined by precious metal dealers to differentiate these coins from those with numismatic value. In fact, many seasoned collectors and investors adore these unassuming treasures because they contain a significant amount of silver at an affordable price.

The Silver Stars: Dimes, Quarters, and Half Dollars

Junk silver primarily consists of dimes, quarters, and half dollars minted in the United States before 1965. These coins are typically made of a 90% silver and 10% copper alloy, also known as “coin silver”, although it can vary. Here’s a quick rundown of the most common junk silver coins you might encounter:

1. Mercury Dimes (1916-1945): Designed by Adolph A. Weinman, these dimes feature Lady Liberty wearing a winged cap, symbolizing freedom of thought.
2. Roosevelt Dimes (1946-1964): These dimes bear the portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and were introduced shortly after his death in 1945.
3. Standing Liberty Quarters (1916-1930): Designed by Hermon MacNeil, these quarters showcase Lady Liberty standing between two walls, holding a shield and an olive branch.
4. Washington Quarters (1932-1964): A classic design by John Flanagan, these quarters feature a portrait of the first US president, George Washington.
5. Walking Liberty Half Dollars (1916-1947): Also designed by Weinman, these half dollars depict Lady Liberty striding confidently towards the sun, symbolizing progress and hope.
6. Franklin Half Dollars (1948-1963): Featuring a portrait of founding father Benjamin Franklin, these half dollars were designed by John R. Sinnock.
7. Kennedy Half Dollars (1964): In memory of President John F. Kennedy, these half dollars were minted in 1964 with a 90% silver composition.

Why Junk Silver Deserves Your Attention

1. Affordable Entry Point: Junk silver offers a lower-cost alternative for those looking to invest in precious metals or start a collection. Since these coins don’t carry numismatic premiums, you can often acquire them for close to their melt value.
2. Tangible Wealth: Junk silver coins are a physical asset you can hold in your hand, unlike stocks or digital currencies. They can be a reassuring addition to your investment portfolio, especially during times of economic uncertainty.
3. Hedge Against Inflation: Silver has long been considered a hedge against inflation, as it tends to maintain its purchasing power over time. Junk silver can help protect your wealth from the eroding effects of inflation.
4. Bartering Potential: In the unlikely event of an economic collapse or crisis, junk silver coins could serve as a practical form of barter due to their recognizable and divisible nature. Their smaller denominations make them suitable for everyday transactions.
5. Historical Significance: While junk silver coins may not have numismatic value, they still hold a piece of history. Owning these coins is a way to connect with the past and appreciate the craftsmanship of a bygone era.
6. Discreet Investment: Unlike large silver bars or coins with high premiums, junk silver coins can be an inconspicuous addition to your precious metals holdings. They’re easily stored, transported, and exchanged without drawing too much attention.

Navigating the World of Junk Silver

Before you set sail on your junk silver journey, here are some tips and tricks to help you make the most of your treasure hunt:

1. Know Your Coins: Familiarize yourself with the different types of junk silver coins and their silver content. This knowledge will help you make informed decisions when buying or selling.
2. Calculate the Melt Value: To determine the value of your junk silver coins, you’ll need to calculate their silver content by weight. A simple formula to use is:
   • Melt Value = (Weight in Troy Ounces) x (Silver Purity) x (Current Silver Spot Price)
   • Or, to make it easy, use our Silver Calculator here.
3. Watch the Spot Price: Keep an eye on the current silver spot price, as it directly impacts the value of your junk silver coins. Be prepared to act when the price moves in your favor.
4. Find a Reputable Dealer: Work with a trustworthy precious metals dealer to ensure you’re getting a fair price and authentic coins. Read reviews, ask for recommendations, and compare prices before making a purchase.
5. Buy in Bulk: Purchasing junk silver in larger quantities can sometimes result in a lower price per coin. Consider buying “bags” or “rolls” of junk silver coins to save on your investment.
6. Store Your Treasure Safely: Proper storage is essential to protect your junk silver from damage or theft. Consider using a safe deposit box, a home safe, or a secure storage facility to keep your coins safe.

Try our Junk Silver Calculator

If you’re curious about the silver content of your stash, or if you already hold Junk Silver, then you can use our easy-to-use Junk Silver Calculator to discover the silver Troy ounce content of these valuable coins.

Wrapping Up

Junk silver might not be the shiniest treasure in the precious metals world, but it certainly holds its own when it comes to value, practicality, and historical charm. By unlocking the secrets of junk silver, you can diversify your investment portfolio, preserve your wealth, and embark on an exciting adventure in the world of precious metals.

So, hoist the Jolly Roger, and set sail on your journey to uncover the hidden riches of junk silver coins. With a little knowledge and a keen eye, you’ll be well on your way to discovering a trove of precious treasure that’s been hiding in plain sight.

Before you go…

If you’re interested in Junk Silver, you might want to check out our beginners guide about investing in numismatics. You might be holding a rare coin and not know it.

As the age-old adage goes, “All that glitters is not gold.” But when it comes to investing in this precious metal, gold indeed gleams with a lustrous shine, captivating investors’ hearts since time immemorial. For those eager to explore the realm of gold investing, this comprehensive guide will unveil the secrets of the golden world, illustrating how to invest in gold, the various types of coinage, and the myriad ways to grow your wealth.

From the gleaming vaults of Fort Knox to the shimmering souks of Dubai, gold has long been a symbol of wealth, stability, and beauty. Its timeless allure has transcended cultures, continents, and epochs, firmly establishing gold as a cornerstone of global finance. So, what is it about this yellow metal that makes it a coveted investment option for both the novice and the experienced investor?

Gold’s unique properties – its scarcity, durability, and intrinsic value – render it a natural hedge against economic uncertainty, inflation, and currency fluctuations. These very attributes make it an enticing option for wealth preservation and portfolio diversification. Moreover, the burgeoning demand for gold in sectors such as electronics, jewelry, and dentistry further amplifies its investment appeal.

Now that we’ve piqued your curiosity, let’s delve into the various ways to invest in gold, followed by a comprehensive overview of coinage, and finally, strategies for growing your golden wealth.

The Fundamentals of Gold Investing

Gold has long been considered a valuable investment asset due to its unique properties and historical significance. In this section, we will discuss the fundamentals of gold investing, delving into its role as a safe-haven asset, an inflation hedge, the supply and demand dynamics, industrial and technological applications, historical performance, and other key aspects.

1. Safe-Haven Asset: Gold is often regarded as a safe-haven asset because it tends to maintain or even appreciate in value during periods of economic uncertainty and market turmoil. This stability results from investors seeking to preserve their wealth by reallocating their funds to gold when traditional assets, such as stocks and bonds, experience significant fluctuations or losses. As a result, gold can provide a layer of protection and diversification in an investor’s portfolio.
2. Inflation Hedge: Gold has a reputation as an effective hedge against inflation. In times of rising inflation, the purchasing power of paper currencies tends to decline, while the value of gold typically remains stable or increases. This occurs because gold is a tangible asset with a limited supply, unlike fiat currencies that can be printed in unlimited quantities. As inflation erodes the value of currency, investors often turn to gold to preserve their purchasing power and protect their wealth.
3. Supply and Demand Dynamics: The price of gold is significantly influenced by the balance between its supply and demand. The supply of gold primarily comes from mining activities, while the demand arises from various sectors, including investment, jewelry, and industrial applications. Factors such as political instability, economic conditions, and market sentiment can all impact the demand for gold, causing price fluctuations. On the supply side, changes in mining production, government reserves, and recycling can also affect gold prices.
4. Industrial and Technological Applications: Gold has a wide range of industrial and technological applications due to its unique properties, such as high electrical conductivity, resistance to corrosion, and malleability. Gold is used in various sectors, including electronics, aerospace, dentistry, and medicine. The demand for gold in these industries can influence its price, with increased demand potentially driving prices higher.
5. Historical Performance: Gold has a long history as a trusted asset and a recognized form of currency. Over the years, it has consistently demonstrated its ability to retain value, even during periods of economic instability or crisis. While gold prices can experience short-term fluctuations, its long-term historical performance suggests that it can serve as a reliable investment option.
6. Diversification Benefits: One of the key benefits of investing in gold is the diversification it can bring to an investment portfolio. Gold typically has a low correlation with traditional assets, such as stocks and bonds, which means that its price movements often differ from those of other investments. By including gold in a portfolio, investors can potentially reduce overall portfolio risk and enhance returns.

Understanding each of these allows you to make more informed decisions about how gold affects your portfolio.

The Market Drivers of Gold

Gold prices are influenced by a complex interplay of various market drivers, including macroeconomic factors, geopolitical events, and investor sentiment. In this section, we will discuss some of the key market drivers that can impact the price of gold, providing a deeper understanding of the forces shaping its value.

1. Interest Rates: Interest rates play a crucial role in determining the demand for gold. When central banks lower interest rates, the opportunity cost of holding gold decreases, as the returns on interest-bearing assets, such as bonds, become less attractive. Lower interest rates can lead to increased demand for gold, driving its price higher. Conversely, rising interest rates tend to make gold less appealing, as investors may opt for assets with higher yields, leading to a decrease in gold demand and prices.
2. Currency Movements: Gold prices are often closely tied to the strength of the U.S. dollar, given that the metal is predominantly priced in dollars on the global market. A stronger dollar can make gold more expensive for holders of other currencies, potentially reducing demand and lowering gold prices. On the other hand, a weaker dollar can make gold more affordable, thereby increasing its demand and boosting its value.
3. Inflation Expectations: As discussed earlier, gold is often seen as a hedge against inflation. When inflation expectations rise, investors may seek to protect their wealth by increasing their gold holdings. This heightened demand can lead to higher gold prices. Conversely, when inflation expectations remain subdued, the demand for gold as an inflation hedge may decline, resulting in lower prices.
4. Geopolitical Tensions: Gold is often considered a safe-haven asset during periods of geopolitical unrest or uncertainty. In times of heightened tensions, investors may shift their funds from riskier assets, such as stocks, to gold in order to protect their wealth. This increased demand can drive gold prices higher. Once tensions subside and the global outlook becomes more stable, gold demand may wane, leading to a decline in prices.
5. Market Sentiment and Investor Behavior: Investor sentiment and behavior can significantly influence gold prices. When market participants are optimistic about the future and have a higher risk appetite, they may allocate more of their funds to equities and other riskier assets, which can lead to a decrease in gold demand and prices. Conversely, during periods of heightened uncertainty or pessimism, investors may turn to gold as a safe-haven asset, driving up its price.
6. Central Bank Policies: Central banks, such as the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, play a significant role in influencing gold prices through their monetary policies. Quantitative easing (QE) programs, which involve the large-scale purchase of assets by central banks, can lead to increased money supply and potential inflationary pressures, making gold an attractive investment option. Additionally, central banks themselves are major holders of gold reserves, and their buying or selling activities can directly impact gold prices.
7. Gold Production and Mining: Gold mining activities and production levels can also influence gold prices. A decrease in mining output, due to factors such as declining ore grades, environmental regulations, or geopolitical issues, can result in a tightening of gold supply, driving up prices. Conversely, an increase in production or the discovery of new gold deposits can lead to an oversupply, putting downward pressure on gold prices.

By staying attuned to factors such as interest rates, currency movements, inflation expectations, geopolitical tensions, market sentiment, central bank policies, and gold production, investors can make more informed decisions when navigating the dynamic world of gold investing.

How to Invest in Gold

1. Physical Gold: Bullion Bars, Coins, Rounds, and Goldbacks

Investing in physical gold involves purchasing the metal in its tangible form and storing it securely. There are various options for investing in physical gold, including bullion bars, coins, rounds, and goldbacks. Each of these forms offers unique advantages and considerations for investors.

Bullion Bars: Gold bullion bars are rectangular blocks of gold, typically available in various weights and purity levels. They are one of the most cost-effective ways to invest in physical gold, as they usually carry lower premiums compared to coins or other forms of gold. Bullion bars are produced by both government and private mints and can be easily bought and sold through dealers or online platforms. When purchasing gold bars, it is crucial to ensure that they come with proper certification and are sourced from reputable mints to guarantee their authenticity.

Bullion Coins: Gold coins are minted by governments and private mints and come in various designs, weights, and purity levels. They often carry a face value, which signifies their legal tender status in the issuing country, although their actual market value is generally much higher due to their gold content. Coins are favored by investors who value the combination of gold’s intrinsic worth and the coin’s aesthetic appeal. Some popular gold coins include the American Gold Eagle, Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, and South African Krugerrand. When investing in gold coins, it is essential to purchase from reputable dealers and consider factors such as the coin’s weight, purity, and liquidity.

Rounds: Gold rounds are similar to gold coins in appearance but differ in that they are not legal tender and do not carry a face value. Produced by private mints, gold rounds typically have lower premiums compared to gold coins, making them a more affordable option for investors. They come in various designs, weights, and purity levels, offering a wide range of choices for those looking to invest in physical gold. Like coins, it is crucial to purchase gold rounds from reputable dealers to ensure their authenticity and value.

Goldbacks: Goldbacks are an innovative form of physical gold that combines the features of gold bullion and currency. They are thin, flexible notes made of a layer of gold sandwiched between layers of protective material. Each goldback carries a specific weight of gold, usually ranging from 1/1000th to 1/200th of a troy ounce. Goldbacks can be used as a form of voluntary, local currency in some regions and are favored by investors looking for an easily divisible and portable form of physical gold. When investing in goldbacks, it is essential to consider factors such as the gold content, the issuing company’s reputation, and the goldback’s liquidity.

Golds backs are literal gold that are currently being used as a form of legal tender in several states in the US.

The allure of holding gold in your hands is undeniable, and for many, owning physical gold is the epitome of gold investing. This method entails buying gold bars, coins, or jewelry and storing them in a secure location. When opting for physical gold, always purchase from reputable dealers to ensure authenticity and consider storage and insurance costs.

2. Gold Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)

Gold ETFs are a convenient and liquid way to gain exposure to gold without the hassle of storing physical gold. These investment vehicles track the price of gold and can be traded on major stock exchanges like regular stocks. While ETFs offer ease and flexibility, they come with management fees, which can erode returns over time.

3. Gold Stocks and Mutual Funds

Investing in gold mining companies or gold-focused mutual funds provides indirect exposure to gold. These investments can generate higher returns than physical gold or gold ETFs when gold prices rise. However, they also carry additional risks related to the performance of the individual companies, the mining sector, and the overall stock market.

4. Gold Futures and Options

For the more sophisticated investor, gold futures and options offer a way to speculate on the future price of gold. These financial instruments can provide significant leverage, leading to potentially higher returns (or losses). Keep in mind that this method is complex, and it’s essential to understand the mechanics and risks associated with derivatives trading.

5. Digital Gold: Cryptocurrencies backed by Physical Gold

In the rapidly evolving world of digital assets, cryptocurrencies backed by physical gold have emerged as a novel and increasingly popular way to invest in the precious metal. These digital tokens, often referred to as “gold-backed cryptocurrencies” or “digital gold,” are designed to combine the stability and intrinsic value of gold with the convenience, security, and accessibility of cryptocurrencies.

Gold-backed cryptocurrencies function by pegging their value to a specific amount of physical gold, typically stored in secure vaults by the token issuer. Each digital token represents a specific weight of gold, such as one gram or one troy ounce, allowing investors to gain exposure to gold without the need to store and manage the physical asset. Some popular gold-backed cryptocurrencies include PAX Gold (PAXG), Tether Gold (XAUT), and Digix Gold Token (DGX). Most of these live as tokens on the Ethereum blockchain.

Types of Gold Coinage

Gold coins can be broadly categorized into two types: bullion coins and numismatic coins.

Bullion Coins: These coins are valued primarily for their gold content, with their weight and purity explicitly stated. Examples include the American Gold Eagle, Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, and South African Krugerrand. Bullion coins are typically minted by government mints and are favored by investors seeking physical gold as a trust asset.

Numismatic Coins: Unlike bullion coins, numismatic coins derive their value from factors beyond their gold content, such as rarity, historical significance, and the coin’s condition. Examples include pre-1933 U.S. gold coins and ancient Roman gold coins. Numismatic coins appeal to collectors and investors with an interest in history and artistry, but their value can be more challenging to determine and may fluctuate based on market demand for specific coins.

For a more detailed look at the types of coins check out our post called Master the Fundamentals: What are Bullion, Rounds, And Numismatics?

The Benefits of Investing in Gold Coins

Investing in gold coins presents several advantages for investors seeking to diversify their portfolio and capitalize on the precious metal’s enduring value:

1. Tangible Asset: Like silver, gold coins provide a sense of security and tangibility, allowing investors to physically hold their wealth. This aspect of gold investing can be particularly appealing during times of economic uncertainty or instability.
2. Liquidity: Gold coins are widely recognized and easily traded, offering investors a high degree of liquidity. This flexibility enables investors to buy, sell, or exchange their gold coins with relative ease, depending on their financial needs and objectives.
3. Premiums: While gold bullion coins typically carry a modest premium over the spot price of gold, numismatic gold coins can garner significantly higher premiums due to factors such as rarity, historical significance, and condition. These additional premiums can offer investors the potential for increased returns, especially if they possess a keen understanding of the numismatic market.
4. Hedge Against Inflation: Gold coins can serve as a hedge against inflation, helping to protect the investor’s purchasing power. Since gold often maintains its value or even appreciates during periods of high inflation, investing in gold coins can provide a buffer against the eroding effects of inflation on other assets.
5. Portfolio Diversification: Adding gold coins to an investment portfolio can help to diversify holdings and mitigate risk. Gold often exhibits a low correlation with other asset classes, such as stocks and bonds, which means that its value may not move in lockstep with these investments. As a result, gold coins can potentially enhance a portfolio’s overall performance and stability.

Investing in gold coins offers a range of benefits, including tangibility, liquidity, potential for higher premiums, inflation protection, and portfolio diversification. These advantages make gold coins an attractive option for investors seeking to tap into the timeless allure and enduring value of the yellow metal.

Growing Your Gold Wealth

Dollar-Cost Averaging: This strategy involves investing a fixed amount of money in gold at regular intervals, regardless of the current gold price. By doing so, you average out your purchase price over time, mitigating the impact of short-term price fluctuations. Dollar-cost averaging can be a prudent approach, particularly for those new to gold investing.

Portfolio Rebalancing: As gold prices and other asset values change over time, your investment portfolio may become unbalanced. Periodically rebalancing your portfolio by selling assets that have appreciated and buying more gold (or other assets) can help maintain your desired asset allocation and reduce overall portfolio risk.

Leveraging Expertise: For those with limited knowledge of gold investing, seeking advice from experienced financial advisors, or investing in professionally managed gold-focused mutual funds can provide access to valuable expertise and resources.

Diversification within Gold Investments: Just as you should diversify your overall investment portfolio, it’s essential to diversify within your gold investments. Consider spreading your gold investments across different types, such as physical gold, gold ETFs, and gold stocks. This approach can help mitigate risks associated with any single investment option.

Research and Education: Staying informed and educated about the silver market is crucial for successful investing. Follow industry news, stay updated on market trends, and learn about the companies involved in silver mining and production. Knowledge is power, and being well-informed will help you make better investment decisions.

Gold investing offers a treasure trove of opportunities for those willing to venture into its glistening domain. By understanding the various ways to invest in gold, the different types of coinage, and the strategies to grow your wealth, you can harness the power of this timeless metal to forge a radiant financial future.

Additional Considerations for Gold Investing

Storage and Security

When investing in physical gold, it’s crucial to carefully evaluate your storage options to ensure the safety and security of your precious metal assets. Options for storing gold include home storage using a high-quality safe or a professional storage facility such as a private vault or a bank’s safe deposit box.

To learn more about storage and security best practices, check out our article: Unlock Peace of Mind: The Top 10 Self-Custody Essentials For Gold Investors.

Authenticity and Quality

To safeguard your investment, make sure to purchase gold from reputable dealers and mints, and always verify the authenticity and quality of your gold assets. For gold coins, look for official mint marks and certifications, while for gold bars, check for recognized hallmarks and assay certifications.

Taxes and Regulations

Familiarize yourself with the tax implications and regulations related to gold investing in your jurisdiction. Be aware of any reporting requirements, taxes, and legal considerations to help you navigate the complexities of gold investment and avoid any unwelcome surprises down the line.

By taking these additional considerations into account when investing in gold, you can help protect your investment, ensure its authenticity, and stay compliant with relevant tax and regulatory requirements. Proper planning and due diligence will contribute to a more secure and rewarding gold investment experience.

Wrapping Up

As you embark on your golden journey, always remember to conduct thorough research, seek professional advice when needed, and stay attuned to the ever-evolving economic landscape. With a well-planned approach, you can unlock the Midas touch and transform your gold investments into a glittering beacon of prosperity.

Silver, a lustrous metal with a rich history, has captivated the human imagination for millennia. It has been used for everything from coinage to jewelry, and it has withstood the test of time as a reliable store of value. As the world continues to evolve, so too does the appeal of silver investing. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the myriad ways to invest in silver, the different types of coinage, and strategies to grow your wealth. So, join us on this journey as we enlighten, inspire, and educate those new to investing in silver.

For obvious reasons, nothing in this post should be construed as financial advice.

I. A Silver-Lined Investment Landscape

A. The Fundamentals of Silver Investing

Before diving into the details, it’s important to understand the fundamentals of silver investing in order to calibrate ourselves relative to the space.

1. Safe-Haven Asset: Silver, like gold, is considered a safe-haven asset, meaning it tends to hold its value during economic turmoil or uncertainty. This makes it an attractive option for investors looking to diversify their portfolio and hedge against market volatility.
2. Inflation Hedge: Silver can act as a hedge against inflation, as its value often rises when the purchasing power of paper currencies declines. As central banks continue to print money, silver may help preserve the purchasing power of your investments.
3. Supply and Demand Dynamics: The price of silver is influenced by its supply and demand dynamics. Factors that affect supply include mining production and scrap recycling, while demand is driven by industrial applications, investment demand, and jewelry consumption. A careful analysis of these factors can help investors make informed decisions about silver investments.
4. Industrial and Technological Applications: Silver has a wide range of industrial and technological applications due to its unique properties, such as high electrical and thermal conductivity, reflectivity, and resistance to corrosion. This ensures a steady demand for silver, further supporting its investment value.
5. Historical Performance: Silver has a long history as a store of value and medium of exchange, dating back thousands of years. Its historical performance can provide insights into how it may behave during different market conditions, helping investors make informed decisions.

By considering these fundamental ideas, investors can better understand the factors that influence silver’s investment potential and make more informed decisions about whether and how to include silver in their portfolios.

B. The Market Drivers of Silver

Silver’s value is driven by a variety of factors, including supply and demand, global economic conditions, and geopolitical tensions. Silver also benefits from its dual nature as both an industrial and precious metal. Its extensive use in electronics, solar panels, and other industries ensure a steady demand, while its status as a store of value keeps it relevant for investors. Let’s take a look at these…

1. Industrial Demand: Silver has a wide range of industrial applications due to its unique properties, such as high electrical and thermal conductivity, reflectivity, and resistance to corrosion. Industries that rely heavily on silver include electronics, solar energy, and the automotive sector. Growth in these industries can drive up the demand for silver and impact its price.
2. Investment Demand: Investors looking for a safe-haven asset or an inflation hedge often turn to silver. As more people invest in silver, either through physical purchases or financial instruments like ETFs, the demand for silver increases, which can drive up its price.
3. Global Economic Conditions: The overall health of the global economy can influence silver prices. During periods of economic growth, industrial demand for silver may rise, pushing prices higher. Conversely, during economic downturns, industrial demand may weaken, putting downward pressure on silver prices.
4. Geopolitical Tensions: Political events and uncertainties can impact financial markets, causing investors to seek safe-haven assets like silver. Geopolitical tensions and conflicts can lead to increased demand for precious metals, driving up their prices.
5. Central Bank Policies: The policies implemented by central banks, such as interest rate changes or quantitative easing, can influence the value of currencies and affect the demand for precious metals like silver. For example, low-interest rates or expansionary monetary policies may encourage investors to seek alternative assets, including silver, to protect their wealth.
6. Mine Production and Supply: The supply of silver from mining operations is another factor that can influence its price. Factors such as mining costs, exploration success, and environmental regulations can impact the production of silver. Any disruptions in the supply chain, such as mine closures or strikes, can lead to a tightening of supply and an increase in silver prices.
7. Recycling and Scrap Supply: The recycling of silver from scrap materials, such as electronic waste and photographic materials, can also impact the overall supply of silver in the market. Fluctuations in the volume of recycled silver may influence silver prices.

By examining these market drivers, investors can gain a deeper understanding of the factors that influence silver prices and make more informed decisions about investing in silver.

C. How to Invest in Silver

There are several ways to invest in silver, each with its own set of advantages and drawbacks. We will explore the following investment vehicles:

1. Physical Silver: Bullion bars, coins, and rounds

Bullion Bars: These are large, rectangular bars made of pure silver, typically available in weights ranging from 1 ounce to 100 ounces or more. Bars are a cost-effective way to invest in silver, as they often have lower premiums compared to coins.

Bullions Coins: Government-minted bullion coins, such as the American Silver Eagle or the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf, are popular options for silver investors. They have a guaranteed weight and purity, and their value is based on the silver content, though they carry a small premium.

Rounds: Silver rounds are similar to coins but are not produced by government mints. They are typically produced by private mints, have a lower premium than coins, and come in various designs.

Silver-backed money might be in the cards someday, but as of now, they’re just collectible.

2. Silver Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)

Silver ETFs are traded on stock exchanges and offer a convenient way to invest in silver without owning physical metal. They track the price of silver and can be bought or sold like stocks. Some popular silver ETFs include iShares Silver Trust (SLV) and Aberdeen Standard Physical Silver Shares ETF (SIVR).

3. Silver Stocks: Mining and streaming companies

Investing in silver mining or streaming companies allows investors to gain exposure to silver without owning the physical metal. Mining companies explore, extract, and produce silver, while streaming companies provide financing to miners in exchange for a share of their future production. Some examples of silver mining and streaming companies are First Majestic Silver Corp. (AG) and Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (WPM).

4. Silver Futures and Options

Futures and options are financial contracts that allow investors to speculate on the future price of silver. Futures contracts obligate the holder to buy or sell a specific amount of silver at a predetermined price on a future date, while options contracts give the holder the right, but not the obligation, to do so. These instruments are traded on commodities exchanges and can be complex and risky for inexperienced investors.

5. Digital Silver: Cryptocurrencies backed by silver

Digital silver refers to cryptocurrencies that are backed by physical silver, offering investors a convenient and secure way to invest in silver using digital tokens. These tokens can be bought, sold, and traded on cryptocurrency exchanges, and their value is tied to the underlying silver. Some examples of digital silver tokens are SilverToken (SLVT) and LODE (AGX).

By exploring these investment vehicles, you can better understand your options and choose the method that best aligns with your investment goals and risk tolerance.

II. The Allure of Silver Coinage

A. The Types of Silver Coins

Silver coins come in various forms, with the most popular being government-minted bullion coins and collectible numismatic coins. Bullion coins are produced by national mints, such as the American Silver Eagle or the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf, and are typically valued based on their weight and purity. Numismatic coins, on the other hand, are valued for their rarity, historical significance, and design, making them popular among collectors.

For a more detailed look at the types of coins check out our post called Master the Fundamentals: What are Bullion, Rounds, And Numismatics?

B. The Benefits of Investing in Silver Coins

Investing in silver coins offers several benefits:

• Tangible Asset: Owning physical silver provides a sense of security and the ability to hold your wealth in your hands.
• Liquidity: Silver coins can be easily bought and sold, providing investors with flexibility and ease of access.
• Premiums: While bullion coins carry a small premium over the spot price of silver, numismatic coins can command significantly higher premiums due to their scarcity and collectible value.
• Tax Advantages: In some jurisdictions, silver coins may be exempt from sales tax or eligible for favorable tax treatment.

III. Strategies to Grow Your Silver-Infused Wealth

A. Diversification

One key strategy for growing your wealth through silver investing is diversification. By allocating a portion of your investment portfolio to silver, you can reduce your overall risk and protect your wealth during times of market uncertainty. This can be achieved through a mix of physical silver, ETFs, stocks, and other investment vehicles.

B. Dollar-Cost Averaging

Dollar-cost averaging is a strategy that involves investing a fixed amount of money in silver at regular intervals, regardless of the market price. This approach helps to mitigate the impact of market fluctuations and can result in a lower average cost per ounce of silver over time.

C. Portfolio Rebalancing

Regular portfolio rebalancing is another important strategy for growing your silver-infused wealth. By periodically reviewing your portfolio and adjusting your silver holdings to maintain a target allocation, you can ensure that your investments remain aligned with your financial goals and risk tolerance.

D. Research and Education

Staying informed and educated about the silver market is crucial for successful investing. Follow industry news, stay updated on market trends, and learn about the companies involved in silver mining and production. Knowledge is power, and being well-informed will help you make better investment decisions.

IV. Additional Considerations for Silver Investing

A. Storage and Security

When investing in physical silver, consider your storage options carefully. It’s essential to keep your silver safe from theft, damage, or loss. Options include home storage in a secure safe or a professional storage facility, like a private vault or a bank’s safe deposit box.

Check out our piece called Unlock Peace of Mind: The Top 10 Self-Custody Essentials For Stackers to learn more about how storage and security.

B. Authenticity and Quality

Ensure that you purchase silver from reputable dealers and mints, and always verify the authenticity and quality of your investments. For coins, look for official mint marks and certifications, while for bars, check for hallmarks and assay certifications.

C. Taxes and Regulations

Be aware of the tax implications and regulations surrounding silver investing in your jurisdiction. Familiarize yourself with any reporting requirements, taxes, and legal considerations to avoid any unpleasant surprises down the line.

Wrapping Up

Silver investing offers a world of opportunities for those who are willing to embrace its lustrous allure. With a variety of investment vehicles, types of coinage, and strategies to grow your wealth, silver can be an essential component of a well-diversified and resilient portfolio. As you embark on your journey into the realm of silver investing, remember to stay informed, make strategic decisions, and appreciate the timeless beauty of this precious metal. After all, investing in silver is not just about financial gains, but also about preserving and celebrating a rich human history that has been forged and refined over millennia.

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice- your money, your call. I don't push law-breaking, but the 9th Amendment hints at rights beyond their rules. Still, I'm not your lawyer- stay safe.

With gold getting so much attention lately due to breaking $3000 per ounce I thought it a perfect time to talk about the different ways you can use gold as a currency to buy goods and services, accept gold as a payment method for your business, and even pay your bills! What's more, is that if you use cryptocurrencies, this article also applies!

But first, I wanted to remind ourselves why we're here doing what we're doing. It ties directly to the nature of this article.

Lately, I've given quite a bit of attention to cryptocurrencies because they're swiftly becoming one of the greatest ways to free yourself from the chains of the legacy financial system. But they're not the fully story.

We're called Aquarian Metals for a reason. Aquarius refers to the Age of Transcendence, Enlightenment, and Revelation- a higher way of being, and thinking, transformed by deep wisdom guided by profound experience. Precious metals are the archetype of perfect money. If we were to combine the transcendent nature of Aquarian technologies such as the internet, modern chemistry, and cryptocurrencies with the sound properties of precious metals we could pull ourselves away from the ravages of government controlled currencies and create an existence for ourselves where we're in control and nothing the government could do could stop us.

True financial freedom makes the government financial apparatus and legacy banking system obsolete. And I would argue, that's already happened. In fact, by the end of the article, I think you'll be convinced of that too. And not only that… you'll have the knowledge to get you started in pulling yourself out of that dying system as well.

Life without banking

Banks are universally hated. They don't work for you; they work for themselves. That's why you have to undergo privacy intruding "checks" which assume you're guilty of something before they "clear" your name. It's why they track and trace every single transaction you make. And even if you're not guilty of anything, they can arbitrarily lock you out of your account for any reason and there's nothing you can do about.

Getting out of that system is the same as getting out of an abusive relationship. It might take some getting used to the new paradigm and way of living but freeing yourself from financial tyranny is the best decision anyone can make.

Precious metals and cryptocurrencies offer a new way to live your life free from the abuse of the immoral and unethical banking system. It's absolutely possible now to live your life entirely on gold and crypto- we'll show you how below. While it does take some getting used to, being able to control your own money and currency is the obvious future. Financial sovereignty is our right and our future… and with some practice, it can be yours right now!

Why bother with gold?

In the modern age, gold is often seen as just an investment or hedge against inflation- a golden brick you store in a safe and forget about. Almost no one considers using gold to pay for goods and services. I mean… how could you? No one wants to carry lumps of the gold rock in their pocket when digital and physical cash far more convenient. Plus, no one actually accepts gold… right?

Five years ago I would have agreed with your skepticism but so much has changed in such a short amount of time that people now have many different options to choose from to live almost entirely on gold (and in some cases even silver and crypto)!

But, let's go ahead and answer the question: "Why bother using gold?"

We already know holding dollars is a losing bet over the long term. If only there was a way to save in gold but make it as useful as digital cash, then we could ensure our holdings aren't subject to the inflationary pressures caused by the government money printer. Imagine saving in gold, using it like cash, and not worrying about losing your purchasing power…

That's why we bother with gold! It's real financial protection.

The Many Faces of Modern Gold

Gold hasn't been sleeping in the age of cryptocurrencies- it's been quietly getting much needed upgrades, bringing gold into the age of transcendence. It's become more convenient, faster, and more useful for commerce than ever before. People are just now starting to find out about this and it's exciting watching all the new opportunities to us gold appear.

Things like Goldbacks, Tether Gold, PAX Gold, and the United Precious Metals Association (UPMA) make using gold as a currency possible. Read on to find out how.

How to use Gold for Everyday Use

Each of the options below is either gold itself or a gold-backed equivalent. You determine your own level of "trust" and assume whatever risk. That said, they all help preserving your purchasing power in different ways.

How to use Goldbacks

Goldbacks look like golden dollars because, well, they are! Goldbacks undergo an atomic deposition process which deposits a precise amount of gold onto a durable plastic backing. Because they can control how much gold to deposit, they can deposit the gold into different denominations just like dollar bills from 1/100th oz all the way to 1/50th oz.

In terms of use, you can visit any participating brick and mortar store and use them just like cash. Check out the Goldback website here to see where to spend your Goldbacks on actual goods and services. I know it's easier to swipe a credit or debit card, but there's nothing quite like paying with the anonymity of cash.

One thing to note is that the premiums for Goldbacks are generally higher than other forms of bullion when you go to purchase them. This is due to their adoption status. As more people adoption them, the premiums go down. In my personal opinion, I see premiums as the price of being outside of the banking system. I'll gladly shell out a bit more to know I won't be tracked or traced by a surveillance apparatus that has no ambition to reduce the scope of its data collection. You can't put a price on liberty, friends.

If you're a merchant and want to accept Goldbacks you can register here to be listed in their growing network.

Using Goldbacks is a really great way to spread financial soundness and contribute to the growing network of other individuals and businesses discovering the power of gold's ability to preserve financial freedom.

How to use Tether Gold and Pax Gold

If you're into precious metals like gold but want the convenience of cryptocurrencies you can accumulate Tether Gold ($XAUt) or Pax Gold ($PAXG). These are gold-backed cryptocurrencies that can be swapped for the real thing! If you're interested in that check out their respective websites for details.

These gold-backed crypto options are backed 1-to-1 with physical gold, meaning the price of the crypto asset is pegged to price of the underlying gold. This allows you to accumulate gold in a decentralized way without holding the physical asset but with all the purchasing power savings.

In terms of accumulating, there are several exchanges where you can obtain them including Uniswap (No KYC) and 1Inch Exchange (No KYC). I'm not a big fan of KYC… at all. It's getting very difficult to purchase crypto without subjecting yourself to onerous, and privacy violating KYC/AML processes. So it's a good idea to do some research about where to obtain crypto without KYC/AML. They absolutely exist and I think everyone should because it's your right to pursue (again… I don't condone breaking laws).

If you're not used to using cryptocurrencies then this option might be a bit cumbersome at first… BUT… it's worth learning how to do to be able to use this option. First, you obtain some crypto like Ethereum and then swap it for Tether Gold or Pax Gold.

Now, this option isn't just for digital gold-backed crypto… you can use almost any crypto for the following…

We all have bills to pay, food to buy, and other life expenses. It's just a fact of modern life for the moment. Since the introduction of cryptocurrencies people have been busy building ways to spend and use crypto for everyday things.

I'm not sponsored by anything in this article. So no one is paying me for talking about this stuff (which is a shame really because I'm a huge fan of these! lol).

Spritz Finance is company that helps you pay your bills with crypto! You accumulate your digital gold and then use it to pay your bills, mortgage, or even your auto loans. You set up the accounts (phone, internet, subscriptions, and etc) with Spritz and then pay using crypto. It's really that simple. No bank needed. Imagine taking all your bills and paying them with gold-backed crypto- your purchasing power remains! There are other companies like Zypto and Bitpay have crypto bill payment options as well.

What's even more, is that they all have a debit card you can use in person when you're out and about. You load the card with your crypto and the company swaps it for fiat and makes the payment in person. Fill up your gas tank, go the movies, or take someone out on a date and pay for it with your gold-backed crypto!

Again… No Bank Necessary!

Definitely do your research. Each company has different terms so you'll want to get up to speed on how it all works. Again, it's worth the effort to remove the ties to the legacy banking system.

Lastly, if you're using cryptocurrencies in general there are other sites you can visit which list places you can spend coins like Monero or Zano or etc with Monerica, Zano List, and more. There are many ways to move beyond the dollar and the banking system and all it takes is a little research and will.

How to use UPMA

Keep in mind that UPMA is primarily used to help you invest in gold and silver. They're not a bank so keep that in mind. BUT….

UPMA allows you to open accounts denominated in U.S. minted gold or silver dollars, or free Goldback accounts. It's designed for those wanting to use precious metals as currency, not just as investments. A standout feature is the 0% buy/sell spread, meaning you can buy and sell gold and silver at the same price, avoiding the usual dealer markup where you might lose $40 to $70 per coin when selling back.

What's great is that UPMA offers a Visa debit card that lets you spend your gold or silver holdings like a regular debit card, making it easy for everyday transactions like filling up your gas tank or buying groceries. The fees are minimal, with monthly fees based on your account balance.

Also, they have a leasing program which allows you to earn interest on your gold or silver. It's very cool and they have quite a bit of offerings you'll definitely want to check out.

All the benefits of gold and silver with the speed and convenience of a debit card. And even if you never use the debit card, it's still a solid way to accumulate gold and silver without needing custody it yourself.

The Future

As adoption of these monetary tools increases, so will opportunities to spend and accept metals and cryptos.

One particular project I'm excited about is Kaurma. From their website: "Kaurma is a gold-backed privacy stablecoin designed to deliver the stability of gold and the privacy of a modern digital currency." What's exciting about it is that it's being built on the 100% private Zano blockchain (read our article about Zano here) which means it's a gold-backed crypto on a 100% private blockchain, further anonymizing your crypto footprint. No word yet on how soon it'll materialize.

Golden Liberation

Gold isn't just a shiny relic or a distant investment- it's a practical, powerful tool you can use every day to break free from the legacy banking system. From Goldbacks to Tether Gold, Pax Gold, and UPMA, you've got options to pay bills, buy groceries, or even grab a coffee without ever needing a bank. And that's the game-changer: gold puts you in control of your money, not some faceless institution.

I know what you might be thinking: "This sounds great, but isn't all this complicated?" Sure, stepping away from banks might feel unfamiliar at first. We're conditioned to their so-called convenience, even if it comes with a massive state-sized leash. But here's the truth: the tools to live without them are ready right now. You don't need to wait. Start with something simple; grab some Goldbacks for local shopping or sign up with UPMA for a debit card that's truly yours. The transition might take a little effort, but the freedom is worth it.

This is bigger than just money. It's a revolution. Gold and crypto together are rewriting the rules, offering a future where you don't need permission to spend, save, or thrive. The legacy system wants you dependent, but you're not. You've got the power to choose- a power that starts with a single choice: Continue using an increasingly authoritarian financial system or choose to forge a new financial path forward.

Author’s note (04/20/2025): I removed references to Store of Value because it doesn’t exist. Read why here. This is in contrast to Mike Maloney’s idea’s but it’s not entirely dissimilar- just without the store of value illusion.

This post was inspired by Mike Maloney’s series The Hidden Secrets of Money. We felt strongly about providing a short post about money and currency but felt that there was just no way to do it justice in the way that Mike has. So at the bottom of this post we’ve provided a link to his video series where you can check it out for yourself. It should be recommended watching for all people who want to know what money is, where it came from, and where it’s going.

In the meantime, we’re going to do our best to provide our own short explanation while giving credit where it’s most deservedly due.

This is in two parts. If you’re looking for the second part click here What Money Isn’t: Will the Real Money Please Stand Up?

Paper is not Money

If you looked at the image at the top of the post of those paper dollars and said that’s money…

Then, boy, do I have a surprise for you. They’re not money.

Dollar bills, and all governmental printed paper, are a currency. So what’s the difference? We’ll actually answer later this because it’s important. But before we can know what a currency is, we need to know what money is.

So what is Money?

We’ve all purchased goods and services with the paper in our pockets and we may have a sense about what money can do so its definition may seem almost obvious. But when asked directly, most people don’t really know what money is. So let’s define it.

Firstly, the generally accepted definition of Money refers to its properties.

Money is…

• A Medium of Exchange (MoE)
• A Unit of Account (UoA)
• Portable – Can be easily carried
• Durable – Lasts a long time
• Divisible – Can make change
• Fungible – Changeable
• Relative Scarcity

Let me make it clear, in order to be money, an asset must have every single one of these properties without exception. The reason for this will soon become clear.

In order to be money, an asset must be easy to exchange and a unit of account for people to compare goods against. Along those lines it must be portable and thus durable so as not to lose value in transport. It must be divisible to make change and fungible so the asset can be traded for 1 equal unit with another exactly. Finally, the asset must have a relatively scarce supply.

Without every one of those properties the asset is not money. Under this standard, gold and silver are money. If you look at the Periodic Table of the elements, you’ll realize almost every other element changes due to reactivity with other elements. Gold and Silver don’t react to much and are thus great perceived assets that can be divided, traded 1 for 1, is portable, durable, is a UoA, and used a medium of exchanged.

Throughout history, humans have used other forms of items to exchange value like animals for barter, shells, stones, and metals. Over time humans settled on gold and silver precisely because they last! Animals change over time, shells are brittle and not consistent, stones aren’t fungible, and some metals rust. Using gold and silver is the result of thousands of years of human monetary experimentation made through the transaction of materials that could be exchanged and have reached a perceived trusted status.

What is currency?

Think of currency as the thing you use and money is the thing. A money can be a currency, a currency might be a money.

A currency is the medium of exchange- it’s the thing you use to pay for things. It’s the thing you accept for payment. In the modern day, that’s typically digital or paper dollars. And almost anything can be a currency.

Currencies and money don’t store wealth- nothing does; instead, people impart their belief in them, which in term means perceived trust in the asset so people invest in the idea that other people will also trust them in the future and hope that keeps the price stable over time. Gold has history so people use it as a hedge against dollar inflation- it’s a trusted asset.

But if gold is better money, then why are we using paper currency? The short answer is that it’s easier to use- convenience is extremely important (more than economists and bitcoin maxis think- history proves this).

The slightly longer answer is that originally, paper was adopted because it was a faster way to transact than using gold and silver (it’s just not true now that Goldbacks exist). The thinking is that gold and silver are too heavy and paper can be a symbolic representation of their physical value. Additionally, paper “should” represent a sum of gold/silver held in a bank some place- meaning the paper was a claim check/certificate that you could transact with AND could be used to claim the physical gold or silver. $5 paper for $5 of gold- and that’s the way it used to be until 1971. Again… it was a convenience for merchants and people to transact in a much faster way.

Since 1971, dollars haven’t been backed by gold so the paper represents nothing more than a promise from the government that it has value.

Now, governments have continued to print paper and, they incorrectly, refer to it as money. The result of this is that most people use the words money and currency interchangeably when they couldn’t be more different.

Because currency doesn’t store value, it can only be considered a promise of value. And a promise is only as good as your trust in that promise. Can you trust the value of that currency will keep its value knowing the supply of dollars is increasing every single year?

Currency is NOT money.

Currency is the thing you use. It’s the difference between a car and a vehicle. A vehicle describes what it does- which is how we use the term ‘currency’. A car describes the thing- which is what we call money.

If you track the price of 1 oz of gold relative to currency, you see the price of gold continually goes up. The gold ounce hasn’t changed. It hasn’t gained more of itself. Instead, the value of the currency is dropping. This is why we say gold and silver are trusted money. They act as a trusted life raft against inflation.

How definitions affects your wallet

As governments inflate the currency supply through printing dollars or through debt spending- you experience the purchasing power diminish over time. Higher prices in food, energy, and services are symptoms of this financial sickness.

However, when you add money, like gold or silver, to your portfolio that money sits there keeping its purchasing power as the dollar inflates. This is means your savings/investments is generally preserved.

If we didn’t know the difference between money and currency, it would be easy to think saving in cash is the way to go but it would actually be doing long term harm to our portfolios and savings.

Wrapping Up

The properties of money weren’t laid out until AFTER we discovered what it was as we needed to transact with one another. Money is the foundation of human activity which allows us to transmit percieved monetary energy. Modern currency is merely a poor government promise of value.

Looking to forward, we see that money is an ongoing experiment where the currently accepted properties are set in stone and any new properties will be explored- what those will be is anyone’s guess but with the rise of cryptocurrencies we see a new discussion underway about what money will look like going into the future. We can be sure though that any cryptocurrency that becomes money, will share every single property of money, like gold and silver, without exception- or it’s not money.

Be sure to check out Part II here: What Money Isn’t: Will the Real Money Please Stand Up?

Also, take a look at our post Monetary Pillars: The Proven Power of Precious Metals to learn more about what precious metals can do for you.

If you’re looking for a deeper dive into this topic, we recommend highly checking out Mike Maloney’s Hidden Secrets of Money series. The episode entitled Money vs Currency is a perfect primer to get you started. That said, we can’t recommend the entire series enough.

Also, Mike’s website can be found at GoldSilver.com. They aren’t sponsoring this post. We just support everything they’re doing to educate people about money and the financial crisis we find ourselves in.

Here at Aquarian Metals we’re money maximalists. We tend to focus on precious metals because, well, they’re money. Knowing what money is and what it isn’t is how we understand the larger financial picture when it comes to economics, politics, and even history. And because we’re money maximalists we think it’s important to understand that it is the properties of money which makes something money and not the other way around.

As we’ve seen with our article called What Money Isn’t: Will the Real Money Please Stand Up?, when an asset doesn’t have all the properties of money, it isn’t money. Just as if you removed the tires and the engine of a car, it ceases to be a car. Without the physical attributes to make it a car, it’s just a heap of scrap.

Understanding that the properties come first is how it’s possible to discover other assets which share those same monetary properties.

It is our assessment that Monero is money. We’ve briefly mentioned Monero in a couple articles but we haven’t actually covered it.

So here it is.

What is Monero?

There’s a tendency out there by those in the crypto space to make cryptocurrencies seem so technical as to be incomprehensible to even the most savvy among us. This is partly due to the people involved in their creation and those who trade it. They just aren’t in the game of making things simple to understand for others. That’s why we’re here.

At it’s core, Monero is money- specifically, digital money. We’ll see why here in a second, but that’s everything in a nutshell that you need to understand about it from a financial perspective. All the technical jargon about its protocol, how its governance structure works, its tail emission are all like asking the question “What is gold” and answering, “Well it’s mined using large machinery and has a yearly inflation rate while it’s atomic weight on the periodic chart is blah blah blah”. A laundry list of technical facts about something doesn’t tell us why we should care about it.

Monero is a cryptocurrency with all the properties of money and has the added benefit of being anonymous to use, like gold, silver, and even cash. This means you can use it like digital cash and hold it anonymously like gold.

The Problem with bitcoin

Cryptocurrencies with blockchains have something called a ledger. It’s a list of all transactions between parties- it’s fundamentally no different than an accounting ledger of all transactions. The problem with the typical cryptocurrency ledger is that nearly all ledger’s are completely public. This means, you can go to a website, called a blockchain explorer, and view someone’s wallet address and assets. Here’s an address of Satoshi, the mysterious creator of bitcoin. Blockchain explorers allow you to enter the wallet address of anyone that has bitcoin and peer into their wallet and see, not only how much they have, but the entire history of the bitcoin within.

As privacy advocates this is a huge red flag for securing your right to financial privacy.

bitcoin, being the largest cryptocurrency by marketcap, is the most surveilled cryptocurrency making its ledger a treasure trove of data for anyone or any organization who seeks to track and trace people en masse. Using bitcoin is risky because these organizations’ surveillance software is constantly recording every single bitcoin transaction. And if they’ve managed to figure out who you are and correlate it with the wallets you use, they will be able to track the bitcoin for the rest of your life. It doesn’t matter if you transfer it to someone else, they’ll always know the history of the bitcoin and that you owned a specific amount in some wallet. It’s no different than the entire world having a look at your bank account balance 24/7.

Pretty scary.

From a monetary perspective this means bitcoin isn’t fungible. Each bitcoin, or its smaller unit the ‘satoshi’, has a history uniquely identifying them. Each individual satoshi unit can be tracked and your identity with it. This is a tyrants wet dream.

Let’s say you received some bitcoin but didn’t know its history. If some known criminal used that bitcoin to do something, the government can “taint” that bitcoin by keeping tabs on it. If you received it, you could potentially be subject to personal surveillance, interrogation, or worse. Exchanges already use software which detects tainted coins and will permanently delete the accounts of those using them- they may even reveal your identity to the authorities! It doesn’t matter if you did nothing wrong, you hold tainted bitcoin.

This means 1 bitcoin is not the same as 1 bitcoin. This means it’s not fungible. This is also true of Ethereum, Litecoin, Cardano, Polkadot, and thousands of other cryptocurrencies with public ledgers.

Gold and silver can’t track you. They’re fungible. No history. No identifying marks. 100% anonymous. Just money.

The Birth of Monero

Monero (symbol: $XMR) emerged in 2014 as a result of the cryptocurrency ecosystem not providing a real protection against surveillance. It was noted by Satoshi that bitcoin’s transparent ledger could leads to privacy problems and suggested some potential ways of implementing privacy. In fact, some of his suggestions for bitcoin were adopted by Monero developers.

Did you know that in August 2010, Satoshi foresaw the idea of Stealth Addresses and Ring Signatures for privacy, concepts used nowadays in #Monero?

Here is the source: https://t.co/UIuNyx9Fmo pic.twitter.com/rthlbvesD6

— binaryFate (@binaryFate) January 9, 2020

There is no money without privacy.

Monero also has a blockchain like bitcoin but its ledger uses sophisticated mathematical algorithms to hide transactions and the contents of your wallet from the public. This means Monero is 100% anonymous and easy to use to like digital cash.

How do we know it’s anonymous? A few years ago the IRS, with it’s near infinite resources, put up a large reward to anyone who can reveal the transaction history on the Monero blockchain. To date, no one has claimed the reward. It seems unlikely that it’s going to happen anytime soon considering the Monero developers are regularly updating the privacy to the software making it more robust and resistant to surveillance.

This means 1 XMR is equal to 1 XMR. Just like gold and silver.

Monero is Money

We’ve done several articles detailing what the properties of money are and why they’re so important. With those properties in mind, we can plainly see that Monero has all the properties of money that gold and silver have with the added convenience of digital cash. No other cryptocurrency can boast that. If you want to learn more about the nature of money or need a refresher check out our 2-part article entitled A Beginners Guide: Is it Money or is it Currency?

How to get Monero

Governments aren’t too keen on any technology that can prevent them from spying on you. This is why they hate encryption technologies as much as they do (check out the great short series on the history of encryption).

A fascinating look at the history of encryption, why governments hate it, and the people who fought back.

Naturally, cryptocurrency exchanges are wary to carry a money that might be made illegal. Thus far, Monero is not illegal. There has been no congressional, presidential, or even statewide effort to ban coins which preserve privacy. We personally believe it’s not going to happen because it would have to attack encryption- and that’s a war the surveillance state has continued to lose since the 1990’s.

That said, your options are somewhat limited in terms of where to get your hands on Monero. It’s not impossible, but with a little due diligence you too can hold digital money.

Buy Monero

Kraken is a crypto currency exchange which allows users to purchase Monero with their US dollars. Keep in mind, they will collect your personal information in order to make an account with them. That said, once you move your Monero off their exchange and into your own wallet, that’s the end of the tracking and surveillance. It’s sort of like buying more than $3000 worth of gold or silver. You can buy that much, but the business will generally be forced to report on your purchase using your personal details to some 3-letter financial agency. The moment you get the gold or silver in your hands, that’s the end of the surveillance. It’s the same with Monero.

What you do with the gold, silver, or Monero after you have it is up to you. We don’t condone any illegal activity but we understand that you have a human right to protect your privacy and do what you want with your own property.

Do Business with Monero

Sell things for Monero. It seems straight forward enough. But if you sell goods or provide services, you are well within your rights as a business owner to request payment in whatever form you like. There are Monero marketplaces where people buy and sell goods and services for $XMR. It’s easy to use like digital cash and it protects your financial right to privacy!

Using Monero

Using Monero is easy. The best place to start is getting a Monero wallet. We’re not being sponsored by any of the products we mention in this section. We’re just did our due diligence.

Mobile Wallet

A reputable mobile wallet for Monero is Cake Wallet– ok… this is my favorite crypto wallet because it’s extremely easy to use and it’s privacy focused- a rare combination. They have a lot of great features and it’s very easy to use for receiving, sending, and more.

Hardware Wallet

If you’re looking to really secure your Monero in something that’s nearly as good as a vault, try a hardware wallet. There are two we trust and those are Ledger and Trezor.

Hardware wallets are essential to have for your Monero in the same way having a safe is vital to hold your precious metals.

Wrapping Up

Monero is money. When it comes to monetary properties for a cryptocurrency, there is no second best. It’s anonymous, easy to use, uncensorable, and unconfiscatable.

We believe Monero is a great addition to a portfolio of precious metals especially when we look at it from the perspective of money. Obviously, don’t invest more than you can afford to lose and be smart. Monero, like any asset, carries risk.

We think the future is bright for Monero.

If you want to dive into the Monero rabbit hole, there are some other great resources including:

• A great live talk called Monero Means Money (fun fact it was #1 at the US Box Office during the second week of April 2020)

• The main Monero website
• Monerica: "Monerica.com is an informational directory that documents businesses, services, and tools that accept Monero (XMR) and other cryptocurrencies. The project focuses on privacy-respecting commerce and censorship-resistant payments." *Monero Market is an online marketplace to trade goods using Monero.
• If you’re looking to buy Monero from others anonymously check out LocalMonero.co

When it comes to holding your gold and silver the number one concern is security. There’s a lot of information on the matter but if you’re just getting started, or in need of some new ideas, it can be a little overwhelming.

So here are 9 Proven ways to secure and store your precious metals.

Store at a reputable depository

Using a specialized depository service is a great option for storing your precious metals, as these facilities are typically equipped with top-notch security measures. Reputable depositories are insured, bonded, and audited to ensure maximum protection for your precious metals.

These depositories store bullion for individuals, corporations, banks, and even governments, and offer 24/7 security, monitoring, and surveillance. Some depositories also offer additional services such as insurance, regular inventory reporting, and even online account access.

The cost of storing your precious metals at a depository can vary depending on the location, the size of the storage unit, and the level of security provided, but it is often worth the peace of mind that comes with knowing your bullion is in good hands.

Many depositories are also the gold and silver dealers themselves. If you have a trusted dealer, then it might be worth checking to see if they offer depository services.

For those that are really serious about self-custody, they may see this as a risk. To be fair, everything is risky. It’s up to you to determine how much risk you want. For many people, the peace of mind of having armed security protect their holdings is well worth the risk of letting a 3rd party hold it. It’s up to you!

Install a home safe

A high-quality home safe is a great option for storing your gold and silver bullion. Home safes come in various sizes, styles, and security levels, so it’s important to choose one that meets your specific needs. Look for a safe that is fireproof, waterproof, and tamper-proof, and make sure it is securely bolted to the floor or wall to prevent theft. You may also want to consider adding additional security features such as an alarm system or motion sensors to provide extra protection. When choosing a home safe, keep in mind that you’ll need to have a plan for accessing your precious metals when you need them, such as a combination or key that you keep in a secure location.

A lot of people use rifle safes because they’re relatively large (half or a quarter of the size of a refrigerator) and don’t have to break the bank. In my opinion, they’re absolutely imperative to have if you’re serious about stacking metals at home.

Use a safety deposit box

Use a safety deposit box: many banks offer safety deposit boxes for rent, which can be a secure option for storing your precious metals. Safety deposit boxes are located within the bank’s vault and can only be accessed by the box holder or an authorized signer. The contents of the box are not insured by the bank, so it’s important to have your own insurance coverage. Safety deposit boxes come in various sizes, so make sure to choose one that is appropriate for the amount of precious metals you want to store. Keep in mind that access to the safety deposit box is restricted to the bank’s business hours, so it may not be the best option if you need to access your bullion outside of regular banking hours.

Install a home security system

Installing a reliable home security system is an excellent way to protect your precious metals from theft. Modern home security systems come with a variety of features, including cameras, motion sensors, and alarms. These systems can be connected to your smartphone or tablet, allowing you to monitor your home in real-time from anywhere. To ensure maximum protection for your bullion, it’s important to install cameras and motion sensors in areas where your precious metals are stored, such as in your home office or safe room. You can also install a monitoring service to alert you or the authorities in the event of an intrusion.

FYI: If you run a business form home, having a security system is still a good idea to have, and it’s possibly a tax write off as well (not financial advice, but worth looking into).

Hide in plain sight

Firstly, hiding in plain site doesn’t mean being reckless. Not everyone, especially inexperienced investors or people lacking money, can afford a high quality safe or a sliding bookcase that reveals a vault. This option is really only meant as an “in the meantime” option so that you can, at the very least, have an option which can accommodate your financial abilities. Needless to say, it’s important to never talk about how you store your precious metals- good op sec is always important (Loose lips sink… well… portfolios.).

If you prefer not to use a safe or depository, hiding your precious metals in a clever spot around your home can be an effective option. The key to hiding your bullion in plain sight is to choose a spot that is unlikely to be searched by thieves. For example, you could hide your metals in a fake air vent, behind a picture frame, or inside a book on your bookshelf. Just make sure that the hiding spot is not too obvious and that it won’t be discovered by accident, such as during a routine cleaning.

Use a diversion safe

A diversion safe is a type of safe that is designed to look like a regular household item, such as a book or a can of food. These safes can be a great option for hiding your precious metals in plain sight, as they blend in seamlessly with other household items. Diversion safes come in a variety of sizes and styles, so it’s important to choose one that fits your specific needs. When choosing a diversion safe, make sure that it is made of high-quality materials and has a secure locking mechanism. You can also choose a safe that has a false bottom or a hidden compartment for added security.

Use a private vault

Private vaults, like Brinks, offer an additional layer of security beyond home safes or safety deposit boxes, but they can be expensive. Private vaults are typically located in secure facilities that are monitored 24/7 by trained security personnel. These facilities often have state-of-the-art security features such as biometric scanners, reinforced steel walls, and vault doors that are designed to withstand extreme force. They come in various sizes and can be rented for short or long-term storage. When using a private vault, it’s important to have a detailed inventory of your precious metals and to ensure that your insurance coverage is up to date.

One reason to consider a private vault is that they don’t necessarily have a financial incentive to steal your stuff- it’s just a security vault. If you’re paranoid about using a specialized metals depository a private vault might be the option for you.

Use a specialized shipping service or intermediary for transportation

When it comes to transporting your precious metals, using a specialized shipping service or intermediary can be a safer option than carrying them with you. Shipping companies that specialize in transporting valuables have the necessary security measures and protocols in place to ensure the safe transportation of your precious metals.

They have experience in handling valuable items and can provide insurance coverage for your bullion during transportation. Alternatively, a trusted intermediary or custodian can take physical possession of your precious metals and store them in a secure facility on your behalf.

This option can provide added security and peace of mind, as your bullion will be in the care of a reputable professional who has experience in managing and safeguarding valuable assets. When choosing a shipping service or intermediary, it’s important to choose a reputable and reliable company or professional with proper security measures and insurance coverage in place to protect your bullion.

Spread out storage

It’s always a good idea to avoid storing all of your precious metals in one location. Spreading them out across multiple locations can help reduce the risk of loss or theft. When spreading out your storage, make sure to choose locations that are secure and easily accessible to you. For example, you could store some of your bullion in a home safe, some in a safety deposit box, and some in a depository. Just make sure to keep a detailed inventory of your precious metals and to update it regularly to ensure that you know exactly where your bullion is located at all times. Additionally, it’s important to have a plan in place for accessing your bullion when you need it, such as keeping a spare key to your safe with a trusted friend or family member.

Some other ideas

Pluss test.

Wrapping Up

The safekeeping of your precious metals is an essential component of your investment strategy. These 9 tried-and-true storage methods offer a range of options to fit your specific requirements and financial constraints. Whether you decide on a depository, a home safe, a safety deposit box, or any other inventive storage solutions, maintaining a strong focus on security is vital to ensure the protection of your valuable assets. By exercising due diligence in safeguarding your investments, you can rest easy knowing that your valuable assets are secure and well-positioned for future growth.

Once you’ve successfully stored your metals, take some time to check out our other post Beginner’s Guide to Powerful Gold Investing Strategies to continue to grow your holdings.

Before I get into this let me be extremely clear: I am owned by no one. I don't know anyone in the crypto space personally and have no ties to any of these projects whatsoever. I receive no compensation from any communities, organizations, or individuals to talk about literally anything (not that I haven't tried… lol). These opinions are my own and aren't influenced by, well, anyone. While I've interacted with people in the crypto space through social media that does NOT mean I am friends or acquaintances with anyone.

I'm pre-empting the inevitable push back from those with a vested interest in peddling surveillance coins as a "reasonable" and "convenient" option for commerce or as a "tool" to protect your financial rights.

I'm a stickler for meaning. When we think about the relationship of words and meaning we realize words are the symbols which carry meaning. The nature of communication is to convey meaning through those carrier symbols. This is the way we paint reality. Our words are carefully chosen and then we attempt convey meaning. Words, however, are imperfect- they're akin to empty shells whose meaning can be changed with context and time. We've all experienced this in one form or another like with the word "ghost". It used to refer to ghosts and the supernatural but has since been used to refer to the idea of avoiding someone.

The carrier shell "ghost" didn't change. The meaning did.

The change to ghost could have happened for various reasons like people could have started using it as a more convenient way to convey an idea or maybe it was part of an inside joke. Who knows? The word "ghost" has multiple meanings now.

Sometimes, however, there's more nefarious reasons for changing the meaning of words.

Take the word "microaggression". It's designed to shift responsibility from the listener to the speaker. This subtle shift makes it seem that people don't have the freedom of speech they believe they have- that people should be more responsible with speech lest they "harm" someone by offending them- never mind that the listener can choose to change the channel or NOT react to it. It doesn't matter what the word originally meant. The people wielding it today are using it maliciously, and the ones who fall for it are simply those who don't grasp the relationship between words and their actual meaning; they go along with it because it's popular.

We see this twisting of meaning in order to shift perception elsewhere. For example, most people think "taxation" isn't a form of theft even though it is by every single definition. The same is true of digital piracy- it's not theft… it's copy/paste. We see btc maxis say, "bitcoin not crypto" as a way to deceive people that btc isn't a cryptocurrency, when it is by every single logical and rational metric.

You tell a lie over and over again long enough, people eventually capitulate and accept it. Story as old as time.

The Optional "Privacy Coin" Deception

Ok… words change over time. It's natural. What does this have to do with "privacy coins"?

Everything.

There's a battle being fought right now over the term "privacy coin". People are debating it, they're using it in contexts that don't make sense, and they're twisting the definition to make it something that it isn't. I don't actually know who's behind this, but to me… it isn't organic, that's for sure, given that any reasonable person would assume a "privacy coin" is private-by-default… not surveillance-by-default. There's clearly a concerted effort to change the definition. If it sticks, then we must come up with another word or phrase to exclude surveillance-by-default coins so that we don't lose the meaning to nefarious actors.

I'm even seeing people I respect in the space begin to use malicious definitions of "privacy coin" to make it seem like surveillance-by-default coins are really just privacy coins.

Meaning matters.

Let's rip the band-aid off right here:
There's only one feature that makes a coin a privacy coin- that it is private-by-default. Transactions must hide the sender, the receiver, and the amount AND the complete ledger must be a black box. That's it. That's the only characteristic that makes it different than every other coin out there. If it satisfies that condition, it's a privacy coin.

If the ledger can be surveilled, it's not a privacy coin. It's that simple. Optional privacy isn't privacy- it's surveillance-by-default (I'll explain in detail below). It's that reality which promoters of surveillance-by-default coins refuse to acknowledge. They want so badly for their coin to be referred to as a privacy coin they'll make up any excuse to justify it- even going so far as public defamation and outright lying.

Let me make it clear that I'm not leveling that charge at every one who does this. Not everyone knows they're doing it. Sometimes they're friends with people from these surveillance-by-default crypto projects and want to maintain relationships. I get it. It's hard to disagree with your friends. I don't have that problem because I don't know anyone personally in the crypto space so I'm immune to social pressure.

Why It Matters

This world is an adversarial environment. Every transaction you make with fiat is being surveilled, tracked, and traced. Your data is leaking everywhere and governments and companies are Hoovering it all up as fast as they can to feed to AI to then use against you.

Now, more than ever, we need a truly private way to transact with one another that treats all transactions equally.

Privacy advocates keenly understand this and so they push to educate you on software alternatives which avoid Big Brothers gaze like encrypted email and chat software, private operating systems for web and mobile, private web browsers, software tools which don't collect data, and so much more. They understand that the only way to opt-out of this growing surveillance apparatus is to reclaim your natural right to privacy and anonymity using tools which don't make privacy optional or surveillance possible.

This is why it's so important to be critical of so-called privacy advocates who advocate for cryptocurrencies which aren't private-by-default. They're selling you snake oil wrapped in a "privacy coin" lie.

• They'll say: "Our coin has the best privacy technology!" But then it won't be private-by-default. Let's say it's 100% true that their privacy technology is the best in the world and that there is no second best. If the technology is so good, then why isn't it being used to protect every single transaction? Do those so-called privacy advocates actually care about privacy? Or do they care more about surveillance optionality? There are 22,000+ cryptos to choose from and nearly all of them are surveillance-by-default. What makes your coin so special if it emulates the same surveillance properties that 99.99999% of coins already do? That's not privacy… that's covering yourself in a blanket and pretending you're private.

• They'll say: "Privacy is a choice and should be optional!" Sounds great in theory. But then you remember that your fiat bank account isn't transparent-by-default. These so-called privacy advocates wouldn't advocate for transparent bank accounts with optional privacy… so why would they promote surveillance-by-default coins? Think about it, your wallet is your crypto "bank" account. They're telling you that it should be transparent for all to surveil. That's a HUGE red flag.

• They'll say: "Coins need to comply with regulations!" Then you read "A Cypherpunk's Manifesto" written in 1993:

"Cypherpunks deplore regulations on cryptography, for encryption is fundamentally a private act. The act of encryption, in fact, removes information from the public realm. Even laws against cryptography reach only so far as a nation's border and the arm of its violence. Cryptography will ineluctably spread over the whole globe, and with it the anonymous transactions systems that it makes possible."

-Eric Hughes

Then you ask… who are these so-called privacy advocates which seek to comply with rights-violating regulations? Regulations are what helped proliferate the surveillance apparatus. Yet, they promote a coin whose very ledger is tailor-made for surveillance… ? Make it make sense!

• They'll say, "But if you don't comply with exchange rules it won't be listed, or will be delisted, will affect the price, and will prevent it from being adopted". I reject the premise. Why, in the midst of this massive surveillance state, should we concern ourselves with surveillance adoption, asset prices, or appeasing surveillance exchanges? I implore you to read the Cypherpunk Manifesto several times. Nowhere does it concern itself with what the surveillance state thinks- so why do so-called privacy advocates of surveillance-by-default coins concern themselves with what the surveillance state thinks?

• They'll say, "Privacy is a burden on many businesses, they should have choice". Again… it sounds really reasonable in theory but it's a way to move the goal post. Privacy coins have one job: protect all transactions from surveillance. If a business doesn't have the choice to choose privacy, they'll choose one of 22,000+ surveillance coins and among them they might choose your surveillance-by-default coin with optional privacy… but never enable the privacy features (which already happens with exchanges) exposing their customers to potential surveillance. So again… what's so special about your coin if no one uses the privacy feature?

They'll say a lot of things that don't make any sense when you begin to pick apart their arguments for why a surveillance-by-default cryptocurrency is a "privacy" coin. But none of it holds up to any sort of scrutiny. Not one.

One particular project which has a history of calling their surveillance-by-default coin a "privacy coin" is Zcash. There are others but none so loud as Zcash. I'm not hating on it… I'm simply calling it as it is.

The Zcash "Privacy Coin" Deception

I'm normally content to highlight the duplicity of btc's mainstream narratives while generally avoiding involvement elsewhere. When it comes to the Zcash, however, the more I study the coin itself and the more I look at its community and corporate narratives… the more comfortable I am in joining the fray.

Zcash is a perfect example of the Reality Distortion Field. I'm hard-pressed to think of any other community, aside from bitcoin core, which peddles demonstrably false narratives about itself.

Zcash is a surveillance-by-default coin. Meaning, like bitcoin, when you make transactions the entire world can see them. Zcash also has a feature called shielded addresses which make transactions private- but it's an optional feature that isn't supported by many businesses or exchanges. Optionality… wait-

Let me step back…

Can something that's optional really be private?

No- not even a little. Now that we have enough accumulated onchain Zcash data we can see people just aren't using its optional privacy features. As of Oct 2025, roughly 6% of all transactions are private. That means 94% of transactions are completely open to the world for surveillance. That's what surveillance-by-default looks like. People just aren't choosing privacy… they're choosing surveillance when given the choice… making the claim that Zcash is a privacy coin a complete lie.

Think about this: If the average user is choosing surveillance… then there's nothing special differentiating it from any other surveillance coin. There's nothing special about Zcash if it's just like all the rest.

Zcashers would argue, "well, at least they have a choice". Cool… then how would your parents or other normies feel if the banks made their bank account "transparent to the world"-by-default with optional privacy? Most likely, they would call that reckless and a violation of your privacy.

Imagine when you sign up for an email account that you have to decide for each and every email whether or not it's going to be private to the world- the public ones can be read by everyone. 🤣 Even though you and I know differently, to normies there's an expectation of privacy with an email account. That's exactly what coins like Zcash are peddling. Why should the privacy expectation be different for their coin, but not for your email?

As absurd as that is… that's the reality with surveillance-by-default coins with "optional" privacy features.

Supporters of Zcash will then defend this by saying it's important to be compliant with government and laws… the same government and laws which actively surveil you.

"Zcash must be compliant because the government surveils Zcash must be compliant because the government surveils Zcash must be compliant because the government surveils…"

To them, it's not a moral dilemma, it's often a financial one. If a coin is rejected by an exchange, they fear the price would drop. Anyone who's in it for the privacy doesn't care about the price- the privacy is far more valuable than the price of the coin. That's why many actual privacy advocates don't touch bitcoin, no matter how much the price rises- it's just not worth the risk of exposure.

All these narratives the Zcasher's promote generally have little bearing on the actual use case of a privacy coin. Which is what makes their narratives so suspicious. Why would you call it a privacy coin when almost no one uses the feature?

If you're not convinced that something's fishy… visit their website for yourself. They promote it like it's a privacy coin. Below is a copy/pasta of the text on the Zcash homepage (grabbed on 11/17/2025):

• Zcash is encrypted electronic cash.
• The first cryptocurrency to develop zero-knowledge encryption for private peer-to-peer payments.
• Zcash is available in trusted digital wallets and listed on high-quality exchanges around the world, making it the best option for private everyday payments and long-term savings.
• Private: Zcash employs end-to-end encryption to protect your right to privacy.

If you were completely new to the crypto space, and only read the homepage, you'd think it was private-by-default. Nowhere on that homepage do they highlight the fact that the most used part of Zcash are their surveillance addresses. I'm not saying it's necessarily malicious… I'm saying that's intentional marketing. 👀

Here's the reality of using surveillance-by-default coins like Zcash. If you want privacy, you have to ONLY use those privacy features forever. Meaning, if you want to send money to someone who only uses surveillance addresses, you have to reveal yourself to do it- defeating the point of having privacy features to begin with! Many surveillance-by-default coin holders like Zcashers hop from visible transactions to invisible and back again… what actual sense does that make? That doesn't hide anything! They could have the best privacy technology but it's completely meaningless the moment you expose yourself to an immutable ledger.

So why… why would the Zcash community call it a privacy coin… if it's not actually a privacy coin?

Honestly, I think it goes back to its roots and it's not as complicated as it seems. This is from what I've managed to piece together from different sources…

The founders/creators wanted a coin that could comply with government as a way to survive- they thought if it was private-by-default, all the exchanges would instantly reject it (which didn't happen for actual privacy coins… not until later). It seems there was some discussion to make it a full on privacy coin. But they way they figured… cozying up to the parasite class might look more favorable to the government overlords than going all in on protecting people's right to financial privacy. They promoted the privacy tech as something special, but optional, as a way to distinguish itself from all other surveillance-by-default coins (but we know better now, don't we?).

I don't necessarily think its surveillance-by-default inception was necessarily malicious, although I'm beginning to think its current narrative is.

We can't be naive though… it's ignorant to call Zcash a privacy coin since from its very conception, it was designed to bend over for government overreach.

If, one day, they get rid of optionality, I'll be right there supporting them!

If you're looking for a coin with Zcash's privacy tech but in an actual privacy coin… checkout Pirate Chain. There are only a handful of actual privacy coins out there like Monero, Zano, Beam, and Grin. The rest claim to be privacy coins… but… well you know…

Call Them What They Are: Surveillance-By-Default

I don't hate Zcash. I don't actually hate any cryptocurrency, bitcoin core included. They're just different blockchains that exist. People are free to choose whatever they want for whatever reason. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, Zcash works as intended… as a currency. So if you think it works for you and you don't have a problem with surveillance-by-default… more power to you!

What I'm not a fan of are false narratives. So I'm never going to call a surveillance-by-default coin a privacy coin because that's not what it is.

I've dedicated a lot of time on Aquarian Metals to dispel myths about money in order to help you make the best possible financial decisions you can make. If you value privacy, then a surveillance-by-default coin isn't what you want. If you value investments more than privacy, then you'll probably touch a coin like Zcash so as long as you're invested and then move on to the next investment with little thought of its surveillance properties. It doesn't matter to me what you choose… just be clear about why you're doing what do you.

I've talked about several legitimate privacy coins in previous articles and on social media and think you should check them out for yourself!

Precious Metal-Backed Cryptocurrencies: The Gleaming Intersection

In the vast universe of cryptocurrencies, a subset known as precious metal-backed cryptocurrencies stands out. Unlike their counterparts, whose value is derived from speculative market forces or ideological narratives, these digital currencies tie their worth to something tangible, something proven over centuries – precious metals such as gold and silver.

When a user purchases a token of such a cryptocurrency, they essentially acquire a digital entitlement to a specified amount of physical precious metal. These tangible assets are stored in secure vaults around the world. The foundational principle is that the quantity of the precious metal held must equate the number of digital tokens in circulation. In essence, each digital coin becomes a vessel for a portion of physical metal, fostering a novel symbiosis between the tangible and the virtual realms.

If you’re looking to learn about whether or not cryptocurrencies can fit into the monetary landscape as real money check out our analysis on what can make crypto a money for the world: Crypto and Gold: Unearthing the New Age of Money.

The Mechanics: Digital Alchemy

To grasp the inner workings of precious metal-backed cryptocurrencies, consider a straightforward example. Suppose there exists a gold-backed cryptocurrency, each token representing one gram of gold. When an individual purchases 100 tokens of this cryptocurrency, they essentially acquire the digital equivalent of 100 grams of physical gold. The actual gold is securely stored in a vault, and their ownership is represented by these digital tokens.

This fusion of the digital and physical realms offers an innovative solution to the notorious volatility problem haunting conventional cryptocurrencies. By anchoring their value to real-world commodities, these precious metal-backed cryptocurrencies aim to offer the best of both worlds- the revolutionary convenience of blockchain technology and the reliable stability of precious metals.

Pioneers in the Field: A Glimpse into Gold and Silver Backed Crypto Projects

Navigating the fascinating confluence of precious metals and cryptocurrencies, we now turn our focus to the pioneers in the field – the trailblazing projects that have breathed life into the concept of precious metal-backed cryptocurrencies. Let’s delve into the inner workings of a few prominent gold and silver-backed projects that are transforming the landscape of digital currencies.

Gold-Backed Projects

Tether Gold (XAUT): As part of the broader Tether ecosystem, Tether Gold stands out as a compelling example of a gold-backed cryptocurrency. Each XAUT token represents ownership of one troy fine ounce of physical gold on a specific gold bar. The gold backing these tokens is securely stored in a Swiss vault, with its individualized identifying details – including the bar’s serial number, brand, gross weight, and fineness – made available to the token holder.

Unlike other gold-backed tokens, XAUT offers the advantage of zero custody fees and can be transferred as easily as any other digital token on the blockchain. With the assurance of Tether’s established infrastructure, Tether Gold provides an intriguing balance of physical asset security and digital asset convenience, thereby serving as a golden link in the evolving chain of stable cryptocurrencies.

PAX Gold (PAXG): A digital token launched by the stablecoin issuer Paxos, PAXG represents one fine troy ounce of London Good Delivery gold stored in professional vault facilities in London. Each token is backed by the corresponding asset held in custody by Paxos Trust Company, thus giving the advantages of physical gold ownership alongside the speed and mobility of digital assets.

Silver-Backed Projects

LODE Project: A unique entrant in the field of silver-backed cryptocurrencies, the LODE Project envisions a comprehensive silver and gold-backed cryptographic monetary system. Its ecosystem features three digital assets: AGX Coins (Silver), AUX Coins GOLD LODE Tokens. An AGX Coin represents 1 gram of vaulted, audited, and insured silver bullion. Meanwhile, the LODE Token acts as a proof-of-stake instrument that provides individuals the opportunity to acquire, manage, and profit from their contribution of silver or gold bullion to the project.

The LODE community of silver and gold contributors, from miners to investors and enthusiasts, ensures the system’s precious metals reserves. In return, LODE Token holders may receive micro-payouts of AGX Coins as the system grows. It’s an innovative model that seeks not only to stabilize digital currency but also to create a participatory and rewarding monetary ecosystem hinged on precious metals.

The Glitters and Shadows: Risks Associated

Although precious metal-backed cryptocurrencies may shimmer with potential, they carry with them a unique set of risks.

The first major risk lies in the element of trust. The entirety of this crypto-asset’s value hinges on the assurance that the vaults indeed contain the amount of precious metal corresponding to the digital tokens in circulation. This necessitates comprehensive, regular audits and transparent reporting to ensure the promised assets exist and are securely stored.

Next in line is the regulatory landscape. As these cryptocurrencies navigate uncharted territories, the absence of a standardized, global regulatory framework can generate significant uncertainties. A single regulatory change in one country could ripple across borders, influencing the value, acceptance, and liquidity of these digital coins.

Lastly, although the backing of physical assets lends a degree of stability, these cryptocurrencies remain vulnerable to market fluctuations. Just as the value of gold or silver fluctuates in response to global economic events, the value of the corresponding digital tokens could swing accordingly.

A New Gold Rush?: The Potential of Precious Metal-Backed Cryptocurrencies

As we thread through the intertwined realms of precious metals and cryptocurrencies, the potential of their union to shape the future of finance becomes increasingly evident.

Picture a world where international transactions are secure, swift, and seamless, backed by the confidence that your digital assets are tethered to physical commodities. Imagine the peace of mind from knowing that your digital holdings could be converted into a tangible asset at any moment, shielding you from technological glitches or digital catastrophes.

Furthermore, these cryptocurrencies could democratize the investment landscape. Traditional precious metal investments required significant capital and were mired in logistical complexities. By tokenizing these assets, they are transformed into a form accessible to anyone with an internet connection, dissolving traditional barriers, and paving the way for widespread participation in wealth preservation and generation.

Reality Check: The Realistic Appraisal of Precious Metal-Backed Cryptocurrencies

Despite the enticing possibilities, the future of precious metal-backed cryptocurrencies depends on how they navigate the challenges looming on the horizon. The questions of custodial integrity, regulatory stability, and market resilience remain pivotal.

Perhaps the most formidable challenge and opportunity lie in the arena of public acceptance. As more individuals comprehend and embrace this blend of tangible and digital assets, the potential for these cryptocurrencies to become a cornerstone of the evolving digital economy could materialize.

Navigating the ebb and flow of digital currencies, precious metal-backed cryptocurrencies represent a fascinating convergence of tradition and innovation. They may not be the universal panacea for financial complexities, but their emergence indicates an evolution in our conceptualization of wealth and value. As we watch this space evolve, we might just be witnessing the dawn of a future where the stability of precious metals and the transformative potential of blockchain technology form a resilient alloy, charting the course of our collective financial journey. In the grand scheme of things, they may just be the golden bytes that define our path to a future where technology and tangibility shake hands.

Big Caution ⚠️

Many metal-backed projects exist. But very few of them have liquidity or the resources to ensure audit-ability. As much as I love the idea of metal-backed crypto, the risk is very real. Do your own research.

That’s not to say they’re all scams or too illiquid to preserve your capital… I’m just telling you to use your head and intuition here. I personally like some precious metals-backed crypto… but only because I did my due diligence.

In the ever-shifting economic landscape, the quest for enduring value and financial security has remained a constant pursuit for generations. It is within this pursuit that precious metals, such as gold and silver, have emerged as the unshakable monetary pillars, revered for their unwavering strength and stability throughout history. As we delve into the proven power of these invaluable assets, we will uncover the indispensable role they play in safeguarding wealth, transcending geopolitical and socioeconomic boundaries, and serving as the ultimate hedge against inflation and financial turmoil. Join me on this illuminating exploration into the world of precious metals, where we unravel their timeless allure and discover the secrets behind their enduring resilience.

Let’s begin with a simple question to kick off our analysis.

Why hold precious metals?

The number one reason people hold gold and silver is wealth security.

Let’s be honest: In today’s unpredictable economic climate, holding cash is risky. We see the currency supply getting inflated away through massive spending, and a financial crisis threatens the banking system. You’ve begun to notice the amount you pay for groceries is going up, and you’re taking home less and less stuff.

This is our new reality. And this is the reality of countries who go through this monetary disease.

We have to face it head on rather than pretend it’s not happening. Look at this chart from Visual Capitalist.

The dollar is a sinking ship.

Chart by Visual Capitalist

The dollar is sinking. There’s no denying it. There’s no hiding from it.

The longer you hold cash, the less you can purchase with it. That’s the destructive power of inflation and massive debt. We see the inflation numbers our government provides steadily increase, yet some well-respected economists think the official numbers are less than half of real inflation. If the number is 6%, then reality might be closer to 12%!

Let’s put that into context…

You have to bring home more than 12% EVERY SINGLE YEAR in order to NOT lose your purchasing power. Imagine asking for a 12% raise to your paycheck every year just so you can maintain your standard of living.

It’s insanity! This is why we’re so passionate here at Aquarian Metals. Inflation is a silent, yet steady assassin of your wealth.

The Precious Metals Life Raft

Take a look at the following chart. It’s a price chart for gold going back to the mid-1960s. Gold and silver prices have risen as the dollar’s value has decreased, highlighting the importance of precious metals as a hedge against inflation and currency devaluation. Gold and silver are monetary batteries that store value over time, making them essential components of a balanced investment strategy.

Gold’s price is going up. This is both an indicator of the inflation disease and solid opportunity to protect your wealth as it has for thousands of years.

The power of precious metals.

To learn more about the nature of money, check out our inspired post What is Money?

How precious metals can be apart of your portfolio?

Having a wealth life raft in your portfolio makes sense. We see how inflation can destroy your savings, which in turn threatens your financial freedom. Let’s look at a few ways precious metals can be added to your portfolio and how each way can potentially benefit your financial goals.

1. Saving for Retirement: Precious metals provide a diversified and stable addition to your retirement portfolio, ensuring that your nest egg remains secure even during times of economic instability.
2. Shielding Against Inflation/Securing Wealth: By allocating a portion of your portfolio to gold and silver, you can protect your wealth from the erosive effects of inflation and maintain your purchasing power.
3. Growing Wealth: While precious metals are primarily viewed as a means of wealth preservation, they also offer potential for growth as demand for gold and silver increases, providing investors with the opportunity to grow their wealth over time. We saw that in our long term chart above.
4. Collectibles/Numismatics: For those with an appreciation for history and art, investing in precious metals can also be a rewarding hobby. Gold and silver coins, for example, often carry numismatic value in addition to their metal content, making them attractive collectibles that can appreciate in value over time.
5. Financial Education: Incorporating precious metals into your investment strategy can serve as an invaluable learning opportunity. Understanding the dynamics of the gold and silver markets, as well as the various factors influencing their prices, can help you develop a more comprehensive understanding of the broader financial landscape.

Wrapping Up

Investing in precious metals presents a solid strategy for preserving and potentially growing your wealth. With their inherent stability and numerous benefits, gold and silver can help you achieve your financial goals and navigate the complex world of investing with confidence. As you consider your financial goals, whether it’s saving for retirement, shielding against inflation, growing wealth, collecting rare coins, or expanding your financial knowledge, precious metals can play a vital role in your journey to financial success.

To get started with precious metals investing, it’s essential to conduct thorough research or consult with trusted financial advisor who can guide you in making informed decisions. Familiarize yourself with the various types of gold and silver products available, such as bullion bars, coins, and numismatic collectibles. Understand the factors that influence precious metals prices, including supply and demand, geopolitical events, and economic indicators. Stay informed about the latest market trends and developments to help you make the most of your investments.

Incorporating gold and silver into your portfolio is not only a wise investment decision but also a means of preserving your wealth for future generations. As you embark on your precious metals journey, remember that you are not only investing in a tangible asset with a long history of value but also safeguarding your financial future in an increasingly uncertain world. Embrace the power of precious metals and harness their enduring resilience to secure your financial well-being, no matter what challenges lie ahead.

The questions is: Should you invest in numismatics? This one area that has sparked a lot of interest in recent years is numismatics- the study or collection of currency, particularly coins. Some people may be attracted to numismatics because of the historical significance or artistic beauty of the coins, while others see it as a potential investment opportunity.

In this article, I will discuss the pros and cons of investing in numismatic coins, as well as the factors you should consider before making a decision. By the end, you should have a better understanding of whether numismatics is the right investment for you.

What Are Numismatic Coins?

Numismatic coins are collectible coins that hold value beyond their weight in precious metals, such as gold or silver. This added value is derived from factors like rarity, condition, historical significance, and design. Some popular numismatic coins include ancient Roman or Greek coins, U.S. coins from the 18th and 19th centuries, and rare commemorative coins.

If you’re looking to understand these relative to other types of coins, check out our other post What are Bullion, Rounds, And Numismatics?

Pros of Investing in Numismatics

1. Diversification

One of the main advantages of investing in numismatic coins is that they offer a form of diversification for your investment portfolio. While precious metals like gold and silver have an inherent value, numismatic coins can appreciate in value independently of the underlying metal. This means that if the value of gold or silver drops, numismatic coins may still hold their value or even appreciate due to their rarity or historical significance.

2. Historical and Artistic Value

Numismatic coins can provide investors with a unique sense of satisfaction and pride, as they represent a tangible piece of history. Owning a rare coin that has been passed down through generations or was once in the hands of an influential figure can be a thrilling experience for collectors. Additionally, the artistry and craftsmanship of some numismatic coins can be quite breathtaking, making them valuable as works of art in their own right.

3. Potential for High Returns

Some numismatic coins have the potential to achieve significant returns on investment. For instance, in 1999, the famous 1933 Double Eagle gold coin was sold at auction for $7.59 million, even though its face value was just $20. Of course, not every numismatic coin will fetch such astronomical sums, but the potential for high returns can be enticing for investors.

Cons of Investing in Numismatics

1. Illiquidity

One of the primary drawbacks of investing in numismatic coins is their lack of liquidity. Unlike stocks, bonds, or even bullion coins, numismatic coins can be difficult to sell quickly and easily. This is because their value is subjective and depends on factors such as rarity, condition, and the current market for collectible coins. As a result, it may take time to find a buyer willing to pay the price you are seeking, making numismatic investments less suitable for those who may need to access their funds quickly.

2. High Transaction Costs

Investing in numismatic coins can involve high transaction costs, including fees for appraisals, insurance, storage, and sales commissions. These costs can eat into your potential returns, making it more difficult to achieve a profit. Additionally, the need for professional advice and assistance in buying and selling numismatic coins can further increase the cost of investing in this asset class.

3. Risk of Fraud and Counterfeiting

As with any collectible market, numismatics is not immune to fraud and counterfeiting. Unscrupulous sellers may attempt to pass off fake or altered coins as genuine, potentially leading to significant financial losses for investors. To mitigate this risk, it is essential to deal with reputable dealers and have coins authenticated and graded by a professional coin grading service. However, this can add to the overall cost of investing in numismatic coins.

4. Steep Learning Curve

To successfully invest in numismatic coins, you need to possess a strong understanding of the market, including the factors that influence the value of specific coins. This requires research and a commitment to learning about various coins, their history, rarity, and condition. Additionally, you need to stay up-to-date on market trends and be aware of potential pitfalls. This steep learning curve can be a deterrent for some investors who may not have the time or inclination to become well-versed in numismatics.

Factors to Consider Before You Invest in Numismatics

1. Investment Goals

Before investing in numismatic coins, it is essential to consider your overall investment goals. Are you looking for short-term gains, long-term appreciation, or diversification of your portfolio? Numismatic investments are generally more suited for long-term appreciation, as they can take time to realize their full potential value.

2. Risk Tolerance

Numismatic investments can be more volatile and unpredictable than other forms of investment, such as stocks, bonds, or precious metals. As a result, they may not be suitable for risk-averse investors. It is essential to evaluate your risk tolerance before diving into the world of numismatics.

3. Expertise and Knowledge

As mentioned earlier, successful numismatic investing requires a deep understanding of the market and its nuances. It is crucial to invest time and effort into learning about numismatics and developing expertise in the field. This will help you make informed decisions and avoid potential pitfalls.

4. Budget

Lastly, you should consider your budget and how much you are willing to invest in numismatic coins. Keep in mind the high transaction costs associated with numismatic investments, and be prepared to hold onto your investment for an extended period to maximize its potential value.

Wrapping Up

Investing in numismatic coins can be a rewarding and exciting endeavor for those who have a passion for history, art, and collectibles. However, it is not without its risks and challenges. Before deciding to invest in numismatics, carefully consider the pros and cons, as well as your investment goals, risk tolerance, expertise, and budget.

If you decide to pursue numismatic investments, remember to deal with reputable dealers, have your coins authenticated and graded by professional coin grading services, and continuously educate yourself on the market. This will help you make informed decisions and maximize your potential returns in the fascinating world of numismatics.

In the labyrinth of financial vehicles, it’s easy to lose oneself amid the rush and rattle of stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrencies. Yet, beyond this bustling bazaar, stand gold and silver, stalwarts of economic history. They gleam with stability and timeless wealth, unshaken by the tremors of financial innovation.

But even within these precious metal realms, a subtle divide exists. Let’s explore this less-trodden path and delve into the nuanced world of Legal Tender and Non-Legal Tender precious metals. In this illuminating journey, we’ll uncover the context, the history, and the investment implications of the dichotomy of sovereign vs non-sovereign precious metals.

A Matter of Legal Definitions

We use the words sovereign and legal interchangeably here because when it comes to precious metals, the terms “sovereign” and “legal tender” can sometimes be used interchangeably, as they often refer to the same concept: the status of a coin or metal piece as officially recognized and backed by a nation’s government.

In a narrow sense, the term “sovereign” is used to refer specifically to a gold coin of the United Kingdom, minted by the Royal Mint. However, in a broader sense and as used in the context of our discussion, “sovereign” is often used to refer to any government-issued or -backed precious metal product, be it a coin, a bar, or a round.

Similarly, “legal tender” refers to coins or metal pieces that are recognized by a government as valid currency. These items are produced by a nation’s official mint, come with a face value, and are often legal to use for commerce within that country, although their intrinsic value as precious metal usually far exceeds their nominal face value.

In both cases, the coins or metal pieces come with an assurance of purity and weight from a government entity, which can increase the trust and confidence of investors and collectors.

As far as the words… it’s just semantics.

(Images from Golden State Mint. Sovereign American Silver Eagle on the left. Non-Sovereign Aztec Silver on the right.)

Investing in Precious Metals: Legal Tender Pros and Cons

Investing in legal tender precious metals offers a unique blend of benefits and drawbacks. On the bright side, they often carry numismatic value, with collectors ready to pay a premium for coins of particular rarity or historical significance. This adds a layer of value beyond the sheer weight of the precious metal.

Moreover, they offer a sense of security, given their government backing, and are easily recognizable and traded. They’re also exempt from sales tax in many jurisdictions, adding to their appeal for investors.

However, legal tender precious metals often come with a higher purchase price than their non-legal counterparts, reflecting the costs of minting, packaging, and distribution. This means investors may need to wait for the price of the precious metal to appreciate significantly before they can recoup their initial investment.

Investing in Precious Metals: Non-Legal Tender Pros and Cons

Non-legal tender precious metals, often traded in bullion form, are primarily valued for their metal content. This offers investors a more direct exposure to the price movements of gold and silver.

These precious metals typically come with a lower premium over the spot price compared to legal tender metals, making them a cost-effective choice for those looking to accumulate as much of the metal as possible.

However, non-legal tender metals don’t enjoy the tax exemptions that legal tender metals do. Furthermore, they can be harder to trade, given their lack of recognizability compared to government-minted coins. Also, they don’t carry any numismatic value, which means their price is more directly tied to the volatile commodities market

The Mettle of the Metal: Quality and Purity

For both sovereign tender and non-sovereign tender precious metals, the purity and quality of the metal are crucial aspects. Sovereign tender metals, especially those minted by reputable establishments like the United States Mint or the Royal Canadian Mint, often come with guarantees of purity and quality. These organizations uphold strict standards and use advanced techniques to ensure the metal’s quality. As a result, investors can buy with confidence, knowing the coin contains precisely the amount and purity of gold or silver advertised.

Non-sovereign tender metals, though not without their quality assurances, may vary more widely in this aspect. While many private mints produce high-quality products, others might offer varying degrees of purity, sometimes alloying their products for added durability.

Numismatic Niche: A Collector’s Haven

Legal tender precious metals often attract collectors due to their design, historical value, and rarity. Some coins, like the U.S. Silver Eagle or the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, have achieved icon status among numismatists. Rare and older issues of these coins can command prices well beyond their precious metal value.

This numismatic potential, however, is generally absent from non-legal tender precious metals. While there are certainly exceptions, most bars or rounds are produced for their metal value, not their collectability. Thus, if the numismatic world attracts you, legal tender coins may better serve your interests.

The Taxing Aspect: VAT and Capital Gains

When it comes to taxes, the divide between legal and non-legal tender metals becomes more pronounced. In several jurisdictions, legal tender coins are exempt from Value Added Tax (VAT), making them attractive for investors who want to avoid this extra cost. However, keep in mind that they might be subject to capital gains tax upon sale, depending on the laws of your country.

In contrast, non-legal tender metals are often subject to VAT, increasing their purchase cost. But here, too, exceptions exist, with certain countries offering VAT exemptions for investment-grade gold, even if it’s non-legal tender.

Liquidity and Recognizability

Legal tender coins are often more recognizable than non-legal tender alternatives. This recognizability can prove advantageous when selling the coins, as dealers and individual buyers alike may feel more comfortable trading coins they recognize. This, combined with their government-backed authenticity, often makes legal tender metals more liquid than their non-legal counterparts.

However, non-legal tender precious metals offer a substantial advantage for those seeking the most metal for their money. Because they’re typically cheaper to produce, they carry lower premiums over the spot price than legal tender metals. This factor can be especially beneficial for investors whose primary goal is to accumulate as much gold or silver as possible.

The Bigger Picture: Diversification and Hedging

Investing in either legal tender or non-legal tender precious metals can provide diversification benefits for your portfolio. Both forms can serve as effective hedges against inflation, geopolitical uncertainties, and market volatility.

Whether you lean towards the numismatic potential and tax advantages of legal tender metals, or the direct commodity exposure and cost-efficiency of non-legal tender, diversifying your holdings can enhance your portfolio’s resilience. A well-balanced precious metals portfolio might include a mix of both types, thereby harnessing the strengths of each.

Wrapping Up: Sovereign vs Non-Sovereign Precious Metals

Navigating the landscape of sovereign vs non-sovereign precious metals goes beyond merely distinguishing two investment types. It’s a significant personal decision that reflects your financial ambitions, risk tolerance, and broader worldview.

Whichever path you choose, remember that investing in gold and silver isn’t just about the potential financial returns. It’s also a connection to thousands of years of human history, a tangible link to the past, and a vote of confidence in these metals’ enduring value.

So, tread thoughtfully on this golden path, for each step brings you closer to a future crafted by your choices today. No matter where your journey takes you, may it gleam with the wisdom of informed decisions, the warmth of personal growth, and the enduring shine of precious metals.

Check out our glossary if you’re looking to learn more about about precious metals!

Read it here: Demystifying Precious Metals: The Essential Glossary for Stackers

None of this is should be construed as financial advice, obviously… but enjoy the content nonetheless!

This is the second in a series where I highlight a single cryptocurrency with the properties of money. Think of it as a companion to fundamental analysis so you can easily make your own decisions about it but without all the technical jargon that makes you fall asleep the moment you read it.

I’ll be updating this page as the ecosystem grows to ensure you have the latest on Pirate Chain’s exciting growth.

Set Sail for Financial Freedom

Pirate (Ticker: $ARRR) is a decentralized, private-by-default cryptocurrency; nearly all information about transactions are private between sender and receiver, including the amounts- just like physical cash or gold transactions.

Pirate Chain’s technology enables secure and private financial transactions backed by some of the most secure blockchains out there. There’s some cool, verifiably secure tech under-the-hood and we’ll mention that below.

Pirate Chain has all the properties of money but has an absolutely scarce supply…

*** As with Zano, it’s scalability technology is limited and, due to its smaller adoption rate, it can perform transactions relatively fast for the moment. As adoption increases we might begin to see congestion and slowdown. If this occurs, we’ll revisit this and update our assessment accordingly.

This means it may not be a form of money in the long run due to it’s absolutely scarce supply of 200 million coins. We discuss the reasoning behind this in detail here but suffice it to say, an absolutely scarce supply means it’ll only ever experience deflationary pressures if it ever reaches mainstream adoption making it not an ideal form of money. Pirate Chain is absolutely a powerful currency that will protect your transactions by preserving your financial privacy rights. I think this doesn’t necessarily exclude it from being a money, but we’ll just have to see this scenario play out to know for sure.

Tokenomics

Tokenomics refers to economics of the coin itself. The Pirate Chain token ($ARRR) has a maximum supply of 200 million coins. And it’s emission rate trends toward zero making it deflationary as adoption grows.

From their website (as of the time of this published post):

As you can see, it has a relatively fast confirmation time of about a minute making it easier to perform transactions.

Merchant Adoption

The Pirate Chain community created an easy-to-use directory called ARRRmada for you to find places to use your ARRR for goods and services. Additionally, if you’re a merchant there are a number of payment gateways you can add to your business website that will allow you to receive $ARRR as a form of payment.

Community

Pirate Chain has a very welcoming and active community on several platforms.

• Telegram
• Odysee
• X
• Discord

Check them out. They’re liberty minded and fun.

To give you an idea of how fun the fans are of this coin, they made a catchy tune.

Mining

Mining $ARRR is easy. You can visit their official site to get information about how to participate here. The page has a bunch of good information to get you started if you’ve never mined before as well as information for the more technically inclined among us.

Designed to be a Currency

Pirate Chain doesn’t have a way to create tokens or confidential assets. It doesn’t have smart contracts or other kinds of programmability other chains typically offer. And that’s okay!

As I’ve highlighted in different articles, the base use case is the most important aspect of a money- to be used. If it can’t be easy to use, doesn’t have the properties of money, then it’s not money.

Pirate Chain is one of a few coins including Monero and Zano take the idea of sound money seriously.

How Get Pirate Chain

Check out the Pirate Chain wallet download page and get yourself a wallet. It’s supported on multiple platforms.

Getting $ARRR is fairly easy. You can check out the official Pirate Chain exchanges page to find out where you can get it. If you don’t want to use an exchange, you can always sell things for $ARRR as well. And as we showed above, you can mine it and earn $ARRR for securing the network.

For the Nerds

Security

tldr;

Ok… so the following has a bunch of jargon that may or may not make any sense to you. Here’s the gist: Pirate chain uses other blockchains to protect itself. The way the tech works is pretty advanced but it works. Suffice it to say, it makes Pirate Chain resilient.

Here’s the slightly more comprehensive explanation.

Pirate Chain’s security model is built on a robust foundation of advanced technologies, including zk-SNARKs (Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge) and the Komodo Delayed Proof-of-Work (dPoW) consensus algorithm.

The zk-SNARKs protocol enables Pirate Chain to verify the validity of transactions without revealing any sensitive information, ensuring that all transactions remain private and confidential. This zero-knowledge proof technology provides a secure and trustless way to validate transactions, eliminating the need for intermediaries and reducing the risk of data breaches.

The Komodo dPoW consensus algorithm provides an additional layer of security by leveraging the hash power of the Bitcoin network to secure Pirate Chain’s blockchain. This innovative approach ensures that Pirate Chain’s network is protected by the massive computational power of the Bitcoin network, making it highly resistant to 51% attacks and other types of malicious activity.

Together, these technologies provide a robust security model that protects Pirate Chain’s network from a wide range of threats, ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of all transactions. By leveraging the latest advancements in cryptography and blockchain technology, Pirate Chain’s security model provides a secure and trustless environment for users to store and transfer coins.

Scalability

Pirate Chain’s scalability is designed to handle a high volume of transactions with fast processing times. The Komodo dPoW consensus algorithm allows for quick and secure transaction processing, with block times averaging around 60 seconds. The blockchain also supports a large number of transactions per block, with a maximum block size of 2 MB.

While Pirate Chain’s scalability is robust, it’s not designed to match the same level as some newer proof-of-stake or proof-of-capacity based networks. That said, the architecture is also modular and adaptable, allowing for easy integration with other scaling solutions. This flexibility ensures that Pirate Chain’s scalability can continue to evolve and improve over time.

Pirate Chain

Pirate Chain is definitely in my personal money pantheon as a rights preserving currency. It’s easy to think a coin named “Pirate” would be a scam or a joke. But the truth here is that Pirate is no joke. It’s standing up against the legacy financial system, thumbing its nose at the banker class knowing it can’t be shut down while protecting your right to transact. It’s a powerful symbol as it is a monetary tool.

The ethos of Pirate Chain starts and ends with liberty and stands as a testament to the spirit of it’s preservation. In my humble opinion, the world needs more people willing to stand up against these institutions who threaten your very way of life.

Definitely, do you your own research and make up your own mind. These are just my opinions.

Lastly, the folks over at The Crypto Vigilante made a fantastic write up that was turned into a video about Pirate Chain. You can watch it below. It’s pretty lengthy but extremely informative so get some popcorn and relax.

The dollar isn't what most people think it is. It's a trojan horse draining away your savings, purchasing power, and spies on you. The US dollar isn't money- it's a currency. That distinction matters because not knowing the difference is how we allowed the dollar to destroy our wealth in the first place.

To know the difference between money and currency check out my article A Beginners Guide: Is it Money or is it Currency?. Most people don't even realize they aren't the same thing and incorrectly use the words interchangeably. How could we replace the dollar with better alternative currencies if we don't know the difference?

Defining Currency and Money

I'm going to drive this concept home because people really struggle with this. So let me start by saying the following:

• "Money is money. Currency is currency. A money can be a currency but a currency isn't money."
• "Currency is the thing you use. Money is the thing."

Here's a great analogy:

Think of money as a car, and currency as a vehicle.

1. All cars are vehicles, but not all vehicles are cars. (All money is currency, but not all currency is money.)
2. A car (money) has specific features: Four wheels, an engine, seats, a steering wheel, brakes, fuel system, safety features. These represent the various properties of money.
3. A vehicle (currency) is anything that transports people or goods from one place to another. This represents the basic function of facilitating exchange.
4. While a car can definitely be used as a vehicle for transportation, other things like bicycles, boats, or skateboards can also serve as vehicles without having all the features of a car.

More simply:

• Money (car) is a specific type with defined properties.
• Currency (vehicle) describes the primary function.
• Money can always act as currency, but not all currency has the full properties of money.

Keep the above in mind as we go. In order for us to understand the power of currency we have to understand its nature.

Currency is the thing you use for everyday transactions. It's the thing you use to buy gas, food, entertainment, pay your debts, and everything else in your daily life. It's the "medium of exchange" you use to power your life.

Think of an electrical current which carries energy -> "current"cy -> currency

Currencies are necessary for trade

Let's start from first principles.

A simple transaction is the meeting of two parties in an adversarial environment. The two parties need something they can use to transfer value as quickly as possible with as little friction as possible. People need the convenience of a quick trading monetary asset above everything else.

We know this to be true because of how difficult it is to use anything that isn't the US dollar to try and make a purchase.

For example…

• If we try to use gold, in the form of, say, Goldbacks, we have to find a participating business and there aren't many, although it's growing. The lack of participating businesses make it difficult for the average person to use Goldbacks.
• If we try to use cryptocurrency, again, we have to find a participating business and then find a crypto that is actually useful for everyday purchases (no easy task). The lack of participating businesses compounded with the difficulty of finding a cryptocurrency that is actually fast enough to be a currency is next to impossible for the average person.
• If we want to use a Pesos instead of US dollars we need to find a currency exchange.
• If we want to barter something instead of using US dollars, we have to plead the case of how the thing is valuable to the potential trader because it's value might not be readily apparent.

In general, if it's not easy to use, people just won't use it. For example, there was a time when bitcoin adoption was exploding. Corporations like Microsoft, Steam, Overstock, and more all accepted bitcoin because it was easy to use, quick to settle, and convenient. That changed when bitcoin failed to scale. Then those companies removed bitcoin as a payment option because it just wasn't convenient any longer. It didn't matter that bitcoin was gaining in value to these companies. It didn't matter that bitcoin was becoming a household name. What mattered was convenience. This is still true.

Most businesses do not accept cryptocurrencies because most of them are so difficult to use. That's an utter disappointment.

Meanwhile, Goldbacks are on the rise among small business owners in the states where they're accepted. Head over to the Goldbacks Featured Utah Business's Page and scroll down to see how many small businesses are accepting them (keeping hitting 'show more' to get a sense of the scale)! Goldbacks are as easy to use as cash so there's no learning curve for users. This is a real advantage for the currency. That said, I'm not certain of the future of Goldbacks but I feel like they're occupying a real niche that has been mostly reserved for US paper cash and, to my mind, anything that can replace the dollar with better monetary properties is absolutely worth pursuing.

Yes, there are people who do use metals and cryptos as every day currency, but they're the extreme exception because they don't represent the average person- which is the most important part of an asset being a currency. They still can't use crypto to pay important things like mortgages, rent, taxes, anything that uses ACH, debts like loans, and most recurring plans for everyday things like internet and cell phone (there are some companies like Spritz Finance and Zypto that allow you to do these things but at this point they're still niche and don't always work as expected, although that has less to do with the companies and more to do with the regulations surrounding them- I do hope they proliferate and can reach the masses.).

If the average user can't use it for every day life, then the medium is useless to them.

Let that sink in.

We know the power of money in terms of its ability to be a currency and protecting value, but if the average person doesn't have access to it or can't easily spend or earn it… then those assets are better used as monetary investments. What's the point of a currency that can't be utilized other than as an investment?

I know there's probably some gold bugs or btc maximalists who are yelling at me now but the reality is that if your neighbor, who knows nothing about metals or crypto, can't easily use them for every day use, then understand that they probably aren't going to adopt them as a currency.

Recently, bitcoiners have changed their narrative from crypto… currency… to store of value (which is ironic considering the concept of a store of value doesn't even exist). bitcoin has essentially become a Non-Monetary Speculative asset. Regular people aren't adopting it to use and spend- they're using it to save in terms of dollars. It's essentially about accumulating more dollars than it is about being useful as a currency.

There's nothing wrong with a savings technology (unless it spies on you like most cryptos) because the world could use more assets like gold and silver. This means bitcoin, as is, will never become a true currency for the world- it'll only ever be something you invest in to save in terms of government dollars. Like I said, there's nothing wrong with that, but that means it'll never separate money and state like so many in the freedom movement strive for.

It's not just theory anymore- the world just isn't adopting metals or cryptos for currency as they once were for bitcoin before it was hijacked and became a speculative asset in 2017. Here's a real world example showing this to be true:

Popular financial educator, George Gammon, made a trip to Argentina starting from Columbia with the expressed goal of only using gold, silver, or cryptocurrency as a form of payment along their travels. He and his small crew documented this in a series of videos. The outcome of which was a big eye opener for many in the crypto-space.

You can watch the summary of the trip here:

Later, he then did another trip where he tried to use Bitcoin Cash in the Caribbean island St. Martin where it was advertised to be relatively ubiquitous and ran into the same problem: there was no actual adoption of crypto as a currency.

You can see his live streams where he struggled to use metals and cryptos on his channel The Rebel Capitalist.

To summarize the results of his challenge, he discovered that places that once accepted cryptocurrency no longer did because there was no demand for it and thus maintaining the crypto Point-of-Sale systems to accept them just wasn't worth the cost and effort. Additionally, many vendors would rather take US dollars instead of their local currency. In one instance, a vendor did accept cryptocurrency but it was a crypto pegged to the dollar. Needless to say, they went hungry for much of the trip.

The big takeaway was that almost no one wanted metals or crypto at all. They didn't just NOT accept them, they actively rejected them.

So what can we learn from this?

People only want a convenient currency

It's as simple as that. If it's not simple and easy to use, people won't use it or adopt your coin no matter how valuable it is.

This is exactly why people choose USD over transacting with gold or bitcoin core. The sad truth is that convenience beats ideal monetary properties for the average person. Gold, Silver, and Monero are better than USD by every conceivable monetary metric except convenience and yet get almost no real traction among average people.

To my mind, this insight is the most disappointing thing about the crypto space. There's almost no effort to make cryptos more convenient. This is why average crypto users are pushed to using centralized exchanges and parasitic layer 2 solutions.

Companies understand what customers and users want… most open-source crypto developers don't… and don't care.

If the dollar is so convenient… then why would we want to replace it?

Currencies and more currencies

The world runs on currencies. From the tiny 0.25 cent transactions at a gum-ball machine (do those still exist?) at your local convenient store to a multibillion-dollar multinational oil trade deal, the US dollar facilitates almost all trade globally. When it comes to the US dollar it's ubiquitous, it's easy to use, and it's nearly everywhere. For good or ill, the US dollar is the global reserve currency, which means almost all trade happens with respect to the dollar.

People don't really consider the shear scale of the dollar. It's everywhere despite all it's problems. Yes, it's lost 99% of it's purchasing power since 1913. Yes, inflation is a wrecking ball on the global economy. Yes, it's being weaponized by our government against nations who don't tow the empire-building line. And yet, very few countries have managed to walk away from the dollar successfully. The only one that comes to mind at the moment is Russia, but even now there's rumors we'll be trading with them again… in dollars. Despite that, even other supposed boogeymen nations such as Iran and China still transact in dollars for foreign transactions. The dollar is extremely hard to escape at scale.

The biggest reason for this seems almost trivial. The dollar, you guessed it, is quite literally the easiest currency to use and obtain. The dollar has the most infrastructure to support moving it across the globe. And then with apps like Venmo, PayPal, CashApp, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and more moving the dollar is so easy software companies sometimes put child protections in place to prevent children from using it. That ease-of-use, ubiquity, and global infrastructure is the silent power of the dollar.

To those that do pay in alternative currencies such as crypto or gold, ask yourself this, "are you converting to the USD in order to pay for it? Or are you paying in crypto or gold directly?" Most likely, and most often, the answer is conversion to USD.

Again, we get back to the dollars convenience. So if it's so convenient, why would we even want to replace the dollar in the first place?

Why Replace the Dollar?

There are a number of reasons why replacing the dollar is the right thing to do morally and ethically.

The Usual Suspects

These aren't fresh gripes; they're the same culprits critics have been calling out for decades. Inflation's damage is plain as day- back in 1913, 25 cents got you a decent meal; now it's a gumball if you're lucky. The Fed's policies keep chiseling away at what your money's worth. Debt's another slow-motion disaster. With the US national debt topping $35 trillion in 2024, the dollar's resting on a foundation that's looking shakier by the minute. What happens when that bubble pops? Then there's monetary mismanagement, like the 1971 Nixon Shock that ditched the gold standard, unleashing today's fiat free-for-all. These aren't abstract worries- they hit your savings, your plans, and the world's stability right where it hurts.

There's real long-term risk to your wealth in holding dollars.

Dollar Weaponization

The dollar isn't just a tool for trade; it's a weapon in Uncle Sam's arsenal. Sanctions are the go-to move, hammering nations like Iran and Venezuela by locking them out of global commerce. When Iran got booted from SWIFT in 2018, its oil exports tanked, gutting its economy. SWIFT, the dollar's enforcer in international payments, bends to US will. Russia felt the sting in 2014 with a partial cutoff, pushing it to ditch dollars where it could- though it still leans on them sometimes.

And looming ahead are Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), which could turn every purchase into a government-tracked data point (don't think Trump's executive order to prevent them made them impossible to implement- they're still on the table in a different form now… more on that in a different article). That's not sci-fi; it's a privacy nightmare already in motion, nudging countries and people alike to look for an exit.

Your Right to Choose

Here's the kicker: you didn't pick the dollar- it picked you. In the US, legal tender laws say debts have to be settled in dollars, no ifs or buts. Globally, its reserve status strong-arms nations into line, curbing their freedom. Try to opt out, and the system bites back. Take Bernard von NotHaus, who launched the Liberty Dollar, a gold-backed alternative. In 2011, the feds nailed him for "counterfeiting," threatening years in prison for daring to offer a choice. If people could freely pick other currencies without risking a crackdown, plenty would. Just look at the crypto crowd or folks using Goldbacks, millions are already testing the waters, not just as investments but as quiet revolts against a rigged game.

Furthermore, you have a natural right to print your own money/currency under the 9th Amendment. There's nothing that says you don't have the right to create one and put it out there in the free market. Sure, the government might say you don't, but they want the monopoly as part of their terror scheme to weaponize the dollar against anyone that stands in their way.

Breaking up with the Dollar

I believe, that if we're serious about moving away from the dollar then whatever that replacement is, must, first and foremost, at least do what the dollar can do.

Reread that last sentence again. And then again.

History backs this up- shifting from the British pound to the dollar as the world's reserve currency took decades, driven by necessity and infrastructure, not just desire. Any contender has to match the dollar's global reach, speed, low cost, and ease- otherwise, it's dead on arrival. Gold's too slow for digital deals, bitcoin's fees and delays kill its shot, and most cryptos are just speculative toys, not tools for trade. The dollar's network- built over a century- means any rival needs a massive adopter base to even dent it, not just a slick idea.

The World Needs Alternative Currencies

So many people get why the dollar's a problem- its purchasing power's crumbling, and it's a geopolitical cudgel against anyone who steps out of line. But here's the rub: nothing's ready to take its place. Gold works for some small-scale trades, like with Goldbacks in parts of the US, but it can't keep up with the digital world's pace. Bitcoin's a slog- imagine global trade waiting years for settlements if everyone jumped in. Even promising tech like decentralized finance (DeFi) or blockchain stumbles on scalability and ease.

Central banks are tinkering with digital currencies, but those could just tighten the surveillance noose. Right now, no alternative checks all the boxes: fast, scalable, cheap, private. Grassroots efforts- think Goldbacks or niche cryptos- show us that people want out, but scaling that to global trade's another beast entirely.

Cryptocurrencies like Monero, Zano, Pirate Chain, and Beam fill in gap for privacy in transactions. Physical Goldbacks are also great for private in-person transactions. Coins like Solana, Bitcoin Cash, Tron, SUI make transactions fast due to their onchain speed. The cryptocurrency Nano has no transaction fees.

None of those suggestions are financial advice. Instead, it's up to you to find what works best for your needs. And the only way to know for sure is to use them.

What's the ultimate solution?

There's no perfect fix yet, but we're not helpless. Crypto, I think, will eventually provide the answer even if it doesn't exist yet. To my mind, we need a decentralized crypto that has the monetary properties of Gold and Monero, is faster and more scalable than Solana, and is so easy-to-use the dollar feels like dial-up. It's gotta be better, cheaper, quicker, and available everywhere- or it's not worth it.

Until we get there, use Goldbacks where they work, spend cryptos built for it, and push businesses to jump in. It's gritty, but adoption grows from doing, not dreaming. The dollar took years to rule; its replacements will too.

What the world looks like post-dollar

In a post-dollar world, we'll witness the global financial landscape transform into a dynamic, multi-currency ecosystem where regions and individuals wield the freedom to choose the currencies that reflect their unique preferences, needs, and values. No longer bound by the dominance of a single currency, people might favor cryptocurrencies for their privacy, regional tokens for their cultural resonance, or stablecoins for their reliability- creating a diverse monetary tapestry.

Enabling this shift are decentralized exchanges, the technological backbone of this new era, which facilitate seamless, permissionless swaps between any currency pair imaginable. These platforms empower users to trade without intermediaries, dismantling the barriers of centralized control and fostering a fluid, accessible exchange system. This multi-currency reality isn't a radical departure but a return to historical norms- global trade has long flourished under systems where multiple currencies coexisted, driving resilience and adaptability across civilizations. From ancient trade routes to medieval markets, history shows us that economic strength lies in monetary diversity, not uniformity.

The post-dollar world isn't chaos- it's choice. It's the free market doing its thing, letting the best ideas slug it out and come out on top. In that world, currency isn't about some governments lording over you- it's about handing you the reins. The dollar rode on coercion; whatever takes its place will stand on liberty.

And that's a future worth raising hell for.

I'm revisiting threads from Is it Money or is it Currency?, What Money Isn't and What Makes it Money?, and Discovering Monetary Properties of Crypto to remove references to "Store of Value," a concept that has misled discussions in the precious metals and cryptocurrency communities. This article aims to dismantle that notion, offering a clearer perspective on money and value for future reference.

I've always had a problem with the idea of a "Store of Value" but it wasn't until I started digging at each property conceptually and relative to one another that I realized there may be something completely wrong about it. Turns out I was right…

Why "Store of Value" Falls Apart

Money is defined by the characteristics which make it useful:

• Unit of Account
• Portability
• Divisibility
• Durability
• Fungability
• Medium of Exchange
• Relative Scarcity
• Store of Value… ?

What does Store of Value even mean? People claim that it means the asset stores value somehow like a battery. As if it's a physical characteristic that can be extracted like energy from a battery. But does that even make sense?

Before we can understand if value can be stored, we have to determine what value actually is.

Value lives in the Mind

When you think "value"… think "evaluation".

All life evaluates its surroundings and makes choices based on experience. Whether it's the alligator sizing up an animal at the edge of the river, or a child discovering new food preferences, or an old lady comparing prices at a flea market all life uses its experience to push it toward or away from some thing. That evaluation lets us know the relative importance of the thing being evaluated. A child touching a hot stove learns the value of oven mitts. An adult getting into the crypto market for the first time learns the value of risk management. A person living under hyperinflation learns the value of gold.

Value lives inside our heads. It doesn't exist in the stove. The stove doesn't store value.

The child, the old lady, and the alligator store that value as experience.

And that's the point.

You are the store of value- not the thing you're interacting with. Your experience shapes your value judgements.

All Value Is Subjective and Ephemeral

Value isn't a fixed property inherent to an object; it's a perception tied to individual needs and often times societal trends. A sandwich might be priceless to a starving person but trivial after a meal- its physical form doesn't change, only its perceived worth. Likewise, a rare vinyl record might fetch hundreds from a collector yet mean nothing to someone indifferent to music. In the 1990s, Pokémon cards soared in value due to hype, only to fade when interest waned. These shifts show value as a moving target, not something storable.

Claiming an asset like gold or bitcoin "stores" value is less about preservation and more about betting on sustained demand. Reread that last sentence if it didn't sink in.

This means all value, all of it without exception, is subjective. Yes, you'll have trends where many people share similar value judgements, but that really doesn't mean anything about the asset itself. It simply means, for a time, a collection of people think a certain way about a thing. Trying to take the collective opinion and impose it onto an object doesn't make any sense.

Historical Evidence of an Unstable Concept

History reveals the fragility of the concept of "store of value". In the 16th century, Spain's influx of New World gold and silver triggered inflation, slashing their purchasing power. In the 1920s, Weimar Germany's hyperinflation turned marks into mere paper- some people used them as wallpaper. Even gold, a perennial favorite, hit $850 per ounce in 1980 only to drop to $300 by the 1990s, locking investors into decades of losses. Early economists like Adam Smith saw money as a wealth holder, and later thinkers like William Stanley Jevons formalized "Store of Value." Yet these ideas overlooked value's instability, driven by supply, demand, and human sentiment rather than any inherent stability.

Personally, I think the part of the reason people want "store of value" to exist in an asset is because they want there to be a magic bullet which can protect them against poverty.

No such value bullet exists and never will.

Breaking Down the "Store of Value" Myth

The concept leans on traits like durability, scarcity, and trustworthiness, but these don't guarantee value retention:

• Durability: Gold endures, and bitcoin's blockchain persists, but longevity doesn't ensure worth. Obsolete, durable computers hold little value today.
• Scarcity: bitcoin's 21 million coin cap or gold's rarity can boost appeal, but if demand fades- as with Beanie Babies in the 1990s- scarcity alone won't hold.
• Trustworthiness: Gold's historical allure and bitcoin's decentralized nature inspire confidence, but trust is fleeting, as seen with Confederate currency post-Civil War.

Value hinges on collective perception, not these attributes. It's a social agreement, not a fixed trait.

bitcoin: A Modern Test Case

bitcoin maximalists highlight its absolute supply, decentralization, and digital resilience as "Store of Value" credentials. Yet these features don't secure value and never have. The coin cap fuels scarcity hype, but only if people care- and many don't- myself included. Decentralization resists tampering, but not sentiment shifts. Blockchain durability keeps it alive, not valuable. Price swings from $60,000 to $20,000 and back reflect perception, not storage. The "value battery" metaphor misleads; unlike energy, value isn't a measurable substance to stash.

Consider the paradox of hoarding btc: if everyone treats it as a "store," its circulation drops, potentially crashing its practical use and thus its value as a currency. Economic reality favors motion- trade, investment, adaptation- not stasis. We're beginning to see it already with fewer and fewer people using the bitcoin blockchain itself- slowly compromising security over time.

When you hear maximalists touting store of value, especially those with enormous bags… assume they're looking for the next round of buyers to pump their bags. Their "store of value"-coin relies on narrative to keep the price afloat.

Abandon "Store of Value"

Honestly, the term is unnecessary and misleading. Money's core role- enabling trade and measurement- relies on practical traits, not on illusory promises of wealth preservation. "Store of Value" breeds false security, suggesting assets like gold or bitcoin are risk-free when they're not and people not well versed in investing or trading get duped and lose money. Dropping the term would sharpen our focus on utility and risk, cutting through the clutter for novices and experts alike. Money works because it moves and measures, not because it sits still.

Better Approaches to Wealth Preservation

Forget storing value; focus on managing it. Diversification across multiple assets dilutes the risk of any single asset's collapse. Gold as the life raft for wealth preservation. Crypto for the growth engine. Stocks as an income generator with dividends. And cash as a hedge against deflationary events and providing much need liquidity.

Contrast this with notion of "store of value" thinking: hoard one asset and do nothing else with it. True wealth preservation isn't about freezing value- it's about steering it through shifting tides, leveraging utility and flexibility over blind hope.

Wealth preservation is a dynamic fortress- not a stockpile.

The Absolute End of "Store of Value"

The idea of "store of value" is a comforting fiction that crumbles under scrutiny. Value isn't a tangible quality that assets can hoard- it's a fleeting, subjective idea born from human perception and collective agreement. History exposes the truth: no asset can lock value in place. Durability, scarcity, and fungibility might prop up an asset's allure, but they're powerless against the shifting tides of demand and sentiment. Clinging to this myth feeds a futile hope for a wealth-preserving "magic bullet"- a hope that reality consistently shatters.

Rather than chasing an illusion, we should rethink how we approach wealth. Money thrives in motion, not stasis, serving as a tool for trade and measurement, not a vault for value. The practical path forward lies in managing risk through diversification- blending gold's stability, crypto's potential, stocks' income, and cash's flexibility- while staying nimble in an ever-changing economic landscape. By letting go of "store of value," we strip away false security and embrace a clearer truth: wealth isn't preserved by stockpiling assets but by navigating the dynamic currents of human behavior and market forces. Adapt, diversify, and move forward- that's where real resilience lives.

None of this is should be construed as financial advice, obviously… but enjoy the content nonetheless!

This is the first in a series where I highlight a single cryptocurrency with the properties of money. Think of it as a companion to fundamental analysis so you can easily make your own decisions about it but without all the technical jargon that makes you fall asleep the moment you read it.

I’ll be updating this page as the ecosystem grows to ensure you have the latest on Zano’s exciting growth.

The Road to Financial Freedom

Wealth isn’t just about becoming wealthy. It’s about your right to pursue liberty. Wealth offers you the ability to increase the number choices you have to live the life you want.

The best way to do this is with money that helps preserve that right. Gold absolutely provides that freedom because you don’t need to use it within any institution. In fact, with Goldbacks, you can use it like cash anonymously and privately at many brick and mortar stores. With cryptocurrencies, now you can do the same with coins like Monero, Zano, and Pirate Chain with participating merchants and users.

Untraceable. Unstoppable.

Zano (Ticker: $ZANO) is a decentralized, private-by-default cryptocurrency.

Being private-by-default means nearly all information about transactions are private between sender and receiver, including the amounts- just like physical cash or gold transactions. This means it protects your right to financial privacy and anonymity. Zano has all seven monetary properties of money, including the three additional properties of money for digital assets, and is relatively scarce so I’m inclined to say, like Monero, it’s a form of money.

Zano appears to be fairly durable in that it’s approach to secure the network is a hybrid approach of Proof-of Work (mining) and Proof-of-Stake (staking). The two together make the network extremely difficult to attack.

It’s privacy-by-default makes the primary asset ($ZANO) and all Zano tokens fungible and it’s divisibility make it a good unit of account.

I’m impressed at how easy Zano is to use. The developers really paid attention to the UI and have responded to user feedback positively and I have watched it get easier to use over time. This bodes extremely well for Zano because an easy-to-use user interface (UI) makes it easy to be a medium of exchange. It already works on mobile, in your browser, and on your desktop.

Zano has all the properties of money.

***One caveat with scaling. Zano doesn’t have any truly dedicated mechanisms by which to scale to the globe if/when adoption really ramps up. It does have dynamic block size, meaning blocks in the blockchain can grow and shrink based on demand, which aids during times of congestion but it’s not a silver bullet. For the moment, Zano can meet network demand so this discussion is a bit of a ways off. One ray of hope for the future is that Zano devs are researching sharding, a method of scaling which I talk about in more detail below.

Taken together, Zano is a powerful money that can help you secure your rights!

Tokenomics

Tokenomics refers to economics of the coin itself. The Zano token ($ZANO) has a theoretically infinite supply, like gold and Monero, but has an emission rate (just a fancy way of saying “inflation rate”) low enough that it’s supply can become deflationary as use grows.

From the official Zano docs:

Zano decided to set the block reward relatively low to avoid unnecessary selling price pressure while keeping the chain safe from flood attacks. We have an uncapped max supply because the assumption that only the TX fees would be enough to cover miners’ appetite might not be accurate and Bitcoin might become a sad example of this. A fixed emission ensures that stakers and miners will always secure the network.

On Zano, all network fees are being burned, meaning that with enough network usage, the daily fee burning could surpass the emission from block rewards, resulting in supply becoming deflationary over time.

As Zano grows in use, the supply is burned through its transaction fees making Zano deflationary like gold but with a small infinite inflation, miners and stakers are incentivized to keep the network secure.

This screenshot from the Zano docs gives you some inflation/emission data at a glance.

Merchant Adoption

I happen to know there are a dedicated group of people working to reach out and grow Zano for merchants. Even though there aren’t many payment processors who accept it at the moment, it doesn’t mean you cannot accept Zano for business with a mobile wallet.

Currently, there aren’t many tools out there for merchants so it can make getting established businesses to accept Zano a bit more difficult, but not impossible. That’s not to say no tools exist it’s just that adoption can take some time. I do know there are merchant tools being built right now so it’s only a matter of time until merchants can take full advantage of Zano.

That said, there’s a really great resource for finding where you can spend Zano called ZanoList. From Zanolist’s website: “From online stores and merchants to service providers and marketplaces, Zanolist connects you to many businesses that accept Zano, ensuring your transactions remain private, secure, and efficient.” Additionally, Zanolist has a bounty for those who can help get a payment processor to accept Zano. Zanolist will keep expanding the number of resources over time.

If you’re a business owner and you’re looking to accept Zano, reach out the community and let them know! Your voice matters!

Since I’m going to revisit this post in the future, I’m definitely hoping that I’ll be able to provide a more comprehensive analysis of merchant adoption.

Community

One of the best aspects of Zano is the community. To my mind, it’s one of the most important aspects of a project. It’s the community which drives the effort for merchant adoption, ease-of-use, scaling, community outreach, and more! The people are the lifeblood of the blockchain. It happens that every now and then I’ll come across an interesting project and hit the socials but find that they’re a ghost town. That isn’t Zano.

People are actively participating in growing the network, using the tech, and interacting with each other about the project. This really bodes well for it’s future. The more people discover the Zano, the more, I believe, they’ll see it’s strengths and want to share it with others. You should check out the available online communities here.

Staking

If you’re looking for passive income and want to help secure the network, Zano employs confidential staking. This means whatever Zano you hold in your desktop Zano Wallet can become a source of income just by letting it sit. For merchants and, well, anyone else, this could be a really great way to earn Zano passively. Just load the wallet and flip the switch.

Mining

If you’re a bit more technically inclined you can secure the network by mining Zano and earn Zano passively this way.

Confidential Assets (aka private tokens)

Confidential Assets are essentially tokens that have all the privacy as the native Zano token itself. This means they can be traded privately. What’s more, anyone can mint their own confidential assets to do basically whatever they want! It’s actually pretty easy to do now right in the mobile wallet.

Recently, the first tokenized Goldback was exchanged on the network. Someone created a digital version of a Goldback by minting a confidential asset. They added a picture of the Goldback to it, so people could see an image of the physical asset. Then, someone else bought this digital coin using Zano’s cryptocurrency. Presumably, the Goldback can be redeemed.

Think of it like a paper certificate used during the Gold Standard. Except the certificate was a private token representing the physical Goldback. In blockchain parlance this is called “tokenization”. This allows the buyer of the Goldback to own a digital certificate (token, really) verifying their ownership of the Goldback.

This has powerful financial implications. You could say the token was backed by physical gold. This opens the door to the possibility of creating stablecoins and even metal-backed private tokens. In theory, you could become a metals dealer using Zano where all the assets are privately tokenized for authenticity.

Furthermore, this technology allows you to do wild things like tokenize your house, or land, and putting it up for private sale on Zano. The creation of these tokens and transactions are timestamped so you could use it as a form of validation for land deeds ensuring you’re the owner. You can do this right now with Zano!

Confidential assets are a powerful tool you can take advantage of right now using Zano. All you have to do is think of a use and do it!

How Get Zano

The best resource is to check out ZanoList’s list of exchanges here. If you’re not sure of the way to do it here’s how:

• Get yourself a Zano Wallet
• Visit the list of exchanges– many of them are KYC free
• Send your Zano to your wallet

Do note that if you’re new to cryptocurrency, you’ll need crypto to swap for Zano on an exchange. Alternatively, if you have the desire to do so, you could mine Zano and earn it that way as well. Lastly, you could become a merchant yourself and sell things for Zano.

If you have questions you have several communities to choose from:

• X
• Telegram
• Discord
• Reddit

Aliases

Ok, this is a cool feature. On Zano, you have your long public wallet address which can look like this:
ZxDskQm2MLP2BUYjf1T38fKQuFaep1MAoHZevNVWpVeZULGm54qBXTJ5YPmWMjAfNeLWnyjyf47GE55KwFGMsxsq2BCNNup5s

But it’s kind of hard to give someone your address if they ask for it without copy/paste. You can’t exactly memorize it either.

For convenience, Zano has a feature called an Alias. You can register a unique username… er… alias… and give that to people. When people go to send ZANO, they enter the alias instead of the unreadable above.

Aquarian Metals registered one. It’s simple: aquarian

And you can register or edit an alias right from your mobile or desktop wallet.

When I talk about adoption, convenience, and ease-of-use being necessary to be a medium of exchange… I’m talking about stuff like this. Aliases are an amazing feature which helps ensure anyone can use Zano.

For the Nerds

Privacy Tech

Zano employs cryptographic techniques like d/v-CLSAG Ring Signatures, Stealth Addresses, and RingCT to ensure complete privacy for its users. These features make transactions on Zano virtually untraceable, providing users with complete confidentiality for their financial transactions. If you’re tech minded, these are fascinating topics. You won’t be disappointed.

Scalability and Security

Zano’s hybrid consensus algorithm, combining Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Proof-of-Stake (PoS), offers a robust security framework that protects against 51% attacks. As the network adapts between PoW and PoS blocks, Zano enhances its security while maintaining high levels of decentralization.

It appears the Zano team is investigating the use of sharding, a scalability technology that would allow Zano to scale with demand.

Personally, I really hope they implement this in the future as it would have the potential make Zano scale better than all other privacy tokens which is extremely important for adoption and bringing sound money to the world for the masses. The tech is extremely complex so I get that implementing it might be a long shot, but, man, it’s worth trying for the scaling advantages alone.

Ionic Swaps & Escrow Contracts

Zano’s Ionic Swaps and Escrow Contracts further bolster the ecosystem by enabling secure, peer-to-peer transactions without compromising privacy. These features empower users to create fully customizable contracts and participate in trustless settlements, reducing reliance on intermediaries.

Together these Swaps and Contracts allow people to build very powerful applications.

Zano

I’m really looking forward to seeing what’s next for Zano. With it’s private, uncensorable transactions, confidential assets, easy to use tools, and steadily growing community, Zano has all the makings to be a major currency in the space. As the tools, applications, and use cases continue to expand, I expect to see Zano in unexpected places.

I didn’t mention their roadmap but you can check it out here. Looks like a lot of really great features are coming down the line.

I’m pretty excited about Zano. Sound money is hard to find. It’s important to highlight them when they come along.

If you’re a gold bug, stick with this article. It’s easy to dismiss cryptocurrencies because they don’t have the track record that gold and silver does. But what we’re going to focus on here are the properties of money which is the most important aspect of financial assets. Same goes for you if you’re a crypto-maximalist.

At Aquarian Metals, we’re money maximalists. That means we care more about the properties of money more than the thing that has them. It’s the equivalent of choosing a name brand product versus a quality product.

This is why we can appreciate all forms of money.

If you’re new here you’ll want a refresher course on what money is. You can check that out here A Beginners Guide: Is it Money or is it Currency?.

The New Money Debate. Same as the Old Money Debate.

Since the inception of bitcoin, a new and exciting debate has raged on the nature of money in the hallowed halls of social media, the swamps of academia, and in the vile pits of congress.

It seems as though, average people are not only rediscovering money and its properties, but are now debating the veracity of its long established properties. While this might irk economists or other money “maximalists” in the sense that it retreads long held truths, I see it differently.

See, the properties of money were not etched in stone by great thinkers. Instead, they were discovered through the collective actions of countless transactions and interactions which ultimately shaped our understanding of its essential characteristics.

One anecdote that exemplifies this discovery is the historical emergence of currency. In early societies, individuals engaged in barter systems, directly exchanging goods and services. However, as these systems became increasingly cumbersome and the need for a more efficient medium of exchange became evident.

Through numerous transactions and interactions, various items were tested and evaluated as potential forms of currency. For instance, shells, beads, livestock, and even rare metals were used, but their suitability was ultimately determined by the participants in these transactions.

Over time, the properties of durability, divisibility, portability, fungibility, and relative scarcity emerged as crucial qualities for an effective form of money. Through trial and error, facilitated by countless transactions, societies collectively discovered the properties that make a currency functional and widely accepted today.

Here’s the point: The properties of money were discovered through real interaction. They weren’t invented by academics, economists, or politicians. They were discovered by people like you and me who needed to find ways to first, transact and second, preserve their wealth.

And those properties of money were hard earned through billions of individual transactions spanning over a millennia or more.

The New Kid in Town

In an incredibly brief period, cryptocurrencies swept across the globe, emerging as a phenomenon. It burgeoned into an astonishing array of over 22,000 coins (and climbing). Although the majority of them are probably valueless in the long term, they have empowered individuals in the market to delve into and even create their own digital currencies. For the first time, the average Joe could mint their own money (via smart contracts) or new blockchains and test it out on the market- something that, only until recently, was reserved for governments or powerful institutions.

This means we have a new free market in which to rediscover the properties of money again!

To us, this is extremely exciting.

The crypto space is a free market of all the best and worst properties of currency and money and we’re just now beginning to see a consolidation around the ones we find the most.

Money is King

When we talk about crypto or precious metals, what we’re really talking about are the those assets with the properties of money. And we’re discovering the properties we value the most on and off line. Every single transaction we make with cryptocurrencies is an experience telling us about our how well it functions.

For those of us that love gold and silver, unless we use cryptocurrencies, we’ll never understand why they’re useful. Experience is the only way to understand them. And limiting yourself to using just one or two isn’t the way to experience them.

To that end, it’s a safe bet that most people younger than 50 have no idea what it’s like to transact with gold and silver. To them, the debased paper and coins in their pocket are the only experience they have of transacting. And to those born after the year 2000, it’s possible most have only experienced digital transactions through debit and credit cards, and now cryptocurrencies.

This means there’s an experiential disparity between generations about what makes money (Even more, it’s sad that most people young and old don’t know the difference between money and currency but that’s a different discussion).

Where does this leave us?

Monetary rediscovery. Plain and simple.

I’d argue this a great thing for the awareness of the properties of money because older generations will look through the lens of monetary wisdom and younger generations will rediscover them through new and traditional assets.

The old properties aren’t going to change yet with the added digital component, people may discover new properties specific to the digital realm. This means the definition of money might get a cybernetic upgrade!

We’re at a very unique crossroads where the planet is connected through a virtual network and physical assets are increasingly being purchased to hedge against governmental and central banking monetary insanity… I mean debasement. Central banks and governments are hell bent on tying everyone to a digital surveillance system where everything is tracked and traced to your identity and different generations are debating the merits of different assets as a tool against it in a bid to preserve our wealth in the face of it.

Liberty requires free (as in freedom) money. Gold and silver have been the save haven for thousands of years. It’s possible cryptocurrency could be a digital safe haven asset but only time will tell. It requires the collective actions of all generations to make that determination.

The Future

Where’s the crypto money?

Are there any cryptocurrencies that make the cut?

At the moment, we believe Monero makes the cut based on the fact that it shares almost all monetary properties of gold. There are others in consideration, but they don’t have widespread adoption, so we won’t be considering them until the market takes the time to use them.

Like gold and silver, cryptocurrency has a bright future but until they reach the saturation, monetary esteem, and are used as money like gold and silver are, they should just be considered speculative.

This is a follow up to our article A Beginners Guide: Is it Money or is it Currency?.

Author’s note (04/20/2025): I removed references to Store of Value because it doesn’t exist. Read why here.

What Money Isn’t

It appears many people are confused about what money is, even though they may know the properties of money. You see it when people “debate” the properties of gold and silver versus cryptocurrency versus currency. They say one property or the another is the sole reason why something is a money or why something else isn’t. There’s no logical consistency to the arguments.

This is something that needs to be clarified.

I’m going to deconstruct money in a way that will help you understand what money is through the eyes of what it is not. This way you’ll know money when it comes your way!

Money is…

• A Medium of Exchange (MoE)
• A Unit of Account (UoA)
• Portable – Can be easily carried
• Durable – Lasts a long time
• Divisible – Can make change
• Fungible – Changeable
• Relative Scarcity

In A Beginners Guide: Is it Money or is it Currency? we stated…

In order to be money, an asset must be easy to exchange and a unit of account for people to compare goods against. Along those lines it must be portable and thus durable so as not to lose value in transport. It must be divisible to make change and fungible so the asset can be traded for 1 equal unit with another exactly. Finally, the asset must have a relatively scarce supply.

This precisely defines what makes something a money. Each and every property has a specific purpose for existing. And each property serves its purpose.

But what happens if you start removing properties?

Know Money or No Money.

Money Isn’t…

Let’s go through each property and see what happens when we remove any one of them.

Remove: Medium of Exchange

When an asset lacks the property of being a medium of exchange, it begins to resemble numismatic coins, bitcoin, or collectibles, such as a diamonds or Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT’s). Their usage in everyday transactions is typically limited due to factors like illiquidity, a speculative nature, and challenges in executing easy, inexpensive transactions. Essentially, these items, while valuable, aren’t convenient or practical for regular commerce due to these inherent restrictions.

Remove: Unit of Account

When an asset does not serve as a standardized measure of value, it mirrors more closely to items used in barter systems. As it cannot represent a uniform measure for economic transactions, its value becomes subject to individual negotiations, making it less convenient for systematic trading. Think of trading cattle or sacks of grain, where every transaction requires a new negotiation of value.

Remove: Portable

When the property of portability is removed from a form of “money,” it becomes inconvenient for transactions. A prime example of this would be something like real estate, which is a valuable asset but cannot be easily transferred or carried around, thus it becomes less practical as a medium of exchange in day-to-day transactions. In other words, the lack of portability inhibits an asset’s ability to be used readily for trading or buying goods and services.

Remove: Durable

If an asset lacks durability, it compromises its ability to act as a reliable medium of exchange. Take perishable items such as food or flowers for example – while they hold value, their quick degradation makes them unsuitable for preserving their perceived value over an extended period.

Remove: Divisible

An asset without divisibility, like a unique piece of art or a vintage car, is less suitable as a form of money. The inability to separate the asset into smaller, equivalent units makes it inconvenient for a wide range of transactions, particularly those of smaller value. Imagine trying to buy a coffee with a painting – the value of the painting far outweighs the cost of the coffee, making it an impractical form of payment.

Remove: Fungible

Fungibility is the property that ensures each unit of an asset is interchangeable with another of the same type. Without fungibility, an asset becomes unique or non-interchangeable, resembling a distinctive NFT or a rare artifact. When each unit of the asset carries a different value, it complicates its use as a standard form of money. For instance, a surveilled blockchain ledger could erode fungibility in a cryptocurrency context – as each coin carries its unique transaction history, it essentially disrupts fungibility by rendering each coin distinct.

Remove: Relative Scarcity

When an asset loses its property of ‘Relative Scarcity’, it often descends into a category of low-value assets, reminiscent of items in mass abundance. The balance between supply and demand is key to maintaining value. When an asset is overly abundant or supply greatly outweighs demand, its value can sharply diminish. An example of this could be common pebbles on a beach; despite their potential uses, their excessive availability makes them unsuitable as a form of money.

Not Money… Simplified

This table summarizes the above. It’s important that ALL, not some, not a few, ALL properties must be present in order for an asset to be money.

Store of Value is not a monetary property so it’s not included

Monetary Properties Are the Key

Hopefully, you’re starting to understand why the interconnected properties of money are so important individually and in their totality.

Once you understand how each property relates with one another you’ll really start to get a feel for why some things are money and why some are not.

Grin is one of those projects I give so much hell about because it's one of the least convenient coins on the planet. No normie is going to adopt it unless its wallets and blockchain actually become super simple to use.

BUT…

I cannot deny its privacy. And for that… I think it's time I give ol' Grin its due. I don't think I've given it the fair shake I should have considering how powerful its privacy is. In an adversarial environment, like the one we find our world in… absolute privacy and anonymity is worth its weight in literal gold.

This is another entry in my series highlighting cryptocurrencies with the properties of money, focusing on those that preserve your privacy. As always, we're keeping the technical jargon to a minimum while giving you the essential information you need to understand what makes this currency special.

Grinning at Financial Privacy

Grin (Ticker: $GRIN) is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that uses innovative technology to ensure your transactions remain confidential. Like physical cash, Grin keeps the details of your financial activities between you and whoever you're transacting with.

Grin uses a pure implementation of the Mimblewimble protocol (the same underlying tech Beam uses) that makes private transactions both secure and incredibly lightweight.

We'll get into the cool tech stuff below, but first, as we always do, let's check out how Grin stacks up as a money:

Grin's scalability is actually very similar to Beam in that it prunes transactions to keep the blockchain lightweight.

Tokenomics

Grin keeps things dead simple when it comes to creating new coins. There's no dramatic halving event every few years like you see in some other cryptocurrencies. Instead, new Grin appears at exactly the same speed forever: one Grin every second, from day one until the end of time. No upper limit, just a steady, predictable drip.

All those coins are completely identical to each other. One Grin is always indistinguishable from another. There's no way to mark a coin as "bad" or trace its past in a way that makes it different from any other.

What's great is that the total amount of Grin in existence is still 100% public and verifiable. Even though the individual transaction amounts are hidden, the blockchain still proves, with zero doubt, that nobody is sneaking in extra coins beyond that one-per-second schedule. Anyone can check the numbers themselves and see everything adds up perfectly.

For the numbers folks out there:

• Coins are denominated in GRIN, with the smallest unit being a "nanogrin" (0.000000001 GRIN).
• Block rewards are fixed at 60 GRIN per block (1 per second, roughly).
• The emission is coded into the protocol and publicly verifiable.
• The Grin supply is uncapped, with around 216 million in circulation as of November 2025, growing by approximately 2.6 million per month. This is about 31 million new coins per year- it's way more inflationary than I'm comfortable with.

This means if Grin ever hits global adoption (which I doubt due to the convenience issues outlined below) its price could stabilize as a circulating currency rather than a hyper-deflationary asset like bitcoin core. That said, it will be useful as a privacy-preserving currency like Monero, Beam, Zano, or Pirate Chain.

Merchant Adoption… or not…

If you're a business you'll need a way to accept $GRIN…

But there isn't a way at the moment… or at least one I could find.

From their documentation:

…cryptocurrencies with transparent protocol-level addressing and immutable, unprunable blockchains can prove sender, receiver, and amounts of payments simply by pointing to the transaction in the blockchain. Grin's privacy and scalability means users no longer have this ability. This prevents some merchants from accepting Grin due to the high possibility of payment disputes that are unresolvable in the same way they are for transparent coins.

This doesn't mean the guy at the flea market couldn't take Grin as payment… it just means he's probably not going to because of the difficulty of receiving payment.

To me… this is a really big strike against Grin. If it's not convenient… people just aren't going to use it.

Community

Grin maintains a relatively active presence across multiple platforms where you can engage with developers, users, and privacy enthusiasts. You'll find regular technical discussions, development updates, and community initiatives happening on:

• Official Grin Home Page
• Forum: Detailed technical discussions and proposals
• GitHub: Source code and technical documentation
• Keybase/Telegram/SimpleXChat
• Community Hub

The project also maintains a comprehensive documentation hub, which serves as a reference for everything from basic concepts to technical deep-dives.

Development activity remains steady, with the community currently working hard to improve privacy and usability. Governance is community-driven through the Grin Community Council (GCC), which handles funding from donations via rotating multisig wallets; no foundation or central entity.

Mining

Getting involved with Grin mining is straightforward, though you'll want to check the latest mining guides as the specifics can change with protocol updates. The important thing to know is that Grin uses a mining algorithm (Cuckatoo32+) that has become ASIC-friendly over time, meaning specialized hardware dominates but GPUs can still participate to some extent.

Designed for Privacy and Architectural Minimalism

Grin is designed with a minimalist architectural approach to privacy and functionality. While its user experience is inconvenient due to its complexity, the underlying protocol is kept exceptionally simple and pure.

Complex Basic Transactions but Pure Privacy

No Confidential Assets or Smart Contracts. Grin keeps it simple: no built-in tokens, no scripting, no DeFi, no NFTs. It's pure digital "currency", focusing on fungibility and scalability. All coins inherit the same privacy features that make Grin special.

Interactive Transaction Model versus Non-Interactive Transaction Model

The primary difference between Grin and almost every other cryptocurrencies lies in the way user transactions are handled. Most cryptos use a non-interactive model: this one-step process is fast and simple, like mailing a letter to a static address, and is the global standard. Enter the amount, sender address, and hit send.

Grin, however, uses an Interactive Transaction Model, which is extremely inconvenient for spontaneous payments. It uses a multi-step process that requires a "digital handshake" where the sender and receiver must actively exchange data in real-time to jointly construct the transaction.

You create a file called a slateback (The word comes from "slate," the technical term for the transaction data, and "pack," because it's bundled as a file.), send it to the user through a messaging app (you read that correctly), then the receiver downloads the slateback file, adds it to their Grin wallet, and then performs a "signing" steps to receive the funds. Oh… and both sender and receiver have to be online at the exact same time for this to work.

The reason for this coordination for every single payment has to do with Mimblewimble's security and privacy; it prevents coins from ever being lost by ensuring they stay with the sender if the transfer fails, and it avoids standard address tracking.

Personally… I'm not sure it's worth the hassle.

I found this GitHub thread where someone wanted talk about simplifying transactions for users. However, the proposal failed to reach consensus, sort of fizzled out, and then was closed.

Because the Grin community hasn't really chosen to change anything in terms of user convenience… it maintains the original, high-friction transaction model so the network remains impractical for spontaneous, everyday payments. To me, this lack of change means that Grin will remain an interesting technical experiment rather than a useful currency.

How to Get Grin

Let's say you want to play with Grin despite the inconveniences. Maybe the hardcore privacy features are worth it to you. How do you get your anonymous hands on it?

First, get yourself a wallet that supports $GRIN. You can find several for different platforms on the official page.

Recommended wallets:

• Grin++ (desktop/mobile, fast sync, TOR integration, very user-friendly)
• Ironbelly (mobile)
• Niffler (lightweight)
• Official CLI (for advanced users)

The most anonymous way to get GRIN is to mine it. But if that's not your thing you can get it from a bunch of different places like:

• Gate.io

And of course, you can ask for donations or sell goods and services for Grin.

For the Nerds

This gets fairly technical. You've been warned. 🤓

Security

Grin's security model is built on the foundation of the Mimblewimble protocol. Interactive transactions require active participation from both the sender and receiver, creating a robust two-party security protocol. The system enforces a window for completion, during which both parties must contribute their signatures.

At the network level, Grin implements the Dandelion++ protocol, adding an extra layer of privacy before transactions even reach the blockchain. This protocol obscures the origin of transactions by routing them through a series of nodes in a way that makes it practically impossible to determine where a transaction originated.

Technical Implementation

Grin's Mimblewimble uses "cut-through" to aggregate and prune spent outputs, keeping the blockchain tiny (around 6 GB after six years). No addresses mean no reusable keys, reducing surveillance vectors. Outputs are owned by blinding factors, and kernels prove validity without revealing data.

The system ensures fungibility: all GRIN are identical, no taint from history. Mathematical proofs verify no inflation occurs, preserving the integrity of the entire system.

Scalability

One of Grin's strongest features is how it handles scalability, and this comes from two main architectural decisions:

1. Protocol Efficiency: Thanks to the Mimblewimble design, nodes can prune spent outputs from the blockchain while maintaining full security. This means the blockchain size grows much more slowly compared to traditional cryptocurrencies.
2. Minimal Overhead: The lack of scripting or extras keeps overhead minimal. Blocks are generated every minute, supporting high throughput without bloat.

Development Activity

Grin's development team has consistently pushed the boundaries of privacy tech in the crypto space. Some notable technical milestones:

• Pure Mimblewimble implementation.
• Community-funded improvements to wallets and node efficiency.
• Ongoing work on atomic swaps for trustless trades.

As of late 2025, it's in maintenance mode with discussions on positioning, mining, and tech support active on the forum. No flashy roadmaps, but steady volunteer contributions.

Grinning the Path Forward

None of this should be construed as financial advice, but if you care about financial privacy, here's what makes Grin worth your attention.

When we talk about sound money in the digital age, most conversations focus on scarcity, reliability, or transaction speed. But there's something more fundamental at stake: your right to financial privacy. Physical cash gave us this naturally; when you handed someone a dollar bill, that transaction stayed between you and them. Grin preserves this essential feature of money but without the conveniences of currency.

Along with other privacy-preserving currencies like Monero, Beam, and Pirate Chain, Grin is part of a technological movement pushing back against the erosion of financial privacy. Each project takes its own approach, but they share a common goal: protecting your fundamental right to transact without surveillance.

As governments and corporations push for more financial surveillance, the need for privacy-preserving currencies becomes more urgent. The choice between privacy and functionality is a false one; Grin and its peers demonstrate that we can have both. The future of money should enhance our financial sovereignty, not diminish it.

Is it money?

In my opinion… Absolutely Not. It's not practical in any sense of the word. A currency needs to be convenient in order to be a money. It's clunky, requires coordination, and kills spontaneity. Grin has brilliant privacy tech and is one of the most cypherpunk projects in existence, but as actual spendable currency? It fails hard. I respect the tech, I align with the principles… but we can't pretend you're going to be paying for coffee with slatepacks anytime soon.

Grin has a cult following for good reason… I'm glad to add it to the pantheon of crypto coins that put preserving financial rights above surveillance greed.