I was able to quickly recognize Bitcoin’s superiority as “sound money” and as a store of value because of my interest in finance and my exposure to a few key writings and freely available online resources. Reading, viewing and listening to the following resources are the basic homework projects that I believe a person really needs to complete in order to truly understand what Bitcoin is and why it represents a new hope for people as a savings technology. Without this knowledge, a person will not have the basis to understand what Bitcoin has brought to humanity in terms of it’s ability to protect people from theft of their time and energy.
A) Prerequisites
The following are the basic things, some of which I can coach you through acquiring and setting up, that will allow you to essentially “become your own bank” on the Bitcoin network.
1) A Working Desktop or Laptop PC and Basic Knowledge of Computing. Since Bitcoin is an electronic form of money, a stand-alone Bitcoiner needs to have reliable access to a computer that they control physical access to, which is kept operating well, free of computer viruses and has the ability to have it’s files backed up to removable storage media like an external hard drive or a USB thumb drive. The user should be familiar with installing programs, creating/moving files and folders, and how to navigate various websites on the internet. Another handy skill is understanding how to safely store passwords to various websites that you will access to interact with the network. I have some easy solutions for this that I can share with you that have worked for me for over 25 years. One word of caution: never store a copy or a photo of your key phrases (keys) to your Bitcoin accounts on your computer. We will cover ways to do this later.
2) A Reliable Internet Connection. The Bitcoin network is online. So if you want to interact with it, you need to be able to access the internet from either your desktop, laptop, or smart phone.
3) Optional - A Smartphone and a USB Card Reader. A smart phone such as an iPhone or a Samsung is a handy tool because it provides a portable secondary method of interacting with the programs and websites that you will use to acquire and manage your Bitcoin. It also acts as a good way to maintain access to the internet, and hence information about your accounts, should you ever have a problem with your desktop or laptop PC. Again, a word of caution: never store a copy or a photo of your key phrase to your Bitcoin accounts on your phone. A portable card reader that can be plugged into your phone and your computer to transfer files gives you a method to transfer files between the two without sending the information by email. Not essential, but very handy.
4) One or Two Signing Devices. I can assist you with the selection, acquisition and setup of your first signing device(s). There are several available on the market. They usually range in price from $100 to $250 depending on the model and its features. Also referred to as a hardware wallet, a signing device is a small electronic device that stores an encrypted copy of the keys to your Bitcoin accounts. Any time you want to move, transfer or spend Bitcoin, the signing device is what allows you to authorize transactions so they may be broadcast out to the network.
5) Over Time: Secure Offsite Locations to Store Your Signing Devices and Copies of Your Keys. As your portfolio increases in value, you will want to cultivate a couple of spots where you can safely store your signing devices and copies of your key phrases where they will not be subject to theft, loss or damage due to fire or water. You also want to make sure you have reliable access to these locations if you need to recover your keys, replace a signing device or sign transactions. If you lose access to your keys, you lose access to your coins. Since you are essentially becoming your own bank, security that you have traditionally relied on others for now becomes your responsibility. This is important. Keeping keys and signing devices in several geographically separated locations makes it impossible for someone to simply come to your house and demand through threat of force that you transfer your assets to their account.
B) Educational Resources
Here are some of the resources that I consider essential reading or viewing in order for you to educate yourself about Bitcoin, so you can make your own decision about whether it is right for your portfolio and your savings and investment goals.
1) Book: The Creature From Jekyll Island - Edward Griffin. This is the story of how the Federal Reserve system came into being in the US, and has subsequently served as a model for how most countries issue money as debt, increasing it’s supply slowly over time as a hidden tax on peoples’ purchasing power.
2) YouTube Video Series: Robert Breedlove’s What is Money? Podcast, Episodes 1-9 “The Saylor Series”. In this series, Robert Breedlove and Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor discuss the rise of mankind, the advent of money as a means of storing energy over time, the basis for what constitutes “sound money”, and what attributes of various types of money make them better suited to fullfilling the role of currency. This series stands to this day as one of the best podcast series I have ever heard that shows how Bitcoin is superior to other forms of money in it’s fixed supply, portability and inconfiscatable nature.
3) Book: The Bitcoin Standard - Saifedean Ammous. In my opinion this is the most comprehensive dive into the history of money, how it contributed to the advent of Bitcoin, and how human action is driven by incentives that surround money. The book also lays out one of the most important concepts that determine’s one’s success in life: Time Preference.
4) The Bitcoin Whitepaper - Satoshi Nakamoto. This nine-page Bitcoin white paper is called "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System." It was released on Oct. 31, 2008, by an anonymous author who went by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. It is a paper written in a scholarly style that describes the mechanics of this peer to peer cash system that does not rely on trusted third parties to engage in the transfer of value across the world in any amount, with final settlement in a matter of minutes. Now, with the advancement of transaction layers built atop the Bitcoin blockchain, transactions can happen within a matter of seconds, regardless of borders or geographical distance.
5) Educational Organization - The Mises Institute. The Mises Institute is the legacy of it’s founder, Ludwig von Mises who’s goal is to promote the ideals of Austrian Economics; that is the concepts of sound money, open markets, and minimal human intervention in the way economies and markets operate. From their website: “The Mises Institute exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian school of economics, and individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. These great thinkers developed praxeology, a deductive science of human action based on premises known with certainty to be true, and this is what we teach and advocate. Our scholarly work is founded in Misesian praxeology, and in self-conscious opposition to the mathematical modeling and hypothesis-testing that has created so much confusion in neoclassical economics.”
6) The Teaching and Ideas of Former US Congressman Ron Paul. Dr. Ron Paul was formerly the U.S. Representative for Texas’s 14th congressional district. He has also been a three-time candidate for President of the United States; as a Libertarian in 1988 and as a Republican in 2008 and 2012. He is the father of Senator Rand Paul. Dr. Paul has fought for years for transparency in the monetary system in the U.S., and petitioned heavily for the auditing and dissolution of the Federal Reserve system. These are but a few resources but I highly recommend doing a deep dive into his many writings and posts over the years about the need for “sound money”.
7) BTC Sessions YouTube Channel and BTC Sessions Website. Host Ben Perrin is one of the world’s foremost educators in all topics relating to Bitcoin. The best part is, he’s a fellow Albertan. I’d highly recommend looking at the playlists section on his YouTube channel, beginning with the “Getting Started” section if you want to start gaining a real understanding of the mechanics of managing Bitcoin and keeping it safe. It will give you a good base for some of the topics and practical exercises that Lakeland Bitcoin can walk you through in your journey from acquiring your first portion of a Bitcoin, to safely storing your keys.
8) Book: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand.This fictional work written in 1957 is almost prophetic in its description of an America in an unspecified time in history, nearing economic collapse. The portion of the book known as “The Money Speech” embodies many of the concepts upon which the idea “sound money” are based. This book is considered essential reading among economists with libertarian leanings.
