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@ The Orange Revolution
2025-01-30 18:45:07
Well we finally have our first so called "Bitcoin President" in office. It's been a solid 10 days in office now and things are playing out exactly how many thought it would. Immigration raids, federal funds being frozen and to top it all off talks of a crypto reserve instead of Bitcoin Strategic Reserve (BSR) as we were promised on the campaign trail in exchange for our votes.
The reaction from Bitcoiners has been varied to say the least. There are some who are disappointed that Trump didn't declare a BSR on day one and there are others that want to give him to to work through his other political priorities. I am of the opinion that if you promise a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve on day one that you have to follow through on something like that.
This idea came from Strike CEO Jack Mallers so the source was reputable and put that expectation on the minds of Bitcoiners, so to see this fall through is kind of a let down. There are rumblings that backers of the Ripple Blockchain are actively lobbying Trump to include Ripple in some kind of "crypto reserve".
It looks like their lobbying efforts have been paying off so far. Trump did announce an executive order on pertaining to crypto more broadly. The EO established a "Presidential Working Group" on digital asset markets. Whatever the hell this means is beyond me but it does take the Trump administration focus off of Bitcoin which isn't a good development.
When combined with Trump launching a memecoin before he even stepped into office means that Bitcoiners inside and outside of the administration need to step up and keep the pedal to the meddle to make the BSR a reality.
The Bitcoiners around Trump have done a admirable job getting the Trump administration to where they are today and have undoubtedly has made the political environment better for Bitcoiners in general but they can't lose focus now.
A question that I have been thinking about myself is should Bitcoiners even advocated for a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve? I thought we were all about separating money and state. The federal government acquiring Bitcoin is antithetical to the whole point of why Bitcoin was created in the first place.
When I see the big names in Bitcoin all salivating and cheering on a BSR I'm like they just want their bags pumped. What happened to the revolution they were espousing during the bear market? I get it, who doesn't want their bags to be pumped? Hodling is psychologically tough so finally seeing that hard work pay off is a natural desire but at the expense of giving up your principles, I'm not so sure its worth it to be honest.
A superpower nation such as the US or China using Bitcoin to supercharge what they are doing now is bad for the entire world. Who is to say that they won't use their reserves to manipulate the market, borrow against their reserve to fund more military expansion and surveillance technology to further enslave the world.
Governments are no longer accountable to the people and will do whatever they want to keep power and keep their citizens subjugated. Bitcoin adoption at the nation state level is something we should not be cheering on.
Bitcoin has been and should always be a bottom up movement. In order to take away power from the state and bring the power back to the people they need a economic alternative that isn't controlled by the state. By taking away the power of the state to tax and monitor transactions slowly drains the power of the state to oppress the people.
Bitcoiners should be encouraging and creating more Bitcoin circular economies such as:
[Bitcoin Beach](https://www.bitcoinbeach.com/)
[Bitcoin Ekasi](https://bitcoinekasi.com/)
[Nostr](https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/nostr-worlds-biggest-bitcoin-circular-economy-join-us)
Your bags will be pumped when we get more individuals onto the Bitcoin Standard. Going the BSR route is a shortcut that is shortsighted and undermines the whole mission of Bitcoin. I fear the cat is already out of the bag as we see more and more countries and jurisdiction announce setting up their own BSR's. As an individual keep advocating for your friends, family and neighbors to adopt a Bitcoin standard before governments get their paws on it. Good luck and Godspeed.