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@ Kim De Vos
2025-01-05 13:55:38The unequal path to Bitcoin: Vampires, Sacrifice, and the fiat Trap
The journey to Bitcoin ownership is anything but equal, and the disparity in how individuals and institutions accumulate it is striking—and deeply unfair. When you look closely, it becomes clear that some are playing the game with loaded dice while others are sacrificing their very essence to participate.
Fiat as leverage: a rigged system
Take someone like Michael Saylor and his company, MicroStrategy. By tapping into the corrupt fiat system, they access printed money—essentially conjured out of thin air—and use it to buy Bitcoin, the hardest money humanity has ever known. They take on minimal risk. Cheap loans, often at rates below inflation, mean the real cost of their borrowing diminishes with time. For them, converting this fiat into Bitcoin is a calculated, nearly effortless move.
This is the ultimate cheat code of the fiat system:
- Unlimited Access to Capital: Institutions like these can borrow obscene amounts of money at laughably low costs. It’s a system designed to reward the already-powerful.
- Hoarding Hard Money: This borrowed fiat, a temporary and decaying asset, is transformed into Bitcoin—a scarce, unforgeable, and appreciating store of value.
The Plebeian struggle: blood, sweat, and fiat
Now compare that to the everyday Bitcoiner—the "plebs." They don’t get loans handed to them on a silver platter. Their fiat isn’t printed; it’s earned with hard work, grueling hours, and, often, at the cost of their physical and mental health. Every sat they stack represents their life force, spent and converted into sound money.
But their journey is riddled with risk and sacrifice:
- The Cruel Diminishing of Labor: Fiat earned through work loses value every day due to inflation. By the time it’s exchanged for Bitcoin, it’s worth less than it was when they earned it.
- Irreplaceable Time: Unlike an institutional loan that can be repaid or refinanced, the time and energy spent earning fiat are gone forever. These people are literally trading pieces of their lives for freedom in Bitcoin.
It’s not just a financial disparity—it’s existential. The plebs sacrifice their health, time, and effort for Bitcoin, while institutions merely shuffle numbers around, reaping immense rewards with no equivalent effort.
The "vampire attack" on Bitcoin
The term "vampire attack" isn’t just apt—it’s chillingly accurate. In cryptography, a vampire attack describes a system being drained of its resources by an external parasite. Here, the fiat system enables institutions to act as vampires, draining the lifeblood of working people while amassing Bitcoin with minimal effort.
- The healthy human (Bitcoiners): Plebs are the lifeblood of Bitcoin. They pour their heart and soul into acquiring it, sacrificing so much along the way.
- The vampire (Institutions): Institutions like MicroStrategy use fiat privileges to suck value from the system, growing their Bitcoin hoards with a fraction of the effort. They’re immortal in this setup, feeding on the sacrifices of the plebs, bite by bite, while the plebs are left drained and mortal.
A Dangerous precedent for Bitcoin
This dynamic isn’t just unfair; it’s dangerous. It risks recreating the same inequalities Bitcoin was designed to escape:
- Concentration of Power: As institutions leverage fiat to dominate Bitcoin holdings, the dream of widespread, decentralized ownership fades.
- Betrayal of Values: Bitcoin’s ethos of fairness, sovereignty, and freedom is at risk of being co-opted by the same forces it was meant to fight.
- Shadow of Influence: Large institutional holders could manipulate Bitcoin’s narrative, development, or governance in ways that serve their interests, not the greater good.
The fight for Bitcoin’s soul
Bitcoin was created to be a tool for liberation—a way to escape the exploitative fiat system. But as long as that system exists, its poison seeps into Bitcoin’s ecosystem. The plebs, who bear the brunt of this unfairness, are the true heart of Bitcoin. They give it meaning. They must remain vigilant against these "vampire" forces, ensuring that Bitcoin stays true to its purpose: a fair, decentralized, and incorruptible form of money.
The battle isn’t just about accumulating Bitcoin. It’s about preserving its soul.
\ Kim De Vos (AVB)