12/11/2013 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…
We are settling in for a long, productive winter here at The Mint. While there is a whirlwind of activity outside, the key to maintaining one’s sanity is to maintain an internal balance, no matter what happens.
The best way we have found to do this is to maintain a state of constant rest, the eternal Sabbath, if you will, together with the creator in the very core of our being. Rather than experiencing God in one’s mind or even heart, true peace is found when you experience Him in the abdominal region, often referred to as the soul.
It was in the midst of this rest today that we had a profound revelation. While the revelation was centered on the present Bitcoin phenomenon, it has implications far beyond the Bitcoin, and, for those of us who are paying attention, may reveal something of the nature of the divine as well as that of humankind.
Longsuffering readers of The Mint know that our musings on Monetary Theory often lead us to dabble in Eschatology, the study of what are commonly called the end times in world religions that hold apocalyptic worldviews. Today’s revelation, as you will see, is a further dabble into this inherently speculative subject.
Before we dive into today’s revelation, we must provide a bit of context with regards to Bitcoin.
Bitcoin, an Unregulated Ponzi Scheme
We have watched the rise of the Bitcoin/USD ratio, which now stands near $909, ever since April. In this short time frame, we have observed that every time there is a surge in the Bitcoin price, it attracts an increasing amount of attention, both positive and negative. As it is with most things in life, the negative opinions are played at a higher volume. In the case of Bitcoin, those who hold it in disdain throw around two flavors of arguments:
1. It is a Ponzi scheme and, 2. There is no regulation of it.
The detractors are correct on both counts, however, what they fail to recognize is that the same is true for fiat currencies, equities, and all other indirect claims on wealth.
“But what about the FED, SEC, the Government, etc.? Don’t they regulate currencies and equities?” come the shrill voices from the public.
Again, this rebuttal is correct if one takes the narrow view of both of the unregulated Ponzi schemes in question. The Federal Reserve does attempt to regulate its Ponzi scheme within the framework of the IRS and Banking system, and the SEC attempts to regulate various Ponzi schemes within its purview on various stock exchanges.
However, the unregulated universe in both equities and currencies is much larger than most realize, and Bitcoin’s apparent lack of regulation stems from the fact that it is a mere four years in existence. Given time, sovereign governments and Bitcoin exchanges will begin to erect a regulatory framework for the Bitcoins that pass amongst their citizens or participants. Indeed, these efforts are already underway.
The narrow analysis of Bitcoin that its critics lean on is that Bitcoin is either an equity or a currency. In this faulty analysis, they point to the fact that as an equity or currency, there is nothing immediately recognizable within its framework that would lend it valuable. Therefore, they state smugly, Bitcoin is a Ponzi scheme to be avoided and derided, case closed.
Yet supposedly educated, computer literate persons are willing to pay $900 USD per Bitcoin despite the risks. What gives? What the failed analyses of Bitcoin do not recognize is that Bitcoin is neither a currency or an equity, but rather the purest reflection to date of something that is pursued by nearly every person on the planet the world over on a daily basis in some form or another.
It may come as a shock to you, fellow taxpayer, and indeed much of humankind, that a great majority of humanity pursues what Bitcoin represents without even knowing how to articulate what they are pursuing.
While a portion of Bitcoin’s value stems from its functionality as an open source international money transfer channel, we believe that most of Bitcoin’s value stems from the fact that it is the purest reflection of what we call the Monetary Premium. In an academic sense, the Monetary Premium is the relative increased value attached to an item that is attributable to a specific, ephemeral part of the item’s value that is related to its function, no matter how minimal it may be, as money.
As the common person’s view of money is generally limited to fiat currencies, it is understandable that most would not know what makes a fiat currency act as money. It then follows that Bitcoin, which is the purest form of the Monetary Premium, would be widely misunderstood by most of humankind.
Bitcoin, The Monetary Premium, and Eschatology: The Revelation
With the lengthy but essential matter of defining what Bitcoin is out of the way, the revelation that follows should now be clear.
The revelation is best presented in the following bullet points:
1. Bitcoin may be the purest reflection of the Monetary Premium known to humankind.
2. The Monetary Premium is manmade and cannot be seen.
3. Pursuit of the Monetary Premium in some shape or form is what a majority of humans dedicate a large portion of their daily activities towards through the acts of producing, consuming, and investing.
4. When God warns of the choice between God and money, as He does in Matthew 6:24:
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Mammon.”
The Mammon (money) being referred to is not an inanimate object, but rather the Monetary Premium.
5. The Ultimate choice between full, dedicated worship to the invisible God and continuing to pursue the invisible manmade Monetary Premium will be presented to those who are still present on earth with the ultimatum presented to mankind described in Revelation chapter 13:16-18 (for those who are familiar with eschatology, this last statement makes it clear that we hold a pre tribulation rapture view):
16 He causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, to be given marks on their right hands, or on their foreheads; 17 and that no one would be able to buy or to sell, unless he has that mark, the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six hundred sixty-six.
What does it all mean?
The Bitcoin is not the Mark of the Beast or any such thing. However, Bitcoin’s unique reflection of the Monetary Premium is illustrative for purposes of understanding money in Biblical contexts where the worship of money is juxtaposed with the worship of God, as it is in Matthew 6:24, and the implications for such an understanding within the context of eschatological studies, specifically when pondering the events described in Revelation chapter 13.
Beyond the monetary realm, Trusting Jesus today is the single most important step that one can take in the search for inner peace. For chasing the fickle monetary premium around will never allow for rest, peace with God can be found in Jesus. He is closer than you think, waiting to commune with every one of us in the eternal Sabbath.
Stay tuned and Trust Jesus.
Stay Fresh!
Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com
Key Indicators for December 11, 2013
Copper Price per Lb: $3.28
Oil Price per Barrel: $97.37
Corn Price per Bushel: $4.31
10 Yr US Treasury Bond: 2.84%
Mt Gox Bitcoin price in US: $900.50
FED Target Rate: 0.09% ON AUTOPILOT, THE FED IS DEAD!
Gold Price Per Ounce: $1,252
MINT Perceived Target Rate*: 0.25%
Unemployment Rate: 7.0%
Inflation Rate (CPI): -0.1%
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 15,844
M1 Monetary Base: $2,658,600,000,000
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