Escape Plan Media 🌐

Discover Interior Design & Art in our unboxing episode 🛒📦 Tune in as we cover hip hop inspired art & decor 🤩 Curves is a contemporary home ware brand founded by Sean Brown. It wonderful captures the imagination of millennials & I have been a long-standing fan of their work. Rebecca Maria is a prolific multidisciplinary artist. She is a sculptor & painter who has worked with brands such as Curves, Urban Outfitters & Flower Instincts - just to name a few. Her unique perspective on hip hop has left an indelible mark in the art world. Host: Sam - https://www.instagram.com/samo_awe/ https://twitter.com/samo_awe Guest: Tobi - https://www.instagram.com/tobi.tobehttps://www.instagram.com/wahala_ie https://www.tobi-tobe.com Assistant Producer: Meeks - https://www.instagram.com/greatness_meeks Set Location: Vision Lab Dublin - https://www.instagram.com/visionlabdublin Websites: Show - https://www.escapeplanmedia.net/ Interior Design - https://curvesbyseanbrown.com/shop Art - https://rebeccamaria.studio/If you like what you see share it with a friend! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit escapeplanmedia.substack.com

Story: Tobi Balogun is a multidisciplinary artist that works professionally as a dancer, fashion designer, director, film maker and poet. He has worked with Creative agencies in Ireland as well as International musicians Burna Boy and Ed Sheeran. Tobi and I took a stroll down memory lane. This interview reveals how we met, clothes Tobi has designed for me and highlights on his trailblazing creative journey. We discussed the following topics: * Fashion * Art * Music * Creative Industry * Masculinity Host: Sam - https://www.instagram.com/samo_awe/ https://twitter.com/samo_awe Guest: Tobi - https://www.instagram.com/tobi.tobe https://www.instagram.com/wahala_ie https://www.tobi-tobe.com Website: https://www.escapeplanmedia.net/epm-radio If you like what you see share it with a friend! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit escapeplanmedia.substack.com

Story: The Sweet Spot is a Culture Centre in Dublin described as a prime hub where music crosses paths from around the world.I had the pleasure of hosting the founders of The Sweet Spot, Alice Ugbah and Azeez Saeed. They host recurring events and a radio show complete with riddims galore.We discussed the following topics:- Fashion- DJing- Music- Travel- ArtHost:Sam - www.instagram.com/samo_awe/twitter.com/samo_aweGuests:Alice - www.instagram.com/habguecila/Azeez - www.instagram.com/azeez.saeed/The Sweet Spot - www.instagram.com/sweetspot.mp3/Website: www.escapeplanmedia.net/musicIf you like what you see share it with a friend! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit escapeplanmedia.substack.com

Story: 3PM In Manchester with Bj & Kane I took a brief trip to Manchester (spending only 32 hours there) to visit my close friends. We maximised the opportunity and shot the first podcast episode for EPM Radio. Like and Subscribe to catch the action and banter. Grab popcorn while you're at it - this is about to be a movie 🍿We discussed the following topics:* Premier League Football (Manchester United and Chelsea)* Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)* Cryptocurrencies* NFTs* Career Paths* Entrepreneurship* MusicI hope you enjoy the video and audio production. It’s a huge step up from last year.The best is yet to come.If you like what you see share it with a friend! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit escapeplanmedia.substack.com

You are now tuned in to EPM Radio!Here's an introduction from the Escape Plan Media founder & host, Sam.This also serves as a teaser of the full video which drops later today.Get your popcorn ready…If you like what you see, share it with a friend! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit escapeplanmedia.substack.com

The curious case of home ownership can have you feeling established or frustrated. Most young Irish people and the homeless community are unfairly subjected to the latter. The allure of home equity (percentage owned) comes with things such as independent adulthood, a base for family planning, and coexisting present prosperity with future generational wealth. A study by the Consumer Federation of America concluded that over 50% of the wealth held by low-income households comes from home ownership/equity. For example, a family could have bought a Brownstone house in Harlem for $26,000 in 1970. In 2017, Harlem Brownstone houses were worth $2 million, that’d be an increase of 7,600% — producing generational wealth.Cryptocurrencies can be a means to home equity because the legacy bank infrastructure is now rendered obsolete by inflation every year. The legacy system is inefficient and ill-equipped to deal with the drastically inflating economy. Couples and partners can circumvent this by joining salaries as well as savings but purchasing power is lost in the lead up to mortgage agreements. Many generations from Boomers to Millenials and even Gen Z will be affected by this. The Irish housing crisis impacts the mental health of parents taking us in, adults living with parents, and siblings watching all this unfold while thinking about their future. It doesn’t take a genius to see that we are in desperate need of an alternative route to housing.Rory Hearne, an Assitant Professor of Social Policy at Maynooth University, is one of the leading voices championing the change required to solve Ireland’s housing crisis. He’s also author of the book ‘Housing Shock’. As of Ireland’s last census in April 2016, there are 458,874 adults aged 18 and over living with parents. I’m one of them. The choices for us are few and far between; rent forever, move counties/country to buy a house or get on the social housing waiting list of over 13,000 applicants of which 2,600 people have waited on for over 10 years. I got into crypto so I could own a home and decided spreading the info I’ve learned in a blog may help others who share that goal of home ownership.First-time buyers require a 10% deposit of the value of the house and can only receive a mortgage loan of 3.5 times their salary. The median price for a home in Dublin increased 5.76% to €349,000. It is the number in the middle of a range of minimum and maximum. A median is a better statistic to use than an average because an average is heavily influenced by high or low values but the median is not. If you wanted to purchase a home in Dublin worth €349,000, you’d need a deposit of €34,900. If you were doing it solo, you’d need a salary of €89,792. As a couple, you could achieve this if you both earned €44,871. In this blog post, I’ll discuss home equity and crypto because having a goal means nothing without creating an environment to accomplish it.Irish Housing MarketSome generations are locked out of the house buying market. Boomers have assets and pensions. Millennials and Gen Z usually don’t due to them just starting careers. Waiting for the government to save nearly half a million infantilised adults in family homes, as well as the homeless, has been and still is a failed exercise. Government agencies don’t understand the assignment nor do they treat it as an emergency. Housing is a human right, which the afflicted groups don’t have functional access to lead fulfilling lives. The longer Ireland’s housing dilemma is neglected, the closer these groups proceed to poverty and the wider inequality becomes.One of the main causes of the housing crisis in Ireland is the short supply. The tight market is at a record low stock compared to pre-pandemic levels with 42% fewer homes listed for purchase in Dublin and a 46% decrease in homes for sale outside Dublin. It breeds a lack of competition and exorbitant prices. The Building Control Management System is decades behind the public needs, including the 9,492 homeless people in Ireland.The 11,233 homes on sale pale in comparison to the demand of 458,874 adults living with parents. This group can be broken down further; 350,000 aged 18–29 and 100,000 aged 30–49. 250,000 of those adults were employed and still living in parental households. This year's census will be interesting so we can gauge how the pandemic affected employment status and if more adults retreated to their parents' dwellings as a result.You’re not alone. The average age of young people leaving their parental household in Europe is 26.4 years old but Ireland’s average is 26.8 years of age. Women in the EU typically leave their parents’ homes earlier at the age of 25.4 while men leave later at 27.4 years old. The moral of this story is to go easy on yourself and enjoy the pace of your own life. Leaving a family home can also be affected by being in college, relationship status, labour market, and cultural customs. It's not about how fast you do something but how well you do it!Crypto Market Fall and Rise from Jan-Mar 2022January was a tough time to be in the market — if you had paper hands. Hodling (crypto slang for holding) was easier for those of us with diamond hands that were made from pressure. The saying goes, “time in the market is better than timing the market”. This implies that being in crypto long-term is better than waiting for the “right time” to buy. Dollar-cost average (DCA) of purchases at regular intervals of your choice (weekly, monthly, etc) grants you an average entry price of the highs and lows. That draws down your breakeven line making it easier to yield profit.There was a large sell-off across all sectors. Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Layer 1-Smart Contracts, DeFi (decentralised finance), Exchange, and Metaverse tokens all had negative returns. Hence the sea of dark red you see below. The Crypto TreeMap is useful in getting an overview of market sentiment at a given point in time. The size of the block displays dominance. Bitcoin’s block is the biggest because its market dominance in January was 33% on average. Market dominance is dictated by market capitalisation. The larger the block, the larger the market cap.February depicted sidelining graphs, a gradual accumulation of assets. More buying than selling was present but not rampant enough to make greener pastures stay. Nonetheless, market participants saw the red zone in January as a buying opportunity. Sectors slightly bounced back making the heat map below change to green in some areas. Privacy tokens saw an 11% rise. Notice how the growth in February came from mid/low market cap coins. Luna was a notable force in February, up 39.2%, and can be seen in dark green below.March was when the dopamine and serotonin kicked in. The days of blood on the leaves were long gone and the money trees were green again. Most coins were posting double-digit percentage gains over 30 days. If you put money on ADA at the beginning of March, you’d be up 23.93% by now as seen below. Those who kept the faith have had their patience rewarded.ConclusionRecovery in the crypto market showed two things; holding and buying through a bear market really pays off. The total crypto market cap fell below $2.25 trillion and nearly regained that value in 3 months. If you regularly bought or held digital assets during that period, you’re either in profit or barely lost any money. Bitcoin was $47,560 on January 1st, 2022 and at the time of writing in March 2022, BTC is $47,139. That’s a negligible decrease of less than 1%, in fact, it's a buying opportunity. Bitcoin was $37,000 from January to February 2022, so if you bought BTC in any of those months, you’d be sitting on a nice profit now. Keeping your money is just as important as growing your money in crypto and achieving both signifies you’re doing well.Across generations, people are at different life stages. Your needs in the past, present, and future will change. If you think a house isn’t what you need right now but still desire home equity then maybe an apartment may be of interest to you. Irish apartments prices increase at a slower rate due to less demand. The apartment property may be sold at a later date when your family grows and you require the space a house will provide. You can benefit from rises in the property value from when you bought the apartment. Selling the apartment is actually selling the percentage of the property owned from deposit and mortgage payments. This is a stark contrast to paying rent for years and owning nothing from it by the time you wish to move.As I’ve said previously, ownership secures independence. Developing and maintaining leverage can enable you to live a sovereign life. An existence built on a foundation robust to uncertainty where your choices are plentiful rather than limited. Although crypto and home ownership won’t solve every problem, both provide a great advantage. After embarking on the journey to obtain them, you’ll realise the person you become is the real asset.*** If you made it this far it’s been a pleasure writing for you. I hope you enjoyed it and picked up something along the way. I want to simplify complex things including sustainability, economics, and crypto. Please follow, like, and share as it helps me a lot. Subscribe to get exclusive access to crypto prizes and the audio version of this article. Tune in weekly for more insights. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit escapeplanmedia.substack.com

Economics, energy, and my articles are apolitical. Regardless of where you fall in the political spectrum, left or right, you need energy to power your devices. Whether you’re liberal or conservative, you use money from the economy for fuel or electricity to power your car. My articles are not for everyone but they are designed to appeal to a wide range of people. The world is increasingly polarised to the extent that we cannot respect one another’s differences. Rather than feed into what divides us, I prefer to build bridges to unify perspectives. When we can see eye to eye, less time is spent arguing, and more time can be dedicated to resolving issues important to all parties. Problems such as energy security and climate change.Global warming is not selective of a political party, race, or religion, it affects everyone. Indeed, the type of energy we use either accelerates or slows down climate change. The current narrative is fossil fuels are the problem and renewable energy is the solution but it's not that simple. How do we ensure that the Earth’s population today has enough power and the environment is in good condition for future generations? The answer to this question is ‘Just Transition’. Global, regional, and national economies are not sturdy enough to switch energy sources in one go. It must be done in stages when the renewable sector is stable. Otherwise, it would leave many people who work in coal mines, oil rigs, etc, without a sustainable alternative to depend on for their livelihood.You may be wondering if I’m qualified to discuss these topics in depth. I have a Master's degree in Climate Change and made a discovery during my Thesis (research project) that increases the accuracy of temperature analysis. My finding is citable here and due to be published in the ‘Climate of the Past Journal’ of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). A major challenge that we all face is managing the time we have to mitigate climate change and wasted energy.We waste a ludicrous amount of energy, 50,000 TWh (terawatt hours) — 31% of the total 160,000 TWh in the global economy. An environmentalist like me, endorsing an infamous energy costly cryptocurrency does raise a few eyebrows. I want to clarify if the unsustainable narrative attributed to Bitcoin is true and enable others to do the same. Thereby affirming if Bitcoin is a friend or foe, of the environment that we need to protect for our survival.Just-Transition and Energy SecurityJust transition is a scheme comprised of social interventions required to maintain workers’ rights and livelihoods as the world switches to a greener economy to tackle climate change. Global emissions have been rising for decades but so has energy poverty and economic inflation. It can happen anywhere in both developed and developing countries. Energy poverty and an inflating economy can make populations energy insecure. This occurs when people struggle to afford utilities (electricity and gas) or find it difficult to fuel their cars.In densely populated areas like suburbs and cities, public transport is a suitable alternative (when it’s of a good standard). Although, rural areas have subpar transport options. Rural populations depend on reliable transport like driving cars to get around. They are the first group to be significantly affected when petrol, diesel, and coal increase in price. The growth in price is a result of scarcity.Over the last month, we’ve discusssed the nature of supply and demand. Russia supplies ~40% of Europe’s oil and natural gas. Tensions between Russia and Europe decreases the supply. The amount of people that need fuel hasn’t changed much but the amount of fuel available has dropped notably. The energy supply shock increases the price due to high demand.Europe’s dependence on Russian energy has been a talking point for years. It gave Russia too much power and Europe’s NATO allies, the US, weren’t happy about this. Russia is the world’s third-largest oil producer so everyone does business with them, yes even the US. Due to recent developments in Eastern Europe, the EU has constructed a framework to wean Europe off Russian energy by 2027, three years earlier than expected. Just-Transition and renewable energy can enable Europe to recover its energy independence.Renewable energy can be considered decentralised energy. Fossil fuels can be characterised as centraslised energy. Russian energy is centralised and they have complete authority over it. No one can turn the sun and wind on or off, this decentralised energy belongs to everyone. Divesting into renewables properly can have profound effects on energy security, global peace, and livelihoods. Regions can sustain their sovereignty and leverage when the majority of energy is not controlled by a single authority.The Energy Costs of Bitcoin and Other IndustriesBitcoin (BTC) can be an ally of the environment if it produces fewer carbon emissions than its counterparts. Conversely, BTC generating more carbon emissions than other industries make it an enemy of the environment. Note how I’m measuring BTC’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, not its energy consumption. It’s a common misconception that they are the same thing. The types of energy used have more impact on the environment than the amount of energy used. Being carbon neutral is when the carbon produced is offset by the carbon stored making net emissions 0.Let's say driving a diesel car is +3 CO2 and driving an electric car is +1 CO2. The electric car produces less carbon but the type of electricity used to top up fuel is important. If wind-powered electricity is used to top up the electric car, that is -1 CO2 as no carbon was produced to generate that electricity, and carbon was saved instead. The electric car powered by renewables is carbon neutral (+1–1=0) and no new carbon was added to the ozone. That’s not possible with diesel or petrol (combustion engine) cars, they just add more CO2 to the atmosphere.Bitcoin does use a large amount of energy, an average 143 TWh (terrawatt hours). That exceeds the 124 TWh Norway consumes. What often goes over peoples heads, is 75% of Bitcoin mining uses renewable energy. Its the cheapest option for BTC miners. Meaning Bitcoin adds less CO2 to the atmosphere in two places, at energy generation and consumption. This preserves Earth’s depleting ozone layer. The ozone is essential for preventing damaging ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun reaching Earth’s surface.The majority of the world’s wasted energy is sustainable energy which makes it cheap. Bitcoin miners opt for cheap renewable power sources to compensate for other costs. Renewable energy is wasted because winter is when energy demand peaks but wind, solar, and hydro energy production is high during the summer. Our batteries aren’t eco-friendly or efficient enough to store energy for long periods either. Most other economic practices like banking, gold mining, and data centers rely on the consistency of fossil fuel energy but that is starting to change. Nonetheless, Bitcoin is miles ahead by virtue of being decentralised.The composition of BTC allows the hash power (miners and equipment) to spread all over the world. A downturn of hash rate in one location is picked up elsewhere. China has banned Bitcoin mining a few times and on each occasion, the hash power migrated. Russia was one site that rebooted BTC’s hash rate. Iceland, Sweden and Norway were other new places for BTC mining due to cold weather as well as a surplus of geothermal, hydro and solar energy. Yet, statisticians and researchers didn’t think to apply context to Bitcoins energy consumption.Irrespective of whether you consider Bitcoin useful or useless, it consumes minuscule energy on a global scale. BTC uses only 0.1% of the world’s generated energy and 0.4% of the world’s wasted energy due to its high renewable energy mix. Bitcoin’s counterparts are the global financial system, gold mining industry, and data centers which all consume much more energy and have less sustainable energy sources. The paramount issue is not Bitcoin’s energy consumption but reducing energy waste then improving the renewable energy mix of other industries.(My) ConclusionI thought the lead argument for Bitcoin mining was how its environmental impact paled in comparison to other sectors. I’ve realised that there are more layers to the debate. Now we know that 56–75% of BTC’s energy consumption comes from the 50,000 Twh of wasted energy. This wasted energy stems from the surplus of renewable energy produced off-peak when demand is low and can’t be completely used. Bitcoin drives the profitability and appeal of cheap sustainable energy. Bitcoin’s energy mix is an example for other industries to follow in the global transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources as we try to mitigate energy waste and climate change.I approached this article like a Mythbuster, debunking false narratives and allowing my audience to make their decision. You may have decided that Bitcoin still isn’t for you. I’m a man of my word and I said my articles are for a wide range of people so don’t worry I’ve got you covered too. Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) are Proof of Work blockchains, mining for a number which is a calculation of a total number of transactions, and once completed a block is minted. It’s energy-intensive to produce just 1 BTC or ETH. Coins that aren’t Bitcoin are called altcoins (or alts). Ethereum is an altcoin updating to a Proof of Stake protocol but it isn’t there yet. Proof of Stake alts consume less energy but remember it's not the amount of energy that counts but the types of energy used.Cardano (ADA) and Binance Coin (BNB) both operate using Proof of Stake. I hold both and have been interacting with those ecosystems for over a year and recommend them. I gave a guide to staking ADA with a Ledger cold wallet to earn interest in my previous article. You can also become a validator for a stake pool, run a network of computers, and ge

If you fail to prepare then prepare to fail. This may sound like a platitude but it is especially true when dealing with cryptocurrencies. The last two years have shown how poorly human beings predict the future. No one expected a pandemic or war to break out. Our circumstances differ tremendously but when you develop an “anti-fragile” mode of living you can thrive in times of chaos. Nassim Nicholas Taleb discusses managing uncertainty in his books and I’m a fan of his mental models. He argues that what you don’t know is more important than what you do know and unknowns have a significant impact on results. Not knowing crypto exchanges have been hacked before can lead you to think your digital assets are safe there until it happens. Withdrawal of assets to a hardware wallet improves your ability to deal with adverse situations when they arise.For instance, companies that proactively enabled their staff to work from home long before the COVID-19 outbreak, were streets ahead of companies that didn’t, when lockdowns were imposed. If you purchased a hybrid or an electric car to reduce your carbon footprint years ago, a war leading to rising petrol/diesel fuel wouldn’t affect you as much. That is not to say any of these bad circumstances were predicted, it's just embracing optionality pays off. Finding different ways to do the same thing decreases the occurrence of a single point of failure. That’s why wealthy people diversify their investment portfolios to decrease risk.As I said in my previous article, a cold wallet is great for managing counterparty risk (custodian holding your assets). With a hardware wallet, you don’t need to trust a custodian because you can take full custody of your assets. Ledger has made this easy and I do regular hardware wallet raffles for my subscribers as a result (subscribe here). You can win one completely free by subscribing to my Newsletter and Podcast. The rest of this article is a short guide on how to set up a Ledger hardware wallet.StartupSet Up for a Ledger Nano S Hardware Wallet* Download Ledger Live (on your PC and mobile phone). The app is essential for managing your crypto and setting up your wallet.* Initialise your Ledger device by watching the video above and/or below.* Note your recovery phrase on the provided sheet of paper in the box. This information allows access to your keys so keep it safe and private.* Install apps on your Ledger device for each crypto you want to manage.Set Up for a Ledger Nano X Hardware WalletTransfer Funds* On Ledger Live, select crypto, tap Receive/Deposit. Choose the correct network. Confirm address using your Ledger. Copy address.* On an exchange like Binance, tap Withdraw on the same crypto. Ensure the network matches. Paste address.* Check the first 5 and last 5 characters of the address are correct on both Ledger and Binance.* Send the minimum or lowest amount first to see if it arrives.* If the low amount succeeded, send your higher intended amount.If you’d like to move funds from your Ledger to an exchange, you can do the opposite by swapping steps 1 and 2. Instead of receiving assets to your Ledger, you’d be withdrawing. Rather than withdrawing from your Binance, you’d be receiving. Check out the useful video tutorial below.Transferring Assets from Binance Crypto Exchange to LedgerStakingStaking depends on the Ledger device you have and the cryptocurrency. A Ledger Nano X has a battery and Bluetooth so it can connect to your phone wirelessly. You can connect your Ledger Nano X to the Yoroi Mobile App and manage Cardano (ADA) on the go. However, a Ledger Nano S and S plus don’t have a battery and also don’t have Bluetooth. You need to connect to a PC using a USB to handle your digital assets. You can still stake ADA both ways but through different means.Staking ADA using the Yoroi Google Chrome Extension on PCBitcoin operates using proof-of-work protocol while Binance Coin (BNB) and Cardano (ADA), use proof-of-stake. These function like Android and iOS so the user experience varies. Staking is possible with a protocol akin to proof-of-stake. It allows holders of that type of crypto to be rewarded via smart contracts. Storing BNB or ADA secures the network and enables earning both in your sleep. This facilitates gaining interest on your digital assets at much better rates than you get from a bank.The highest I earned on BNB at peak bull market was over 30% daily. It now ranges from 8–10% in the current bear market but it still accrues every single day. ADA is more consistent in that interest varies from 3–5% and you receive it every 5 days. One of the reasons I consider crypto as superior to traditional banking is the nature of staking. No bank in the world grants you daily or weekly APY (annual percentage yield) of 3–30%. Cryptocurrencies and smart contracts make this all possible. Its denoted as passive income but there are steps to automating stake rewards. Regarding the Cardano blockchain’s native currency ADA, you need to delegate to a stake pool. These are decentralised networks of computer nodes running Cardano software. They mint blocks and secure the blockchain. Each stake pool is run by a validator, possibly working on a project to improve the adoption and functionality of Cardano.You can delegate ADA to any project you find interesting and earn more crypto along the way. For over a year I utilised my ADA to fund a stake pool called ‘Proof of Africa’ that enhanced the skills of Nigerian youth in the realm of Web3. Visualise Web1 being PC, the first iteration of the internet. Next came Web2 which was the move to mobile phone internet services and apps. Now we’re progressing towards Web3, an immersive internet experience with cryptocurrencies, NFTs, the metaverse, augmented, and virtual reality.Africa is typically one of the last to acquire access to new tech so it was fulfilling to support black adolescent women and men with early exposure to these concepts. Many see crypto as a road to amassing riches but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It’s a novel approach to affecting change and revolutionising the world for the better.*** If you made it this far it’s been a pleasure writing for you. I hope you enjoyed it and picked up something along the way. I want to simplify complex things including sustainability, economics, and crypto. Please follow, like, and share as it helps me a lot. Subscribe to get exclusive access to crypto prizes and the audio version of this article. Tune in weekly for more insights. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit samoawe.substack.com

If you’re looking for ownership, you’ve come to the right place. Although we have enforced consumer rights as citizens, our property rights are selective. Legislators create the law, judges and barristers enact those rules for society, then the police and army protect the property of individuals in a nation. Yet, time and time again, the fiat currency (state money) supply that we all own gets inflated without our consent. The elaborate branches of government consistently fall short of preventing the public from losing spending power. On that basis, it is sufficiently clear that inflation is not a bug in the system but a feature of the system. That’s where cryptocurrencies come in — to resolve violations of property rights.Cryptocurrencies are just one application of blockchain technology. There are many others, including NFTs (non-fungible tokens) that I’ll discuss in future articles. I haven’t mentioned the others until now because we are embarking on a journey to self-sovereignty (freedom from banks, states, etc). In order to arrive there successfully, we need to build the path, brick by brick, and not get ahead of ourselves. One of the mental frameworks I operate within is ‘First Principles Thinking’; understanding the nature of things on a fundamental level to find solutions to new and old problems. We know that the economic system is broken and inflation is baked in the cake because fiat money is tied to states. Crypto is a remedy for economic inequality by virtue of being “stateless money”.We all have state fiat money but we don’t own it. Policymakers can change the way fiat currencies function on a whim without a vote from the public. Stateless money like crypto equalizes that power imbalance by giving ownership to the public.When you don’t own something which you use, you’re at the mercy of those that own it. Crypto can empower you to become your own bank when previously, the public didn’t have an alternative. This newfound power comes with a high degree of responsibility. If you want to opt-out of an economy that doesn’t favour you and opt into one that does, you need to safeguard your digital assets. This week, we’ll be exploring ways to buy, sell and secure your cryptocurrencies.Buying CryptocurrenciesOwning crypto actually means owning private keys. Your coins (crypto) are aligned with a collection of public and private keys. That crypto doesn’t materially exist on any device. Your associated coins have a relationship with your public key. Blockchain technology enables one to know the balances linked with a public key. Banks use a similar ledger system whereby my bank knows the balance attached to my account number. A private key permits transactions for the owner’s crypto. Since private keys provide access to your crypto, they should remain private like the security code behind your bank card or an ATM PIN. A public key is a cryptographic link to a private key. Think of this as your International Bank Account Number (IBAN) which is ok to share publicly. It’s possible to find a public key using a private key but impossible to locate a private key with a public key. Hot wallets (exchange or software wallets) are connected to the internet making them exposed to hackers. Furthermore, hot wallets are custodial meaning that a third party manages the private keys to assets in the wallet, instead of you. The sayings “not your keys, not your coins” and Isaiah Jackson’s “not your keys, not your cheese”, emphasise this. Isaiah Jackson is the author of ‘Bitcoin and Black America’. He advises treating hot wallets like normal wallets, i.e. only keeping small sums of money there due to risk.The simplest place to acquire cryptocurrencies would be centralized exchanges: Binance, Kraken, Gate, and KuCoin. I use and recommend them. They’re centralised wallets because they are run by a single authority. They feature an order book. Most decentralized exchanges (DEXs) don’t have an order book because they are based on liquidity pools where people pool assets together and submit trade requests until the pooled assets are diminished. DEXs are owned by their users. Centralised exchanges are lower risk and have good customer service because they are run by a company. As with any market, most participants are nice but scammers exist too. I started buying crypto on centralized exchanges to limit my exposure to scammers and risk. Once I become competent with security, I moved on to experimenting with DEXs. That’s why it’s paramount to do your own research and know your risk tolerance. Success in any space is an accumulation of good decisions. That is not to say you did everything right but you learned from what you or others have done wrong. Completing verification steps removes limits on trading, deposits, and withdrawals that allow the seamless buying of cryptocurrencies. You can use your bank card to purchase digital assets smoothly on Binance-lite and Kraken (basic version). Eventually, you’ll become proficient and can progress to the pro versions (also free by the way). The pro versions have features like staking, enabling you to earn interest on your crypto. Smart contract (code) automates payouts after you lodge your crypto. Kraken and Binance have the best user interface (UI). Not only are the mobile app UIs aesthetically appealing but they are user-friendly as well, especially if you're a beginner. You just tap the crypto you want to obtain and select “Buy”. Selling (and Sending) CryptocurrenciesSelling is trading or swapping. You’re putting one asset like crypto up for sale, to gain another asset like cash. The best deals are on decentralised exchanges such as Binance DEX (decentralised exchange). DEXs offer services that you can’t get on centralised exchanges such as new coins before the hype, better interest rates on staking rewards, and compatibility with DApps (decentralised applications). DApps are similar to apps you find on a mobile app store but they’re owned by the public rather than a company. Imagine a game like Candy Crush that you get paid to play instead of the other way around. Cool, right? More on that in my upcoming work. Kraken and Binance-lite versions make selling easy by giving you a “Sell” button. Binance DEX is useful for access to discrete coins that haven’t become popular enough to be listed on a centralised counterpart. However, it is only available as a Laptop web browser extension. I have it on Google Chrome. What’s even better is that you won’t need to go through tedious KYC (Know Your Customer) hurdles like you would on a centralised exchange. Trust Wallet is more convenient because it’s a mobile app that allows you to sell, trade, and swap your digital assets on Binance DEX through your phone. Open the app after downloading it, note your recovery phrase (private keys), set up your passcode/touch/face-ID and you’re good to go. You can immediately start using your bank card to purchase digital assets. Furthermore, you can receive crypto you already own to your addresses on Trust Wallet then swap them for other digital assets. The Youtube guides are helpful and from experience, I can break it down into 6 steps:* On Trust Wallet/Kraken, select crypto, tap Receive/Deposit. Copy address.* On Binance, tap Withdraw on the same crypto. Paste address.* Check the first 5 and last 5 characters of the address are correct.* Send the minimum or lowest amount first to see if it arrives.* If the low amount succeeded, send your higher intended amount.* Swap your crypto as you wish.The first 5 steps are a method of sending crypto from one wallet to another, whether it's a friend or your hardware wallet address. This is how I send prize winners free crypto for finding hidden codes in my articles. Platforms such as Binance have simplified this to usernames/phone numbers analogous to how Revolut and Paypal function. There are pros and cons to both centralised exchanges and DEXs. Your selection depends on what you need done and which service is fit for that purpose. I used Trust Wallet, Kraken, and Binance as examples. Substitute them for the platforms you use and apply similar steps. *EIGHT-TWENTY-SIX*The condition with using Trust Wallet is that you need to buy or own some Binance Coin (BNB) to fund transaction fees. Trust Wallet is a decentralised wallet operating on Binance’s two blockchains, Binance Chain (BEP2) and Binance Smart Chain (BEP20). Trust Wallet also supports Ethereum tokens (ERC20), Bitcoin, and many others but doesn’t require them to run. Centralised exchanges don’t have these caveats so you can buy and sell as you please, once you give them all your personal details. To whom much is given, much is expected.Trust Wallet is available on the Apple Appstore, Google Playstore, and Android Appstore. Although Trust Wallet was acquired by Binance in 2018, Trust Wallet is non-custodial so you have ownership of your crypto. This contrasts with custodial centralised exchanges that own the digital assets you buy on their platform due to them having the keys to those coins. Akin to the way you trust a bank with your money, you’re trusting a centralised exchange with your crypto by leaving it there. Both centralised exchanges and DEXs have been hacked because they’re based online. The best way to reduce the likelihood of hacking is to take your assets offline.Securing CryptocurrenciesHardware wallets, also known as cold wallets, facilitate taking your digital assets offline by withdrawing them from exchanges. They don’t house your assets, rather they’re the key to entering your house of assets. These keys are essential information required for authorizing outgoing transactions on the blockchain network. Your coins remain on the blockchain but move from one address (an account number) to another. I have two Ledger cold wallets, a Nano S and a Nano X. The Nano S requires a Laptop to approve transactions whereas the Nano X is compatible with mobile phones. I prefer the Nano X due to the convenience. I al

They say the best things in life are free but who came up with the prices for everything else? The market did. A market is composed of producers and consumers which include people, businesses, and governments. Consumption drives production. The more demand there is for an item, the more it will be produced. Less popular products are discontinued. Think of the fate of iPhones compared to Blackberry phones. Therefore, market participants decide the value of goods with purchases.Governments have learned this the hard way. In the 20th Century, the former Soviet Union opted for a government-led economy to determine prices instead of a free market. The Soviet politicians took it upon themselves to increase the price of moleskin pelts. Afterward, pelts overflowed in warehouses and industries were unable to sell them all. The Goskomtsen (State Committee of Prices) were repeatedly told about it but didn’t have time to decide on lower pelt prices due to the 24 million other prices they tracked. Governments rarely dictate prices nowadays so they can direct effort to other economic decisions and leave prices up to the market to decide. The economist, Thomas Sowell, states “prices only become an economic reality when people are willing to pay them”.The Irish government copped onto this in February 2000 when they liberalised the energy market from the monopoly of Bord Gáis and Electricity Supply Board (ESB). By 2005, all Irish customers were able to choose energy suppliers beyond the two offered by the state. Competition between private companies kept pricing tight and empowered consumers with options. You vote for the world you want with the things you buy. Producers of unwanted services will go out of business due to the lack of consumers unless they alter or improve their standards.The phrase “customers are always right” comes from their position in the market as consumers. However, this is often misconstrued because it only relates to what they buy not what they say.You’ll come to find that, indeed the market is always right and this is the reason why a drop in the value of any asset is called a price correction. I’ll explain how the correct prices of Bitcoin and gold are resolved by fluctuating market sentiment. Then I’ll elaborate on why these market cycles are necessary.Bitcoin vs. GoldWhenever I think of the comparisons between Bitcoin and gold, the legendary debate between Erik Voorhees and Peter Schiff comes to mind. The discourse happened in July 2018 and is accessible on Youtube. Erik is the founder and CEO of Shapeshift, a digital asset exchange. Peter is the CEO of Euro Pacific Capital Incorporated and pioneer of Schiff Gold (a precious metals dealer). Erik argues that Bitcoin or a similar form of cryptocurrency will replace government fiat currency as the preferred medium of exchange. Peter Schiff opposes that view.Erik expresses how Bitcoin is a digital asset that is provably scarce and has a predictable supply. These traits are made possible through Bitcoin’s immutable blockchain source code. Bitcoin is a public ledger (database) distributed on thousands of computers around the world operating as nodes. A “block” is comprised of a list of data and a “chain” is a stack of the blocks of data which consistently grows over time. It makes changing earlier data almost impossible and blockchains excellent at storing valuable data. It’s like Tetris but with data. Each block constitutes a financial transaction verified by miners and cryptographic (encrypted) proofs that the transactions took place. That is a consensus mechanism where all the nodes need to agree. This is what happens with Bitcoin, every 10 minutes a new block is created. When a new block is generated, miners get a reward in Bitcoin.The block reward for Bitcoin (BTC) miners is regularly cut in half in a process known as Halving. It occurs roughly every 4 years due to how long it takes to mine 210,000 blocks. The genesis block provided rewards of 50 BTC in 2009. In 2012, the reward was reduced to 25 BTC per block in the first halving. Then block rewards lowered to 12.5 BTC in 2016. The third halving occurred in 2020, reducing the compensation for miners to 6.25 BTC. Bitcoin is programmable money operating on a public blockchain so we can predict the supply daily and all the way to up the date of halvings. The fourth halving will deplete rewards to 3.125 BTC and is expected to be in 2024.Once the halvings are put into context, the periodic Bitcoin rallies (sharp rises after a fall in price) start to make sense. The market responds to the scarcity of Bitcoin following diminishing block rewards. Post the 2020 halving, Bitcoin gained 294%, while gold rose 23% in the same year. In 2021, Bitcoin continued growing in value by 58%. On the other hand, gold dropped 5% in price. As mining technology improves, gold becomes easier to extract from gold mines. This inflates the gold supply by 2% every year. You guessed it, gold is becoming less scarce. Conversely, despite advancements in technology, Bitcoin is more challenging to acquire because of its Halving Cycle.Peter Schiff advocates for gold on the same basis we explored in my first article. Thus, I’ve focused on how gold compares to Bitcoin. Gold can be debased, i.e., melted and reconstructed with tungsten to manufacture more gold and make it appear heavier. The precious metal has too many denominations; coin, bar, rod, nugget, ounce, etc. Fiat currencies typically have 2 denominations, e.g., euros and cents. Bitcoin only has 1 denomination. 1 BTC is made up of 100 million satoshis (sats), an homage to the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin — Satoshi Nakamoto. There are unpredictable fluctuations in the gold supply, e.g., the California Gold Rush in 1848. Transporting gold is a tedious exercise that multiplies in difficulty if you possess a large supply of it. For these reasons, I think Bitcoin will surpass gold as a better medium of exchange, store of value, and unit of value.Bull MarketIn January 2021, Rapper, Meek Mill, and Co-Founder of Coinbase, Fred Ehrsam spoke about Bitcoin (BTC) on the social audio app, Clubhouse. Their chat is available on Youtube. Fred discussed the growing inequality in the current global financial system which he witnessed while he worked at Goldman Sachs after he graduated college. During that conversation, Fred said that he bought his first Bitcoin 10 or 11 years prior for $6. At the time of writing this article, Bitcoin is $41,978. That is an increase of 699,633%. No other asset in a global market has yielded that return on investment (ROI). Bitcoin went from being worth nothing when it was invented in 2009 to a $793 million market capitalisation in 2022. Market cap is the total value of Bitcoin’s circulating supply.*FOUR-FORTY-FOUR*A bull market is a phase in a market cycle where there are more buyers than sellers. Confidence in assets soars and market actors who already own desirable assets hold their positions (amount invested). They front-ran the trade via buying before anyone else. This leads to a supply shock of assets for new buyers who would have to pay a premium price to get them. The demand for scarce assets sets the value and causes prices to rise. The growth in value is said to be bullish because bulls swipe up with their horns when attacking. In a state of euphoria, market participants pay expensive prices in order to get exposure to gains that highly sought assets reflect. There’s a saying, “everyone’s a genius in a bull market”. The level of greed in this stage is so excessive that everything looks like a good idea.The rose-tinted glasses get cracked when reality sets in. We’ve confirmed that prices only matter when someone is willing to pay. Eventually, the value of an asset rises to a point where no one considers it to be a fair price. Bigger players (institutions) game the market by selling off a large supply for a short period to squeeze (scare) retail (public investors) out of the market. Retail sale of scarce assets enables corporations to purchase more assets at a cheaper price. Once there’s a mass shift to a prolonged sale of assets to realise gains or reduce loss, then the bull run is over.Despite the series of market crashes in the last decade, Bitcoin hasn’t returned to the $6 that Fred Ehrsam first bought it. The overall sentiment depends on your scale. If you’re measuring from 13 years ago, the market sentiment on Bitcoin is bullish. If your reference point is from November 2021, then the market sentiment on Bitcoin is bearish.Bear MarketThe last all-time high (ATH) of Bitcoin was over $68,000 back in November 2021. Since then, BTC has dropped 38%. This indicates a bearish decline relative to that period. Here, the market sings a new song to the tune of ‘bear necessities’ because a bear swipes down when attacking akin to the downward spiral in prices. A bear market is a step in the market cycle where there are more sellers than buyers. Market actors are pessimistic about assets holding their value so they sell their positions. This results in a dip in price as greed is replaced by fear. Renowned investor, Warren Buffett, suggests “being greedy when others are fearful and being fearful when others are greedy”. Yet, the panic and losses can be so pervasive that prices continue to fall for extensive periods of time.A seasoned market observer knows the severity of bear markets depends on the timeframe used to gauge them. Meaning, they can range from mild to extreme, contingent on whether you zoom in or out on a graph. It’s harder to succeed in a bear run but, the prior bull market gives an indication of what is likely to rise when bullish sentiment returns. Hence, rational actors consider bearish conditions to be a sale where desirable assets are cheaper than usual. Warren Buffett popularised ‘value investing’ which is a technique assessing the value proposition of an asset through fundamental analysis. I employ the same method.The last all-time low (ATL)

In a world where there are many things for sale, we persist in selling dreams to each other. You won’t find any of that here. There’s some messing, to liven things up in an otherwise drab subject. Nonetheless, the discussion will be a brief history of money, central banks, and currencies. Particular attention will be paid to inflationary and deflationary monetary policies.The History of MoneyContrary to popular belief, it began with the barter system in 6000 BC. Bartering is the swap of one resource for another like a farmer trading milk for new clothes. Bartering requires finding someone with the things you want and them wanting what you have to offer. It would often take several attempts to complete a trade. Some think money was initiated from a currency like beads, shells, coins, etc. Currency actually manifested to solve the flaws within the barter system by establishing a standard unit of exchange. Henceforth, currency, cash, and money will be used interchangeably for meaning the same thing.Sound Money has 5 attributes:* Divisible* Durable* Verifiable* Portable* ScarceIt won’t take long to realise that milk doesn’t have any of those properties. Sound money is a phrase coined from the sound that gold makes when it is dropped to verify its authenticity. It’s suddenly becoming clear why Irish people use “sound” as slang to describe a genuine person. A currency can only be considered sound money when all 5 traits are consistently upheld. Can today’s money be considered sound? Money has changed several times throughout human history so it is likely to change again. Although, it’s shocking to see new money invented during a lifetime. You can probably tell where I’m going with this but hold that thought.Paper bill usage has been traced back to China from 618–907 during the Tang dynasty. Merchants could redeem paper money for gold coins and vice versa. However, that can’t be done today. Present-day fiat banknotes are different because they can’t be redeemed for nada. Fiat money basically means “value by decree”. Therefore, fiat money only has value because governments say that it does. Remember what I said about selling dreams? The biggest lie isn’t the devil convincing the world he doesn’t exist, its governments convincing the public their paper money has value.Central BanksLet’s be clear, I’m not an anarchist but I’m skilled at calling a spade a spade. Long after the spell in China, paper bills were adopted by Europeans in the 17th century. The first batch of paper money doing rounds in Europe was made by the Bank of Stockholm in 1661. These banknotes were also redeemable for gold coins. This iteration of paper money was an IOU (I Owe You) — an acknowledgment of debt. Thus, exchanges between people and businesses were categorised as debtors, the amount owed, and creditors. The debtor would give an IOU banknote with the amount owed. The creditor would go to the local bank to redeem it in gold. Eventually, banks realised that the people they gave printed IOUs didn’t return for gold at the same time. This was the inception of Fractional Reserve Banking. This method of Banking is a policy whereby banks only hold a fraction of their allocation of money and loan out the rest to generate interest. This wasn’t sustainable because occasionally people would do bank runs at the same time. Local banks wouldn’t be able to honour the redemption of IOU banknotes because they didn’t have the gold anymore. They inflated the money supply and made it less scarce. Central Banks were developed as a result to prevent bank runs from happening. It’s beginning to make sense why your parents and grandparents don’t trust banks, right?The first Central Bank was the Bank of England founded in 1694. Central Banks regulated local banks. Only Central Banks could print notes and old banks needed to remove their notes from circulation once they went bust. Soon just Central Bank notes remained. Now each country has a Central Bank run by the government that is responsible for the country’s currency. Although Ireland is in the European Union (EU), Ireland still has its own Central Bank. Fun fact, it’s not Bank of Ireland. Here’s a bit of nostalgia — before the gentrification of Dame Street, there was a big grey building with a giant golden ball on a stick in the cultural hub of Temple Bar. Emos and Spicers alike used to meet up at “The Bank”. In all honesty, everyone met up there as it was a notable landmark. That Bank was our Central Bank until it was knocked down to put Central Plaza in its place. Ireland’s Central Bank moved to the Docklands. The Irish euro coins aren’t minted (made) there either. The Irish Mint is at Sandyford in Dublin. The Gold StandardThe Central Bank IOUs became problematic when countries printed too much of them (surprise, surprise). Once again, they broke the cardinal rule of scarcity required for sound money. A classic example of the nursery rhyme involving the old lady who ate the fly, then a spider to catch the fly, followed by a bird to catch the spider, and so on. The initial problem wasn’t solved and reactionary solutions made things worse. In the same fashion, local banks inflating IOUs wasn’t solved by Central Banks, yet here comes the gold standard. Countries needed to back up their currency. Consequently, the United States of America (USA) established a gold standard in 1879.In those days, you could exchange an ounce of gold for $20.67. The gold standard deflated the use of banknotes. Drastic inflation was averted but not for long. There was a change in the gold standard after World War 1 in 1914 which subsequently led to the Great Depression in 1929. This was due to the US government printing more money than it had. In 1930, the United Kingdom (UK) and the USA stopped redeeming notes for gold coins. There wasn’t enough gold to back up the extra money they printed. They needed to print more money (to inflate the economy). Governments figured out that, the more money people had, the more people would spend. This is still true today e.g., the 2008 recession and recent covid pandemic payments. Citizens in the 1930s wanted to get their money’s worth instead of saving it because later on, that money won’t have the same value. The difference can be observed in the modern version of the US dollar bill which no longer references gold.The Bretton Woods AgreementCountries printing money as much as they wanted induced issues as some nations purposely devalued their currency to increase the value of their exports. In 1944, US President Roosevelt enabled the Bretton Woods Agreement to come to fruition. 44 countries met in New Hampshire and agreed that all currencies were backed up by the US dollar (USD) and the USD was backed by gold. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was simultaneously created. The role of the IMF was to lend to countries in need. The World Bank was also created during that time to aid developing countries specifically. Partially due to the effects of World War 2 which was still taking place and didn’t end until 1945.The Bretton Woods Agreement ensured exchange rates were fixed across global currencies. It was a means to deflate the use of banknotes as well. Nevertheless, the policy was short-lived and was ended in 1971 by US President Nixon. The USD and effectively all the global currencies it backed became floats, i.e., backed by nothing. It also explains why exchange rates fluctuate nowadays.Inflation vs. Deflation — ConclusionIn the 51 years since the Bretton Woods Agreement, the USD has lost 85% of its value due to inflation. That is to say, $1 saved in 1971 is now 0.15c in 2022. It’s stark when you increase the capital saved. $100 back then is now worth $15. $1,000 back then is now worth $150. The loss of buying power is frightening especially if you wish to leave an inheritance for your kids. Inflation is like a thief going into your house taking 1 thing every day. By the time you notice you’re like 🤬 This is what happens when there is a centralised monopoly on money. It’s no wonder why Ray Dalio, owner of the world’s largest hedge fund, popularised the saying “Cash is Trash”. Fiat money is inflationary and centralised (controlled by a single authority). It’s not worth holding for extended periods. This is prevalent in how all Irish banks provide crap saving interest rates. A measly 25 basis points (0.25%) interest on savings. If you add into the context that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed Ireland’s economy inflated by 2.4% in 2021 — savings didn’t reduce the blow. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) of Ireland’s blanket CPI average isn’t a good enough metric for inflation in my opinion, as it differs from individual to individual and sector to sector. For instance, drivers will notice the recent rise in the cost of petrol faster than those that don’t drive. Evidence of this can be seen in the graph below. Saving enough for emergencies is where I draw the line before looking for greener pastures. Wealthy people know this. There’s a metaphor that states “The poor spend. The middle class save. The rich invest”. You’ll find that in my articles, problems are not just identified — they are met with solutions. Inflation is an enemy when the only asset you have is money. If you have a house or stocks, the economy inflating is a good thing because it increases the value of those scarce assets. It’s basic supply and demand economics. For example, if there are only 1000 houses by the beach and everyone in that area gets a salary raise, beach houses will also rise in price. That’s due to a higher amount of money (or demand) chasing the same supply of goods.An asset is something of value that appreciates over time. We’ve confirmed that money loses value over time. How is money an asset? There are different asset classes e.g., stocks, bonds, commodities, real estate, collectibles, etc. They are deflationary (scarce). Money isn’t scarce because governments excessively print it. Cash is a liquid asset