In today's video we discuss the question "what is money?" What are the intrinsic characteristics that define its appearance, use and capability, and how do those qualities apply or not apply to Bitcoin, Bullion and Bucks.

What is Money?

Money is a store of value which can be spent in the future, and it is a medium of exchange, a tool which enables mankind to get around the limitations within barter systems, such as "coincidence of wants".

Limitations to Barter and the Need for Money:

Coincidence of wants is a hurdle to trade, wherein you can only trade your objects with those who happen to want them simultaneously.

If you trade fish, and I don't want fish, you are out of luck. Worse still, if you trade fish, and fishing season is over, you have nothing today to trade, and you starve and die.

Enter money, a store of value, a medium of exchange. Once we have money the fisherman can trade his fish, during fishing season, for money, which will not spoil a month later, enabling him to trade during the rest of the year, dispensing it slowly, as he needs goods and services.

Again the money, stores value into the future, and acts as a medium of exchange, which circumvents the limitations of barter.

Good vs. Bad Money:

Ok, if money is simply a store of value, and a medium of exchange, why can't we just use feathers, shells from the sea, or old Weimar German marks?

First, we did use those at one time. Second, we no longer use those because we can distinguish between good and bad forms of money, and we do so on the following criterion:

1. Good money is PORTABLE.
2. Good money is DIVISIBLE.
3. Good money is DURABLE.
4. Good money is FUNGIBLE.
5. Good money is RESISTANT TO COUNTERFEIT.

Feathers, shells, and Weimar German marks all failed to some degree on one or more of these criterion, making them unsuccessful, and resulting in their death.

Bitcoin, Bullion & Bucks: What is the BEST money?

Cryptocurrency, bullion and fiat dollars all to some degree meet these criterion for assessing money, but spoilers, money is NOT good money, it falls short, particularly when measured against the utility and functionality of cryptocurrency and/or bullion.

Crypto as Money:

Crypto is a store of value, and a medium of exchange, add to that it is portable, divisible, durable and fungible, while being resistant to counterfeit, so yes crypto is excellent "money", probably the best money humanity has ever seen. Better even than bullion, because it is even more easily portable, divisible, durable, and resistant to counterfeiting.

Bullion as Money:

Bullion is also a store of value, medium of exchange, and portable, divisible, durable and fungible, while being resistant to counterfeit, and YES, it is real money. What's more, it has one thing crypto lacks, thousands of years of history proving it as great money. Silver and gold have been money for nearly as long as mankind has been trading, and it will always be a trusted medium of exchange because of the trust and confidence born out of that history.

Bucks: Terrible as Money

As I explain in the video, currency printed by your government, or the federal bank in your area is not quality money and for the same reasons the Weimar mark is no longer used, USD, CDN, Yen, Euro, or pick your favour fiat, will all die too. They fall short on the measurements of quality money described above.

Fiat dollars are portable, divisible, and relatively durable, but so are sea shells, but fiat dollars fall short as compared to bullion and bitcoin, when you assess the degree of fungibility and resistance to counterfeiting.

Fiat dollars are printed into existance daily, and there is no end in sight. The federal reserve banks all play the same Keynesian inflation is good game, and so they all print and debase their local currency in the hopes of sparking economic growth. In so doing, the nation's fiat dollar is actively counterfeited, and made less fungible. How? The mass production of USD today is weakening the dollars earned yesterday, and so USD loses value across time due to inflation, and that means a dollar yesterday is not directly comparable to a dollar today. This is an economic principle called the "time value of money", and suffice it to say, a bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush.

At the same time, as fiat printing continues, at some point the "value" inherent to the dollar are lost, and you are printing worthless copies, which in my understanding is exactly the definition of "counterfeiting".

So your fiat dollar is regularly counterfeited, by the local federal reserve, and it is not deeply fungible because a dollar today is less than a dollar next year, meaning they are not all equal, and therefore not strictly fungible.

Conclusion:

Fiat dollars have and will always fail and go to zero, because they inevitably fall victim to government manipulation, and deficit spending always leads to hyperinflation, meaning fiat is NOT good money.

On the other hand, gold and silver have proven themselves as great money for millennia now, and will prove their strength as excellent money well into our future.

And lastly cryptocurrency, specifically Bitcoin, also meets all the criteria for sound money, and so is great money, perhaps the best money we have ever seen.

Comments & Questions?

What do you guys think? Is Crypto the best money, or is Bullion better? I hope we can all agree fiat is not money, it is garbage, and the writing is on the wall that it will end in disaster.

As always, thank you for your time and attention, have an awesome day and God bless.

Buy Cryptocurrency:
Coinbase:
https://www.coinbase.com/join/59bbe24dd0e8a800f12e7b93
Coinsquare:
coinsquare.com/register?r=E4EB3832E

Buy Bullion:
https://silvergoldbull.ca/