A panel talk joined by numerous influential figures at the Bitcoin Amsterdam — which promises three days of “learning, teaching, and inspiring of the Bitcoin community” — shone light on the irreparable debt-based system.
Moderated by analyst Dylan LeClair, the panel discussions began with the session titled “Has Bitcoin’s inflation hedge narrative failed?”
The roster of speakers consisted of former Kraken executive Dan Held, Nexo co-founder Antoni Trenchev, Podcaster Peter McCormack, author Jeff Booth, podcaster Niko Jilch, trader Greg Foss, and Philip Karadordevic, the Prince of Serbia and the strategy officer of startup JAN 3.
The panelists agreed that the existing financial macro landscape is perilously on the edge, and that Bitcoin (BTC) provides a solution.
Foss began the discussion by describing inflation as an incorrect concept full of fallacies, such as the claim that 2% inflation is required for a productive economy to function, in which he questioned why 2% money theft is necessary for nation-states to trade economically.
Moreover, “every single thing you do” supports this system through a convoluted web of seemingly unrelated elements. Consequently, as long as the credit-based system is dominant, there is no alternative forward.
As a result, according to Foss, Bitcoin offers an alternative system that will eventually overturn the current one and reprice the market while eliminating coercion, fear, and control. This will happen either through a crash or a prolonged period of inflation.
Booth opined that, with the existing level of global output, it is virtually impossible to pay back debt.
He went on to explain that there is currently $400 trillion in world production debt. The world economy is priced at $100 trillion, so it is difficult to produce the amount of capital needed to finance the increase in debt.
According to Booth, there is a core issue with the credit-based economy that is manifesting itself in a timely manner under the pretense of rising prices and currency devaluation.
Regarding currency devaluation, Jilch argued that the methods used by the government to combat inflation are extremely absurd. Notably, cash was dropped from a helicopter to help with the growing expense of life.
Jilch made allusion to the energy shortages in Europe and said that, unlike fiat money, energy cannot be printed, making the situation even worse than what is already being shown in the media.
He worries that central banks will produce all the money necessary without considering the ramifications. This will most likely occur in the form of additional monetary expansion, based on recent steps taken by the Bank of England to prevent a pensions/bond disaster. Consequently, a vicious loop of higher prices and larger bailouts would ensue.
Karadordevic argued that Bitcoin may be used to combat inflation because of its fixed supply, which prevents its value from being inflated to none.
Booth summarised the advantages of Bitcoin over fiat currency by claiming that through BTC layer 2, users obtain velocity through technology rather than velocity through debt. As a result, humanity now has access to both decentralization and trust, which bodes well for the future of this technology and looks to be intriguing.
