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Let’s talk about gold... Are you thinking about gold as a store of value? That’s probably about right. Since 2009, gold has basically been flat versus the Fed’s balance sheet, meaning gold is preserving your purchasing power – but that’s about it. Gold is not gaining – it’s just holding. But here’s where it gets interesting: there’s also a whole group of people – the gold bugs – who view gold as an investment. And that’s where I think they’re getting it wrong… If you’re looking at gold as an investment, then at some point, you’ve got to assess its return on investment (ROI), just like you would with anything else in your portfolio. Since the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, in what @RaoulGMI and I call the era of The Everything Code, central banks have been systematically debasing currencies to avoid a GDP doom loop caused by declining demographics and falling productivity growth. Essentially, government debt growth is offsetting the entire demographic decline which the Fed then monetizes. Immigration factors into this equation too, but that’s a story for another time. Once you grasp this, you understand everything about the current macro environment. And this shift has completely changed the rules of the game, setting a much higher bar for your portfolio. The new reality? Your hurdle rate is around 10% per year – just to preserve your purchasing power! So if your investment portfolio isn’t making at least 10% a year, you’re actually losing money in real terms. 60/40 is dead. And what about gold? Gold has made you money since 2009, but it hasn’t made you any richer. This is what I call a "nominal illusion." In nominal terms, you’re up, but in real terms – adjusted for current debasement trends – you’re only breaking even. Let me help put this into perspective for you: This year has been fantastic for gold historically – it’s the best year since 2010. But here’s the punchline: even with that strong performance, gold has underperformed Bitcoin by 96% year-to-date. And mind you, Bitcoin traded sideways for eight months this year! Zoom out even further, and gold is down a staggering 99.99% versus Bitcoin since the start of 2012… Sure, Bitcoin is volatile – that’s a given, and you need to approach it with the right mindset and strategy. Our rules for engagement? No leverage No FOMO Top 3 to 5 assets as main bag Self-custody (or multi-sig) with good wallet hygiene Only trade a small degen bag <10% HODL over a longer time horizon Zoom out and remove the noise Expect 35% pullbacks frequently BTFD if you can The big picture? Bitcoin is accumulating purchasing power faster than any asset in human history – about 8x faster than the next fastest horse in the race, which are tech stocks. It’s a stark reminder: outside of crypto and tech stocks, nothing else is helping you build purchasing power. Even large-cap equities like the S&P 500 are barely breaking even, while everything else is outright loss-making versus the 10% global debasement trend. Think carefully about what that means, because it’s an incredibly important concept to your future self…