CBDC Simulation Project
Background:
I started my adventures into cryptocurrencies in 2012 with Bitcoin, but quickly lost interest when the price fell and I lost most of the value that I put into it. My interest was rekindled in 2020 when I rediscovered my original digital wallet on a USB flash drive packed away in a box since 2014 while cleaning out my storage building. I had just built a new computer and realizing my mistake in losing the faith, I began to mine Ethereum and Monero. One computer became two, then three, then four- each being filled to capacity with high end grapics cards. In 2021 that Bitcoin I accumulated from 2012 to 2014 was sold near the ATH of $69k for an amount of money that changed my life. I was able to pay off credit card debts, buy a modest new car, take a family vacation, and finally have a small emergency savings fund.
While removing a significant debt burden and obtaining reliable transportation was life changing, I'm still a wage slave. Saving for retirement finally became possible, but I still worry there won't be enough when my body is too broken to continue laboring to survive. I'm not counting on Social Security being there when I'm finally able to collect; not many Gen Xers or Millenials are. We've been told our whole lives not to. The generations before us have pulled up the ladders of success and made it difficult to afford basic shelter. The only reason I was able to buy a house was someone died in 2018, leaving just enough inheritence for earnest money to make an offer with a zero downpayment first time buyer FHA loan.
So there you have it, after living half my life I've finally clawed my way out of poverty into the middle class. It's as comfortable and wonderful as I had imagined. I want every person on the planet to have what I do: a home, healthcare, food, transportation, clothing, savings, and leisure. I advocate for it with political speech, fight for with peacful protest, and work for it with community mutual aid. I consciously extend ladders down when and where I can, rather than pulling them up.
All that brings us to today. Following success with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Monero I delved deep into the world of DeFi and scam memecoins. Out of boredom and curiosity I created my first private cryptocurrency that was blatantly labeled as a rugpull project and was shocked that anyone bought it. It didn't last a day before I killed the project and took profits. There was no effort at all- no attempt for token verification for the appearance of legitamacy or advertizing to attract interest. It made me think, "What if I put effort into this? Buy a domain to advertize with and publish a white paper with the specific position that my private cryptocurrency is worthless and should not be bought, and get it verified through DeFi and wallet providers?"
White Paper Introduction
Purpose:
A social experiment to observe how people will put money into a speculative asset that even the creator advises against. Warning, don’t buy this coin. It’s a centralized currency that can fail at any time. It’s a CBDC and I as a private individual am the issuing central bank.
Problem:
Cryptocurrencies can be created from thin air and assigned any value that the creator chooses. They attain real value when people “invest” in them but only for the creator. It’s a zero-sum game: net change in wealth for all participants is zero. The house always wins.
Hypothesis:
CBDCs and fiat currencies are just shitcoins.
Observations:
Some cryptocurrencies have actual intrinsic value. The cypher-punks of the 1990s were really onto something. Blockchain technology is an incredibly powerful tool for data management and proof of authenticity. It’s the perfect technology for finance and the storage and transmission of wealth across vast distances. Almost everyone knows of the first successful deployment of a decentralized blockchain ledger “Bitcoin”. If you haven’t read beyond Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper, you should. It’s the most groundbreaking work in economic theory since John Maynard Keans’ “The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money” and most earthshaking event in economics since the US decoupled the dollar from the gold standard.