I’ve always been drawn to minimalism. There’s a certain peace that comes from stripping away the unnecessary, decluttering both physical and mental spaces. Yet, when it comes to finances, I’ve found myself tangled in complexity. As an ‘optimizer,’ I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about investments, managing risk, and endlessly tinkering with my portfolio. This preoccupation contradicts the minimalist principles I try to live by.
It seems absurd to me that the financial world has become so complicated that we need money managers to simply preserve the value of our money. If investing is so intricate that the average person must hire professionals just to preserve (let alone grow) the value of their savings, then something is fundamentally wrong.
For the past five years, I’ve immersed myself in the history and mechanics of financial systems. The deeper I delved, the clearer it became: Bitcoin is a force of minimalism in an increasingly financialized and complex world.
The Clutter of Modern Finance
Our financial system has become bloated with complexity. The hyper-securitization of assets has created an environment filled with financial clutter. Derivatives, for example, represent layers upon layers of financial engineering, often so convoluted that even experts struggle to understand them fully.
More troubling is the way nearly everything of value has been financialized. Real estate and art, two things that should embody personal value and cultural significance, have been transformed into mere asset classes. They are bought, sold, and speculated upon not for their intrinsic qualities but as instruments in the game of wealth preservation.
But why has this happened? It’s actually quite simple: our money is constantly losing value. The dollar, for example, debases at a rate of around 7% per year. Holding cash feels like holding melting ice, so it’s only natural for people to seek out scarce assets to preserve their wealth.
The Never-Ending Game of Diversification
This pursuit of scarce assets sets off a complex game—a game that forces people to diversify endlessly:
- Equities
- Bonds
- Real Estate
- Commodities
- Art
- Collectibles
We’re told to spread our investments across these asset classes to mitigate risk and preserve our hard-earned money. Those who can afford to hire money managers generally fare better in this game, as they have access to expertise and strategies designed to navigate this maze of complexity.
Ironically, this system creates an incentive for more complexity. The more convoluted the financial landscape becomes, the more we need money managers, and the more entrenched this cycle of financialization and securitization becomes. It’s a force of ever-increasing entropy—quite the opposite of minimalism.
Bitcoin: Simplicity in a Complex World
In the midst of this financial chaos, Bitcoin emerges as a beacon of simplicity. It offers a way out of the clutter, a chance to reclaim financial minimalism. Bitcoin embodies the concept of scarcity with a rare kind of perfection: there will only ever be 21 million Bitcoins. No more.
This scarcity makes Bitcoin the perfect savings technology. Unlike traditional currencies, no one can debase your holdings. You don’t need to chase after real estate, art, or other assets to preserve your wealth. You don’t need to constantly diversify and rebalance a portfolio to stay ahead of inflation. Bitcoin’s scarcity gives you a way to hold your wealth securely, without the need for endless tinkering.
I’m not blind to Bitcoin’s short-term price volatility. However, it’s crucial to understand that we’re still in the early stages of adoption. As more people embrace this perfect form of scarcity, Bitcoin’s qualities as savings technology will express itself.
Bitcoin has the potential to de-financialize the housing market. It can de-financialize art.
Ultimately, Bitcoin has the power to replace those aspects of our lives that currently serve as proxies for scarcity.
A Minimalist Approach to Wealth
Bitcoin allows us to step off the treadmill of constant financial optimization. It offers a simpler way to safeguard the fruits of our labor. Rather than spending our time, energy, and attention on navigating a complex financial system, we can focus on what truly matters: living a meaningful life.
By embracing Bitcoin, we embrace a minimalist approach to wealth. We reject the idea that we must play a never-ending game of diversification to maintain our standard of living. Instead, we adopt a simple, elegant solution that aligns with the principles of minimalism.
Conclusion
In a world that grows more financially cluttered by the day, Bitcoin stands as a path to financial minimalism. It frees us from the complexities of traditional finance, allowing us to preserve our wealth without the need for constant vigilance and management.
By embodying scarcity and simplicity, Bitcoin gives us a way to reclaim our time and energy. It’s not just a financial tool; it’s a way to simplify our lives, to step back from the chaos, and to focus on what truly matters