Whoo boy! Bitcoin has been on a tear lately. This year alone, it’s up 75%.

With this impressive rise, bitcoin bulls are coming out of the woodwork with lofty predictions — $50,000, $100,000, even $10 million…

We shared with you last week our thoughts on de-dollarization and the predictions about the greenback’s demise. So today, let’s tackle bitcoin, shall we?

Chris shared his view on bitcoin the other day in the Insider Newsletter — albeit from a bit of a different angle. Here’s what he said…

I want it to succeed. Oh, how I want it to succeed. But…

Take a look at this bill S. 686, which bans VPN usage for “banned apps,” and if you disagree? Well, you get a 20-year sentence and a $250,000 fine.

It’s 55 pages of legal mumbo jumbo, which — if you’ve masochistic tendencies — you’ll absolutely love reading. If not, here’s what you need to know.

I am quite sure you’ve figured out by now that these bills are always always simply stepping stones. First, it will be for “banned apps.” Then it’ll be for “hate speech” or some such hogwash. Finally, it’ll be for everything, because… jeez, why do you need a VPN? What are you, a terrorist?

In what is typical of a collapsing empire flailing about…

Ostensibly, all of this is about countering Chinese influence, data gathering, and psyops. In reality, it’s about implementing a worldwide industrial level surveillance system.

A friend of mine summed it up well:

In summary, the way I’m reading the bill, if you use any tech in a way that a bureaucrat doesn’t like, or if you think you will in the future, or if they think you did at some point in the past, no matter where you are in the world, and no matter your citizenship, the US may sentence you to 20 years in prison and/or $1 million fine per instance (or twice the value of any “transaction” they think you made if higher) and they may also seize and property they consider connected. And all of this may happen in secret, without any court involvement.

For your safety, of course.

Oh, and all are excluded from FOIA, congressional oversight, or any other checks or balances. They make it especially clear that if they say you disagree with their statements regarding the results of an election, you’re also particularly subject to these penalties.

This is arguably the most totalitarian bill I’ve ever seen. It is likely to NOT be upheld in certain states, as per topics just discussed. That means that the divorce of States within the USA is coming.

Bringing it all back to bitcoin…

In the short to intermediate term, I think it can and probably will do quite well, but unfortunately I just don’t see it working long term. Those with the guns (governments and central banks) don’t buy bitcoin, and they’ll never ultimately allow it. I pray I’m wrong.

Something to ponder on this weekend. Have a great one!