Original | Liu Jiaolian
BTC is temporarily suspended below 65k. Yesterday [ 7.17 Teaching Chain Internal Reference "Federal Reserve Turns Dovish, Gold and BTC Both Rise" ] talked about the Fed officials turning dovish. In particular, Powell's unexpected dovish statement made the market ecstatic, directly raising the probability of a September rate cut to a very high level close to "a done deal".
The current variable is that Trump , who is seen as having secured victory in the November presidential election, said in an interview that he would advise Powell to stay in office, especially if the latter can make the right decisions on some things. What is the so-called "right decision"? Trump said that he does not want to cut interest rates before the November election because this will release the benefits of the rate cut to Biden, who has not yet stepped down.
Of course, all the variables are short-term. In the long run, Trump has made it clear that we should not be afraid of inflation and should be brave enough to cut interest rates. In addition, Trump's candidacy this time has reversed his stance on cryptocurrencies by 180 degrees, from an opponent to a supporter. At the same time, he has led the entire Republican Party to become crypto-friendly, and has also chosen a vice presidential candidate and "successor" who has a crypto position - JD Vance.
These changes have surprised and delighted the crypto industry. Well-known crypto investment institution a16z recently publicly stated that they will change their previous views on Trump and support him instead.
It is against this backdrop that Vitalik Buterin (VB), the founder of Ethereum, recently published a lengthy article titled “Against choosing your political allegiances based on who is “pro-crypto””[1].
VB's main point is to be careful of politicians who are so-called "pro-crypto". Behind the word "crypto" is a rich range of meanings. All of these meanings may not be known, understood, or agreed to by the politician who verbally expresses "pro-crypto".
He said that "crypto" is not just "cryptocurrency" or "blockchains". It contains some very important and profound connotations, such as: freedom and privacy of communication; free and privacy-friendly digital identity; freedom of thought and privacy; high-quality information access; and so on.
The bottom line is, “Freedom is important, and decentralized networks are great at protecting freedom, and money is one important area where this network can be applied — but it’s just one important area among several.”
VB also mentioned that encryption must be internationalist. However, conservative leaders tend to be more nationalistic and build high walls in their own courtyards.
“If they also support banning encrypted messaging, if they’re a power-hungry narcissist, or if they’re pushing bills that make it harder for your Chinese or Indian friends to attend the next cryptocurrency conference — all these politicians have to do is make sure you can easily trade crypto,” then this so-called “support for crypto” is just a ploy to get votes.
So in the end, VB concluded that you should not support a politician based solely on whether he or she expresses support for encryption, but should ask a question: Do they support encryption for the right reasons?
Obviously, Trump is a typical conservative right-wing leader. His campaign slogan is to restore American nationalism, strategically shrink from globalization, build high border walls physically, build high tariff walls economically, focus energy and resources within the United States itself, "let the meat rot in the pot" in an attempt to "make America great again."
His support for encryption cannot be based on internationalism, but rather on competitiveness.
In [ 7.17 Teaching Chain Insider "The Federal Reserve turns dovish, gold and BTC both surge" ], it is mentioned that Trump once said in a recent media interview: "If we don't do it, China will take over, or other countries, but it is likely to be China. China attaches great importance to this field."
He said he would appoint Jimmy Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, a long-time hater of BTC, as the new Treasury Secretary to replace Yellen. Perhaps to dispel everyone's concerns, he is said to have even said that Dimon has changed his tone on encryption and BTC.
Actually, in Jiaolian's opinion, VB may be a bit too demanding. The development of encryption cannot rely solely on idealism and elitism. How many people who speculate in cryptocurrencies have the grand ambitions of the encryption industry in their hearts? How many miners have the glorious consciousness of dedicating their strength to the great cause of all mankind? Then when it comes to politicians, why must we require that their support for BTC and encryption cannot be "empty talk" or "pure deception", but must be pure and flawless like a virgin, from soul to body?
BTC is money. Money is almost the most inclusive thing in human society. Money is different from religion. It does not require the morality of believers. Even if you are a criminal, a despicable villain, or a pervert with a beastly heart, money will not refuse your love and use of it.
Satoshi Nakamoto himself has high morals, but he does not have moral cleanliness, otherwise he would not have invented BTC.
The person who invented BTC may have to have the perfection of a saint, and the people who maintain BTC (such as the developers of Bitcoin Core) may have to have a selfless dedication regardless of fame and fortune, but the moral standards of other various participants cannot be criticized.
After all, meanness is the passport of the mean, and nobility is the epitaph of the noble.
The Eastern God does not judge people's morality, and neither does the Western God. Otherwise, there would have been no evil deeds in this world long ago.
Heaven and God only care about one thing - your strength.
The Buddhists say: Put down the butcher knife and you will become a Buddha right away. Even if you have killed countless people and committed ten unforgivable crimes, as long as you put down the butcher knife, you will be recruited by the Buddhist sect immediately. The reason is simple: your evil deeds reflect your energy and strength. As long as you are willing to convert, you will be a great talent. However, the so-called kind and good people who are weak and powerless will hardly become immortals or Buddhas even if they recite Buddhist scriptures devoutly for a lifetime. The reason is also very clear, they have not done anything that reflects extraordinary energy, strength and wisdom - whether it is good or bad.
The computing power that BTC recruits to convert to mining is such a great evil, but also such a great good.
Good and evil are one and the same; Buddha and devil are two sides of the same coin.
Regardless of whether Trump's verbal change of attitude towards crypto is true or false, whether it is a speculative behavior to win votes or a true conversion, whether it is pure deception before the election or consistency between words and deeds after the election, as long as he is willing to inject the huge energy and power he currently possesses into the direction that is beneficial to the interests of BTC, then to some extent, it is a vivid portrayal of "laying down the butcher knife and becoming a Buddha on the spot."
We don't need to be loyal to him. We just need to applaud his change of position. Listen to what he says and watch what he does.
From a scientific perspective, game theory does not make moral evaluations of participants. The Nash equilibrium of a game structure can determine that no matter what motivation a participant has for entering the game, he or she will eventually be locked in.
What locks Trump's support for crypto is not what VB calls the "incentive gradient" created by voters in the U.S. election, which makes Trump feel that supporting crypto can win more votes, but one or more other huge forces that can compete, game, and wrestle with the huge power he can wield as the President of the United States - such as China, which Trump directly named in an interview - are also involved in this game, and the Nash equilibrium is reached between the evenly matched forces, making it impossible for all parties to escape.
Game theory is their God.
