This post Challenging the Oldest Monopoly on Earth ? Money appeared first on Daily Reckoning.

President James Garfield once said?

?He who controls the money supply of a nation controls the nation.?

Who then, Mr. Garfield, controls the money supply of bitcoin?

Because if such a person existed ? an invisible hand that controls everything ? then that person would have the entire world in a stranglehold.

Fortunately, there is no god of bitcoin.

In its purest form, bitcoin is a peer-to-peer digital currency.

That is, no single user ? or bitcoin miner, for that matter ? enjoys power over another.

In a decentralized system, like bitcoin, there is no head of the snake.

?Decentralized systems are a hydra. Cut off one head and two more pop in to take its place,? says author Daniel Jeffries.

As long as you have an internet connection, bitcoin allows you to bask in the glory of a borderless currency ? one that lies far beyond the reach of any single government or dictator.

You see, bitcoin has quickly risen to challenge the oldest monopoly on Earth ? money.

Policymakers and central banks are free to print it, tighten its supply, tinker with interest rates and set capital reserve requirements ? all of which make currencies dance.

Governments have enjoyed such power since the first civilizations of history emerged in Mesopotamia over 5,000 years ago.

But as bitcoin threatens this perverse monopoly, we're getting another round of (very predictable) blowback.

For example, after outlawing initial coin offerings (ICOs) early last week, China now wants to unplug certain cryptocurrency exchanges, which pundits predict would crush the cryptocurrency revolution.

Heck, economist Panos Mourdoukoutas writing in Forbes went as far as saying China ?is just the beginning rather than the end of recent efforts by big governments around the world to turn bitcoin back into what once was ? an exotic currency for the tech savvy and romantic radicals.?

Are world governments truly planning regulatory attacks against cryptocurrencies?

Of course they are!

But this ?crypto genie? isn't going back into his bottle.

It's an idea whose time has come. And governments can't stop it.

Regards,

Louis Basenese
for The Daily Reckoning

The post Challenging the Oldest Monopoly on Earth ? Money appeared first on Daily Reckoning.