Good Morning Everyone,
US Congressman Warren Davidson has submitted a bill to Congress to support and protect the right to self-custody your bitcoin and transact peer-to-peer (P2P). This comes in the wake of dictatorial powers being leveraged in Canada against the countries own citizens, and as we witness the ongoing attack on civil liberties in many other countries including Australia and New Zealand all concealed under the disguise of safety.
This is an interesting proposal, as ultimately the bitcoin protocol is permissionless, and requires no approval from anyone to be able to custody your keys, however I do still believe there is some value in this act being submitted.
Firstly, simply facilitating this kind of nuanced conversation amongst people in government can only be of value in my opinion, as it likely serves as a productive way to educate individuals on the value and power of self-custody, and also the risks and responsibilities associated. It could also cast a light on this concept, and serve to demonstrate that the desire exists to be able to custody your own property in society more broadly, and that is a very powerful meme to inject into the culture.
While the document does not appear to have been added to the US Congress website yet, the senator spoke with Bitcoin Magazine about the proposal.
He was asked:
“This feels timely, especially after the Canadian government has doubled-down on restricting the funding for and bank accounts of the protesters there. In your mind, what’s the relationship between self-custody and free speech?”
Congressman Davidson responded:
“People are talking about [free speech] with the trucker convoy. If this [protest] happened in America, some would be cheering, some would be upset. My point is that it should be even-handed. We shouldn't use money as a way of controlling people. Of course if there’s criminal activity, you should go after that. But imagine if the same thing were done to a crowdfunded BLM movement. That wouldn’t be okay. It’s not okay with the Freedom Convoy, either.”
The fact that it is well recognised amongst politicians that money has been weaponized against the citizens as a means of control, should concern everyone, but it’s incredible how few people seem to understand this. The congressman taking this position however, is obviously a step in the right direction.
At the same time, it’s appropriate to be skeptical and cautious, as we have seen many US politicians use bitcoin as a political tool recently, and the true motives of these individuals should be heavily scrutinized, and they should be judged on their actions.
Ultimately though, bitcoin doesn’t care.
It is an apolitical and completely neutral protocol, that no single entity has any control over. It was built to operate under the adversarial conditions of human nature, and has operated flawlessly for 13 years, and it will continue to do so regardless of what any government or nation state wants.
As always, it’s never been more critical to get educated and understand the specifics of self custody, as is being very clearly demonstrated right now in Canada. If you give governments the ability to leverage monetary power over you, they will take it.
Suck the oxygen out of the room. Opt-in to the most sophisticated monetary network in history, and take that power into your own hands.
Have a great day. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.
AK
