Anyone with half a brain will run away from Bitcoin and ANY other crypto with which an ETF is created. This ETF creation brings forth the certainty of Big Banker manipulation, something crypto currencies were intended to prevent. This type of manipulation is not a novel concept, it’s already done with the price of Oil, Silver, Gold and a wide array of other commodities thru their use of derivatives, primarly enabled by the creation of ETF’s traded on stock markets globally. In short, the derivatives are the tool the bankers use to gain an unfair advantage over the individuals. They routinely sell SLV shares, but do not have the corresponding Silver to back up that trade, something you and I can not do. This also means when markets fail, the banks will own the silver and the investor will lose everything. Self-custody is the key.
I prefer privacy crypto myself, with Monero at the head of the pack for now.
In case someone out there hasn’t noticed yet, the people of the world are under assault by the central bankers all over the planet. Anything we do to invite or welcome their participation will most certainly be to our detriment. Resist Central Authority of all types, decentralize everywhere possible and resist all attempts to centralize power and control anywhere you recognize it.
Honest, fungible, PRIVATE digital cash is one important front we can fight this war against us. Opt out of their systems, get out of their debt-based fiat currencies and encourage a circular economy based on something like Monero or it’s successor. In essence, do your best to build an ecosystem where we can all “de-bank” ourselves on OUR terms and not have some Great Reset and CBDC’s do it on THEIR terms, which I guarantee you will be far less favorable to individuals. This one step alone, if gone widespread, will do more to promote freedom than 100 violent revolutions. The illusion they create is that you can’t live without them. Once you prove you can, their leverage over us ends, thus their power withers and dies.
If you’re on this forum, you probably already agree with this and don’t need converting, but if you’re trying, as I am, to proliferate Monero adoption, I’d encourage you to copy/paste any or all of this letter and forward it if you like the message herein.
The reasons you give for using Monero don’t resonate with most people. No matter what political system you’re under, most people generally live very similar lives, separated more by the city/rural divide than anything else. So even if you convince people of all the threats, they’d shrug their shoulders and adapt, no matter what actually happens. Every once and a while, things get really out of whack, like during the lockdowns, but they can’t stay that way because people get bored of the political blah blah and tired of being manipulated and just go back to normal despite the consequences. Revolution doesn’t defeat tyrants, indifference does.
So what can be done to help Monero? Just increase the parallel/circular economy. Convince shop owners that crypto in general allows them to avoid credit card service charges and that there are only a few cryptos that are actually used, Monero being one of them. Host Monero meetups in restaurants and convince them to accept Monero during the meetup. Talk to farmers and get them to accept. Get content creators and online services to avoid dealing with payment processors and accept Monero. Basically, the usual stuff. Also, improve Monero technology. There are a lot of gaps that need filing to make the user experience as easy as credit card to use and banks to manage your money. Make it easier to live off Monero using by providing services like Spritz finance (https://www.spritz.finance/). Yes these are KYCed services, but you are already KYCed by your landlord, tax department, and electricity company so there is no loss of privacy. This does, however, allow you to live on Monero without having a bank account and some services can be made non-KYC when possible.