What is Economic Freedom?
“In simple terms, it means the ability of the members of a society to be able to participate in the economy easily.”
And majorly asking questions such as “How easily can they start a business?”, “Can they free trade with other nations?”, “Is the national currency stable?”, “How liberal are the regulations?” and so on.
Referencing the Economic Freedom index from 2018.
Looking at the list, it is quite clear why economic freedom is important.
Economic Freedom is important because it leads to better income for the poor, better regulations, less wars, less corruption and increases happiness. And that not me that’s saying this. It’s the data that says this.
If you go back 20 years or 30 years ago, you will understand how hard it was to start a business. You needed multiple permissions, scaling was a big issue, communication access was not good, globalisation was a distant dream and yes, it was hard selling something out of your bedroom in Singapore to someone in USA.
Internet connected the world, Digital Currency enabled it and Cryptocurrencies are bringing about trust. All in all, creating a complete ecosystem that allows everyone a fair chance at starting and scaling their business.
But, how are cryptocurrencies redefining economic freedom?
I believe in the following ways:
Cryptocurrencies are a catalyst to providing banking and financial access to 1.7 billion unbanked global population. All one needs is a smartphone and internet access to enjoy financial freedom.
Cryptocurrencies are private. Anyone can send money anywhere in the world, without getting a approval from their government, bank or any financial body.
It’s your money, no one should decide what you should do with it.
Cryptocurrencies are hell for the centralized banks and bodies whose drawbacks of a centralized system have gotten bared in front of the world.
Cryptocurrencies are a smart option to invest and HODL in. You never know when your country comes under a dictatorship, starts printing large amounts of money to create virtual liquidity or collapses under pressure. At that time, one who is having cryptocurrencies will be the real king.
Even the naysayers are HODL’ing Crypto. Listen and understand this carefully, All those star financial gurus, CEOs, investors who are calling cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum a bubble are the ones who are HODL’ing the most of it. They know it they are clever. Are you?
In the end, this equation sums up the impact of Cryptocurrencies on Economic Freedom Perfectly:
(Cryptocurrency + Privacy + Decentralized) x Mass Adoption = Economic Freedom
MY Week Summed Up
I kicked off the past week and October month by interviewing two of the most active changemakers in the blockchain space on HashTalk With Sankalp. Sumit Gupta of CoinDCX and Mriganka Pattnaik of Merkle Science. Both of these individuals are from India and are making waves in the blockchain industry. While Mriganka of Merkle Science is working towards preventing the illegal use of cryptocurrency.
Sumit on the other hand is making cryptocurrency buying and selling accessible and easy in India. Sumit is also helming an initiative by which he is trying to persuade government and finance bodies of India to take positive steps towards crypto regulations and adoption in India.
Listen to both of these exciting podcasts here:
Ep. #14: Mriganka Pattnaik, Co-Founder & CEO of Merkle Science - Blockchain Analysis
Ep. #13: Sumit Gupta, Co-Founder & CEO of CoinDCX - First Hybrid Crypto Exchange
P.S. HashTalk with Sankalp is now available on all the major podcast channels including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, PocketCasts and many more.
Selected Headlines: So that you don’t have to
The SEC has settled charges against blockchain builder Block.one, who will pay a $24M penalty for conducting an unregistered ICO that raised $4.1B between 2017-2018
PayPal is leaving Facebook's Libra stablecoin project
In a letter sent to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell two U.S. lawmakers have asked the Fed to look at adopting a digital currency for the U.S. dollar. Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) and Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) argue that the U.S. has "the ability and the natural role to develop a national digital currency." Specifically, the Congressman stated,
“We are concerned that the primacy of the U.S. Dollar could be in long-term jeopardy from wide adoption of digital fiat currencies. Internationally, the Bank for International Settlements conducted a study that found that over 40 countries around the world have currently developed or are looking into developing a digital currency.”
Six major Japanese brokerage firms have formed the Security Token Offering (STO) Association, a self-regulatory organization, to promote and help regulate STOs as a fundraising model in Japan
One of China’s largest state-owned banks (CMBI) is partnering with Nervos, a permissionless blockchain, to build a series of fintech applications for its customers
Pantera Capital has led a $5M seed round into Vega Protocol, which aims to allow people anywhere in the world to spin up regulated markets for derivatives (futures, swaps, options)
Founders Bank in Malta, scheduled to open in 2020, is a crypto-friendly bank that raised $10 million so far and is looking to raise $30 million more in the near future.
Thought Starters
Many don’t even know that the returns they expect for their retirement is not even there
Fun Coupons Maybe!
A true hustler right here! Listen to my podcast interview with Michael NYE:
Ep. #9: Michael Nye, Co-Founder of Titan Ventures - We help companies build in the blockchain world
An Underrated Tweet Right Here
Start them young, before it’s too late!!!!
Curated Articles of Past Week: Best of the Best
State of Crypto Markets in Asia - Bobby Ong
Institutional Cryptocurrency Adoption — ‘How’ and ‘Why’ Matters More than ‘When’ - Evan Feng
How Discount Brokerages Make Money - Patrick McKenzie
Digital Assets Will ‘Trickle, Trickle, Trickle—Then Flood,’ State Street Exec Says - Robert Hackett
Top Listen: Best of the Best Podcast
A Rare Interview with the CEO of Blockchain.com - Peter Smith - Blockchain 2025
Share the Love, Have a Great Week Ahead!
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Disclaimer: None of the content in this newsletter is meant to be financial advice. Please do your own due diligence before taking any action related to content within this article.