MW This investment turned $50,000 into $23 million in 10 years. Here's why it's still a buy.

By Charlie Garcia

Bitcoin is here to save your money from inflation and central-bank meddling - if you notice in time

Bitcoin is the grown-up choice in a world run by toddlers with credit cards.

In life, you make things happen, watch things happen or wonder what happened. Don't let your cash slip away unnoticed.

Throughout history, moments come when our basic assumptions shift quietly beneath our feet. Most people don't notice until it's too late.

Imagine two young fish swimming together. An older fish passes by, greeting them, "Good morning, boys. How's the water?" One fish looks puzzled, leans toward the other, and mutters, "What the hell's water?"

This analogy perfectly illustrates our relationship with our money. You've been floating cluelessly in a fish tank of government funny money for so long you've forgotten you're all wet.

Every year, central banks crank the printing presses into overdrive, flooding the economy with more paper currency. Politicians treat debt as endlessly available, with no consequences. This is not capitalism. This is economic waterboarding.

And yet we accept it as normal, just as residents of a town that floods every spring casually accept disaster. They move their sofas upstairs, prop up their televisions and shrug: Flooding, to them, is inevitable. When a fresh-faced optimist asks, "Why don't we just drain the swamp?" he's laughed out of town - until someone suddenly realizes, "Wait, we actually can drain the swamp."

That's our money system. Instead of sandbags, politicians toss trillions of newly printed dollars at us, hoping we'll float a bit longer. But each fresh flood of cash makes the problem worse.

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Bitcoin (BTCUSD) is the grown-up choice in a world run by toddlers with credit cards. It's not a Band-Aid or a "patch" or one more empty promise from a politician who'd lose money running a lemonade stand. Instead, bitcoin is stable precisely because no central banker can muck it up. Every minute you hesitate is another moment your wealth gets eaten by money-printing machines run by bureaucrats who think math is an inconvenience.

Bitcoin isn't just another investment; it's financial Kevlar for the inevitable gunfight between your wallet and the world's central planners. Protect your savings, or don't - but don't say you weren't warned.

What bitcoin is - and isn't

Your money buys far less today than 10 or 20 years ago, despite incredible progress. Why?

But first, understand clearly why you're facing this situation.

We live with a profound economic paradox: Technological advances continually lower the cost of living, yet prices keep climbing. Your money buys far less today than 10 or 20 years ago, despite incredible progress.

Why? Inflation. It's baked into a monetary system engineered to steadily devalue currency. Most accept this erosion as natural - it isn't.

Bitcoin provides an alternative, yet few truly grasp it. Labels like "digital gold," "investment" and "bubble" confuse rather than clarify, causing bitcoin to remain vastly underutilized.

Bitcoin isn't digital gold, although it shares gold's (GC00) scarcity. It is not merely a speculative asset you buy hoping prices rise. Instead, understanding bitcoin requires adopting a new mindset.

Bitcoin is an open, decentralized system built specifically to securely store and freely exchange value - without banks or bureaucrats getting in the way. Nobody controls bitcoin. Yet everybody can benefit.

Consider how the internet transformed information. Before, gatekeepers- newspapers, TV networks - controlled what you saw. The internet removed those gatekeepers, allowing free and instant access to information.

Bitcoin applies the same principle to money. It removes financial gatekeepers, eliminates fees and prevents inflationary manipulation, putting control of your finances permanently into your hands.

Bitcoin's core innovation is decentralization. Its security isn't backed by banks or governments; it's rooted in mathematics, cryptography and a global network of independent participants. There is no CEO, no headquarters and, crucially, no way to print more currency.

This revolutionary design ensures no one can seize your bitcoin, freeze your accounts or dilute your savings. It's money designed intentionally to be fair, neutral, secure and universally accessible.

Grasping bitcoin demands a fundamental rethinking - not just about technology but about money itself. It challenges deeply held beliefs about freedom and control.

Read: Here's how much higher gold prices can still go - even after doubling the past two years

Why bitcoin is revolutionary

Bitcoin isn't just new money - it forces us to reconsider money's role in our lives entirely.

Right now, governments and banks decide how much money to print. Imagine playing the board game Monopoly, but one player secretly prints extra bills. Suddenly, everyone's cash is worth less, and prices rise uncontrollably. This is inflation. It shrinks your savings and paycheck, making everyday life more expensive. Asset owners - those with stocks and real estate - benefit, while regular earners suffer dwindling purchasing power.

Bitcoin completely flips this scenario. Its supply is capped at 21 million coins. No government or bank can ever create more. Rather than losing value over time, bitcoin protects - and potentially enhances - your purchasing power.

Think of bitcoin like rare baseball cards or limited-edition sneakers. Finite supply plus growing demand equals increased value. Instead of your savings eroding each year through inflation, bitcoin rewards you by maintaining or growing your buying power. Secured by mathematics and powerful computing, it's unforgeable digital gold: safe, scarce and impossible to manipulate. Bitcoin isn't just new money - it forces us to reconsider money's role in our lives entirely.

Bitcoin or the S&P 500: a 10-year lesson in investing

The real lesson isn't about luck or risk. It's about who you trust with your money.

Consider this 10-year investing lesson: On June 2, 2015, imagine you faced a crucial choice. You had $50,000 saved for your child's education. Two investment paths appeared clearly.

One, a familiar S&P 500 SPX fund - the SPDR S&P 500 ETF SPY -promising stable, reliable growth.

The other, bitcoin: experimental, misunderstood, yet uniquely resistant to inflation.

Ten years later, the outcomes diverged dramatically:

-- Bitcoin: Your $50,000 bought roughly 220 coins at about $227 each. Now, with the cryptocurrency recently at about $102,000 per coin, your investment is worth around $23.2 million.

-- S&P 500 ETF: Your $50,000 purchased roughly 236 shares at about $212 each. Now, with the ETF recently at $593 per share, your investment totals roughly $140,000.

-- After adjusting for inflation averaging 3% annually, each 2025 dollar equals 74 cents in 2015 purchasing power. In real, after-inflation terms, your bitcoin investment maintains $17.1 million in buying power, while your S&P 500 ETF preserves about $104,000 - still a gain, but dwarfed by bitcoin's inflation-adjusted returns.

This 10-year lesson teaches us something profound about our assumptions. Ultimately, the question isn't just about returns; it's about sovereignty. The real lesson isn't about luck or risk. It's about whom you trust with your money.

Do you want your financial destiny dictated by institutions that profit from quietly eroding your wealth, or do you want to become your own banker, operating under principles that respect your financial independence?

Read: Trump administration rescinds Biden-era caution about crypto in 401(k) plans - here's what that means for you

The clock is ticking

Here's what keeps me up at night: Right now, somewhere, a couple is arguing over money. A parent is calculating whether they can afford their kid's college tuition. A retiree is watching their savings evaporate, one grocery trip at a time.

They're all making the same mistake.

See, there are only two kinds of people in this story. Those who act. And those who become cautionary tales their grandchildren whisper about: "If only Grandpa had bought bitcoin when it was just six figures ... "

The math doesn't lie. The 10-year proof is staring you in the face. Your choice isn't between safe and risky anymore. It's between two futures: In one, you're explaining to your family why you ignored the biggest wealth transfer in human history when the evidence was screaming at you. In the other, you're the one who saw what was coming and acted.

Twenty years from now, only one question will matter: Were you the smart money or the scared money?

Charlie Garcia is founder and a managing partner of R360, a peer-to-peer organization for individuals and families with a net worth of $100 million or more. Garcia holds positions in bitcoin and gold. Email him at charlie@R360Global.com.

More: America's biggest lender is closing its wallet - and investors and home buyers will feel it. Here's what to watch.

Also read: The 'mother of all credit squeezes' is coming - hang on to your wallet

-Charlie Garcia

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June 06, 2025 08:43 ET (12:43 GMT)

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