You've probably noticed it. Groceries cost more. Gas costs more. The same cart of stuff you bought in 2020 for $100 runs you closer to $130 now. And the weird part is, you might be earning more than you were back then. So what happened? Most people land on one of two conclusions: 1. "I'm spending too much." 2. "I need to earn more." Both feel logical. Both miss the actual problem. Between 2020 and 2022, roughly $6.4 trillion in new dollars were added to the U.S. money supply. That's about 26% of all dollars currently in existence, created in just 2 years. Here's where it gets interesting. When people hear "money printer," they picture a machine cranking out cash. The real version is quieter and way more technical. But the effect is the same. New dollars come from 4 places: - The Federal Reserve buys Treasury bonds from banks and pays with freshly created digital reserves. The Fed's balance sheet roughly DOUBLED during COVID. - Commercial banks take your deposit, keep a fraction, and lend the rest. That loan becomes someone else's deposit, which gets lent again. One dollar of reserves can generate around $10 in new loans circulating through the economy. - The U.S. Treasury issues bonds to cover spending that taxes can't. Stimulus checks, PPP loans, relief programs...all of these put brand new dollars into people's hands. - Shadow markets (repo lending, money market funds, derivatives) create money-like instruments that function as dollars. Mostly invisible, but massive in scale. So now there are trillions more dollars in the system. But the supply of houses, groceries, cars, and energy didn't grow at the same rate. More money chasing the same stuff. Prices go up. Your paycheck isn't the thing that shrank. It's the dollar. And that's the part that messes with people's heads, because the number in your bank account looks the same (or even bigger). But what that number buys keeps getting smaller, slowly, year after year. Most of us know it's happening. But the confusing academic jargon keeps most people from knowing how. Now you know.

Key take away this week? - We're seeing how US leadership is trying to keep the USD from losing relevance globally. The US government had the most consequential week in crypto history and most people were watching red candles as the market tanks without realizing what’s actually happening…. Every story this past week connects to the same thread: The old financial system is cracking, Washington knows it, and crypto isn't the threat they're racing to contain, instead it's the lifeboat they're trying to build by making the US the crypto capital of the world. What happened this last week #1 Iran talks collapsed. Remember what we said last week - this is THE CHART that actually matters. So after 21 hours of closed-door negotiations, JD Vance confirmed Iran rejected US red lines. The war continues. The Strait of Hormuz stays constrained. Oil inflation isn't going away. It's only getting worse now with the naval blockade set by Trump. - What it means for you: The Fed's rate cut window shifts later probably towards the end of Q4. The thesis is still holding strong. Expect a resolution as May draws nearer. Political pressure is mounting, but a part of me feels like Trump will go scorched earth Iran... the more I listen to talk the more it feels like it's a Now or Never situation. He's leaning towards NOW.  #2 Treasury & Fed called a secret bank CEO meeting. Scott Bessent and Jerome Powell summoned the heads of Citi, Goldman, Morgan Stanley, BofA, and Wells Fargo to an unannounced meeting over Anthropic's new AI model, Mythos, which can crack vulnerabilities in every major operating system and web browser for under $50. Yes. That’s my bank, probably your bank and millions of other people around the US are potentially in trouble. - What it means for you: The digital pipes the dollar runs on are more fragile than anyone admits publicly. Nobody commented on the record. Watch what they do, not what they say. Everyone said quantum was a Bitcoin threat, we’re not even there yet and the financial system is already in peril from language focused AI models. Smelling a bank run (will start withdrawing some cash to have on the side like what happened in 2023 with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).

In our 10+ years of combined experience being in this industry, we watched good, capable and smart people miss the most important financial shift of our lifetime. Not because they weren't paying attention, but because the first thing they heard was "scam" and nobody gave them an honest explanation to learn otherwise. We're not here to push a "get rich" strategy, or convince you of doing anything. We're here because the biggest financial shift of our lifetime is unfolding right now. So we built the education we wish existed, compressed it into lessons that take minutes, and made sure you never have to feel like you're already too late. This is that place. _____________________________________________________________________ Here's where to begin: Step 1 — Download The Bitcoin Castle: Before you touch a single lesson, grab our free visual guide: The Bitcoin Castle: A Visual Beginner's Guide That Explains Why Bitcoin Has Value. It's the foundation everything else is built on. If you've ever struggled to understand why Bitcoin has value at all, this is the thing that makes it click. You'll find it waiting for you at the start of the Beginner Course below. Step 2 — Start the Beginner Crypto Crash Course: This is your home base. We built this course around the questions real beginners actually ask without the weird crypto jargon and techy explanations. By the time you finish, you'll understand what Bitcoin is, why it exists, why it matters, and why the timing of this conversation is important. Step 3 — Follow the Market Breakdowns: We publish regular news breakdowns and market analysis discussions so you can start connecting what you're learning to what's actually happening in the world right now. This is where the theory you're learning becomes real and you'll start to understand that Bitcoin isn't getting more valuable, it's your dollars getting weaker. ___________________________________________________________________ What's coming: The School of Bits is a growing school and this is just the beginning.