Welcome to this month’s issue of Criminal Legal News (“CLN”). As you can see, it’s devoted to the revolutionary and controversial topic of digital currencies, spotlighting the two most important participants in the enduring clash between individual liberties and state control. In this issue, we take a deep dive into Bitcoin – the groundbreaking decentralized digital monetary network that is appropriately characterized as “freedom money” – and Central Bank Digital Currencies (“CBDCs”) – the government-controlled digital form of fiat money that effortlessly enables mass surveillance, programmable restrictions, and unparalleled control. Whether you’re skeptical of these evidence-based assessments or already convinced, this issue of CLN is your vital resource for understanding these two starkly different digital currencies and the stakes involved. Our meticulously researched articles will challenge your assumptions, provide fresh insights, and entertain you along the way. 

“Crypto Week” Showdown in Congress Over CBDCs

The timeliness of this issue is underscored by the dramatic events that unfolded in Washington, D.C., during “Crypto Week” from July 14 to 18 in the United States House of Representatives. What was intended as a bipartisan celebration for passing a trio of digital asset bills nearly imploded entirely due to a dramatic intra-party showdown among Republicans. At the core of the conflict was intense pushback from a faction of lawmakers who believed the legislation, specifically the GENIUS Act, did not provide strong enough guarantees against the establishment of a CBDC. This group, driven by deep-seated concerns about government overreach, feared that “loopholes” in the stablecoin framework could be exploited to create a “layered” CBDC system that would inevitably lead to mass surveillance and the erosion of financial privacy – precisely the concerns this issue of CLN explores. 

This tense political standoff, which required direct intervention from President Trump to resolve, vividly illustrates that the debate over digital currencies is no longer a fringe conversation; it is at the center of the legislative battle for the future of finance. The holdouts eventually relented after receiving guarantees that no bill would inadvertently authorize a CBDC in any form – direct, indirect, or layered through stablecoin frameworks. But as with liberty itself, the price of remaining CBDC-free is eternal vigilance. The pro-CBDC forces will inevitably try again and again to implement their vision of a controlled, centralized digital monetary system. The lessons of this legislative showdown are a grim reminder that the war will never truly be over. It is precisely because this fight for financial freedom remains ongoing that we have dedicated this entire issue to providing you with the critical context and in-depth information needed to stay informed and engaged in this struggle for our future.

Our Perspective on Digital Currencies

In line with CLN’s mission of championing individual liberties and privacy, we proudly acknowledge our pro-Bitcoin and anti-CBDC perspective. Yet rest assured, all content in this issue remains painstakingly researched, rigorously factual, and unassailably accurate.

Our deep dive into Bitcoin is not just a technical exploration. It is also a journey into the philosophical ideals that underpin and drive it. As our Bitcoin article declares: “Bitcoin allows us to imagine a world where money cannot be weaponized. Where privacy is a human right, not a luxury. Where inflation is optional, not imposed. Where financial access is attainable for all, not the few. Where freedom is a birthright, not a privilege. Bitcoin is far more than a once-in-a-generation technology. It is the digital age’s declaration of independence.” 

Conversely, our opposition to CBDCs is based on a foundational understanding of what they represent: a government-controlled digital form of fiat money that enables mass surveillance, programmable restrictions, and unparalleled control over citizens. While proponents tout them as a more efficient way to manage money, we recognize them for what they are – a new, powerful, and deeply alarming tool of state power. Unlike Bitcoin, which is permissionless and censorship-resistant, a CBDC gives central authorities the ability to monitor every transaction, restrict disfavored purchases, and even seize funds with the push of a button. It is a precision instrument that turns money itself into a lever of control, fundamentally undermining the principles of privacy and individual liberty.

Our Approach to Explaining Bitcoin

In our experience, most of the material available on Bitcoin falls into one of a few traps: (1) it is either too technical for the average reader, (2) too superficial to be useful, or (3) it suffers from a narrow, “tunnel vision” perspective. This last pitfall is especially common, with much of the content either focusing exclusively on financial speculation, getting lost in technical minutiae, or dwelling solely on philosophical ideals without grounding them in a complete picture. The goal with our article is to avoid these traps by offering a holistic and accessible exploration of Bitcoin that imparts a clear and comprehensive understanding. 

We have structured our Bitcoin article as a cohesive journey, combining the foundational knowledge you need with the historical and philosophical context that gives it meaning. To start, we provide a primer on the multidisciplinary concepts that underpin Bitcoin’s brilliant design, from Austrian economics to game theory, offering accessible explanations of the terms and ideas that can often intimidate newcomers. We then take you through the journey of a Bitcoin transaction – a vital, step-by-step narrative missing from most other educational material – that reveals how the network operates in practice. This is followed by a comprehensive discussion of how Bitcoin is “sound money” – demonstrating how it satisfies and exceeds all the historical criteria for a scarce, censorship-resistant currency. To contextualize Bitcoin’s durability, we also provide a fascinating narrative on path dependence and network effects, explaining why no “New Bitcoin” can ever supplant the original. Finally, we anchor these concepts in a recounting of Bitcoin’s rich and colorful history, from its cypherpunk beginnings to its evolution into a global phenomenon. 

We believe that this uniquely holistic and unified approach sets our content apart from all other Bitcoin teaching materials. By integrating these elements, our intent is to leave you not just informed but truly knowledgeable about what Bitcoin is, why it works, and why it matters. 

Bitcoin Is the Best Performing Asset in Recorded History

While our Bitcoin article focuses on its profound implications for individual liberties and its role as an effective countermeasure to a surveillance state, it’s worth taking a moment to address another aspect that cannot be ignored and likely attracts more people to Bitcoin than any other – its mindboggling financial performance. If the promise of “freedom money” doesn’t immediately resonate and convince you of the superiority and necessity of Bitcoin, then this will: Bitcoin is the single best-performing asset in all of recorded financial history, over any comparable 15-year period of its existence. 

To characterize an asset as “the best-performing in recorded history” is a singularly bold claim, but in the case of Bitcoin, it’s one that is empirically verifiable and factually accurate. Since its earliest trading days, Bitcoin’s Compound Annual Growth Rate (“CAGR”) has been over 136%, a figure that completely obliterates every major asset class in history. While the S&P 500 – the benchmark for stock market performance – has delivered an impressive long-term CAGR of approximately 10-14%, and tech stocks in the NASDAQ-100 have seen returns in the 20-30% range, these figures are utterly dwarfed by Bitcoin’s performance. When compared to traditional safe-haven assets like gold (1-7% CAGR) or real estate, the performance gap widens to an almost unimaginable degree. These figures demonstrate that Bitcoin is literally in a league of its own. 

This outperformance isn’t limited to asset classes; astonishingly, it extends to individual assets as well. While legendary high-growth stocks like Apple or NVIDIA have delivered phenomenal long-term returns in the high double digits, none has sustained a CAGR even remotely close to Bitcoin’s over any 15-year timeframe. Even renowned historical speculative bubbles like the 17th century Dutch Tulip Mania, which saw explosive short-term gains, ultimately failed to provide the long-term, sustained returns that Bitcoin has delivered. This fact is crucial because it thoroughly debunks the common mainstream narrative that Bitcoin is merely a fleeting bubble. Unlike historical anomalies, Bitcoin’s long-term track record proves it’s a new asset class with a unique and durable market value.

The Power of Absolute Scarcity

Bitcoin’s staggering returns, however, are not a fluke but the direct result of an economic reality that applies to no other asset or currency in history. Every asset and currency in human history, from fiat currencies printed “to infinity” by central banks to gold mined from the earth, shares one fundamental trait: its supply can be increased to meet increased demand. While assets like real estate or commodities face high production costs, a soaring market price will always, eventually, spur new supply – whether through new mines, land development, or oil wells. For instance, if gold’s price surges, it triggers costlier mining operations, tempering the price with fresh supply (though some quibble that unique assets like the Mona Lisa are fixed, their non-monetary nature makes this a pedantic distraction).  

Bitcoin stands alone as the solitary exception to this economic truth. Its supply isn’t just resistant to increase; it’s mathematically and programmatically fixed at 21 million coins, a cap no amount of demand, price spikes, or political edict can alter (despite nitpicking about theoretical hard forks, which would create a new, separate asset, not alter Bitcoin’s 21-million-coin fixed supply). This absolute, verifiable scarcity – unmatched by any other currency or asset to have ever existed, even those with capped supplies like certain altcoins (a cavil dismissed by Bitcoin’s pioneering dominance) – makes it the first and only asset in history with a supply completely inelastic to skyrocketing demand and price, cementing its revolutionary uniqueness. 

Bitcoin Is the Answer to Inflation

While Bitcoin’s fixed supply may sound abstract, we can easily understand its impact by discussing the concept of inflation. Inflation is what happens when prices for things go up because there’s more money available but not more goods and services to buy. This describes the situation when a government prints more fiat money. The additional money in circulation is now “chasing” the same total amount of goods and services because they don’t correspondingly increase simply because the government turned on the money printer, so prices must go up. The more money the government prints, the greater the imbalance between the money supply and available goods and services, so prices for everything begin to spiral out of control. Sound familiar? 

For example, imagine a small, isolated town with only one toy store. Everyone loves a special robot toy it sells. There are only 100 of these robots, but a new factory opens up nearby and suddenly everyone has more money at their disposal to spend. Before, a robot cost $20, and only a few people could afford one. Now that everyone has more money, they all rush to the toy store. Since there are still only 100 robots, the store owner realizes he can charge more because people are willing and able to pay more. The price of the robot might jump to $40 or even $60, even though the robot itself hasn’t changed. This is inflation in a nutshell: more money chasing the same limited number of goods and services, which drives up prices. 

What if the toy store owner could never restock more robots, no matter how much money people had or how high the price went? If the price of a robot hit a million dollars, there would still only be 100 robots in the world. This is exactly how Bitcoin works. It’s like a limited-edition collector’s item where no new ones can ever be created regardless of the increase in demand or price. This makes Bitcoin truly special and unique because its supply can’t be increased to meet demand.

Because Bitcoin’s supply is fixed, it’s immune to the kind of inflation that affects fiat currencies. When governments print more money, your savings don’t buy as much as they previously did. This is why people, companies, banks, hedge funds, institutions, sovereign wealth funds, and even nation-states are starting to view Bitcoin as a reliable asset in which to store value and protect wealth. They believe that because there will never be more than 21 million Bitcoins, it will hold its value over time, unlike fiat money that can be printed endlessly. They are starting to see it as a form of “digital gold” – a safe place for their wealth that can’t be devalued by an increase in supply – but even better than the original.

“It might make sense just to get some in case it catches on”

Bitcoin’s extraordinary financial track record, despite its well-documented volatility, isn’t a fluke. It is the market itself recognizing and rewarding the very attributes that comprise its philosophical core. Bitcoin’s immutable 21-million-coin hard cap guarantees absolute monetary scarcity for the first time in human history, protecting it from the inflation and debasement that plague fiat currencies. Its decentralized, permissionless nature ensures it is resistant to confiscation and censorship, making it the ultimate tool for financial sovereignty. The market is not simply betting on a digital currency; it is valuing these fundamental properties of “freedom money” and its ability to serve as the most pristine store of value the world has ever seen.

The pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, famously wrote in January 2009, “It might make sense just to get some in case it catches on.” In retrospect, that was the financial understatement of all time. The return on Bitcoin purchased when it first had a recorded exchange rate in October 2009 – albeit an informal one based on the electricity cost of mining Bitcoin – would have increased by approximately 14,922,941,900% or 149,229,420-fold. This means a purchase of a dollar’s worth of Bitcoin then would be worth about $161,010,690 at its all-time-high of roughly $123,000 on July 14, 2025. Although a repeat of that type of gain is exceedingly unlikely, it’s still good advice today.

Conclusion

We stand at a pivotal fork in monetary history, where the choice between Bitcoin’s decentralization and CBDCs’ centralized control will determine whether money serves as a means of individual freedom or an instrument of state surveillance. The recent congressional showdown proves this battle is no longer theoretical. It’s happening now, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. We are witnessing the rise of two fundamentally opposing visions: one where every transaction is a vote for privacy and self-determination and another where every transaction becomes a data point for government monitoring and control. The revolution in money is not coming – it’s here. Which vision of the future do you choose?  

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