Can Bitcoin Fix America’s Financial System? | Natalie Brunell

— Bitcoin's price stagnation in 2025 despite long-term outperformance over gold and other assets, with emphasis on multi-year returns rather than short-term cycles.

— The structural inevitability of continued money printing and fiscal deficits regardless of political administration, driven by debt obligations and interest expense.

— Bitcoin's dual role as both a store of value (base layer) and medium of exchange (via Lightning Network and secondary layers), with consumer behavior lagging technology availability.

— The Cantillon effect and wealth concentration: newly printed money reaches financial institutions and asset markets first, inflating costs before wage increases reach workers downstream.

— Stablecoins as on-ramps to Bitcoin adoption, particularly valuable in developing nations facing currency crises, though primarily used for spending rather than saving.

— Nation-state and institutional adoption barriers: central banks and governments currently favor gold over Bitcoin, but Bitcoin's censorship-resistant, permissionless properties position it as the long-term alternative to fiat debasement.

— Focus on long-term Bitcoin accumulation as a hedge against currency debasement rather than short-term price trading; the asset's 5–10 year performance vastly exceeds gold and traditional savings vehicles.

— Measure personal inflation exposure using monetary inflation (M2 expansion at ~7–8% annually) rather than official CPI; if your wage raises fall short of that rate, you are losing purchasing power and should allocate a portion of savings to non-debasable assets like Bitcoin.

— Recognize that stablecoins serve primarily as spending vehicles and on-ramps to Bitcoin, while Bitcoin itself is best used as a store of value; in countries with stable currencies (like the US), Bitcoin's savings case is stronger than its payments case.