(Source) The dome of the Swiss Federal Palace with the coats of arms of the cantons.
Fynn Kreuz is CEO of the Swiss bitcoin company, Counting.
independence
In 1291, three regions of the Holy Roman Empire separated and swore an oath that established the Swiss Confederation. This movement, born out of a longing for freedom and independence, began when the mythical national hero William Tell challenged a tyrannical bailiff named Albrecht Gessler.
Over 700 years later, Bitcoin was created to break away from the existing financial and monetary order. In its fight for freedom and independence, Bitcoin battles traditional finance, dishonest narratives, and the regulatory overreach of agencies like the SEC, led by Gary Gensler. They say history doesn’t repeat itself, it often rhymes. In this case, ironically, Gessler and Gensler literally rhyme.
Bitcoin and Switzerland share a fundamental philosophy of freedom and independence. At Numbrs, we believe Bitcoin is the best safe haven in the world and Switzerland is becoming the logical destination for storing the precious private keys. Rooted in its long tradition of security, stability and privacy, Switzerland will transform its financial landscape through Bitcoin and we will be at the forefront of this inevitable evolution.
tradition
Since its foundation, Switzerland has based its system on the basic principles of freedom and independence. An ingrained distrust of centralized power has given it a unique political system based on a loose association of states or cantons, each retaining their own parliaments, governments and courts. This loose union is held together by a weak central core, or federal government, which enacts decisions that are made in a system of national referendums. The general population remains the ultimate arbiter of political power and the guardian of the rule of law. This decentralized system of government has made it one of the safest, most stable, and most prosperous countries in the history of the world, as well as the world’s leading safe haven for wealth accumulation. Much of the world’s art, gold and gems are stored in the world’s most secure vaults in Switzerland.
Switzerland also has a long tradition of financial privacy. In the early 18th century, European Catholic monarchs gave their money to Swiss Protestant bankers to manage, and neither side wanted to know that they were doing business with each other. The Grand Council of Geneva thus established a tradition of banking secrecy that was enshrined in Swiss law in 1934. Subsequent attempts by governments around the world to confiscate assets and levy exorbitant taxes drew more and more capital to Switzerland. The reputation of the Swiss financial system has survived political crises, world wars and economic catastrophes.
revolution
Today, banking secrecy is all but dead in traditional finance, but Bitcoin has established a new and superior pseudonymous transaction system. Through cryptography, Bitcoin has enabled the creation, transmission, and storage of economic value in the digital sphere. It runs on a decentralized, borderless protocol managed by a global network of computers that are not owned by any single person, government, or legal entity. Its supply is immutable and subject to a known issuance plan that is a maximum of 21 million bitcoin.
It is far superior to cash as no government has the power to debase bitcoin by producing more of it. It is also superior to gold and other precious metals because its supply is predictable, the supply issuance schedule is fixed and immutable. Aside from its fixed supply, Bitcoin’s technical characteristics make it far more secure, convenient, and discreet than traditional stores of value. Enormous economic value can be easily divided and transferred cheaply, securely, and instantly across the planet in Bitcoin. The only infrastructure required to run the system is the internet.
Beyond practicality, Bitcoin breaks the traditional financial order by giving its users pristine ownership of their economic assets. There is no bank or financial intermediary that people have to trust to manage their livelihood. With an uncustodial wallet and private keys, each user acts as their own bank. This property of Bitcoin is revolutionary, among other things. You no longer have to trust banks or worry about governments enforcing financial censorship, confiscation or other draconian measures by banks.
The hard cap, technical characteristics and ownership of private keys make Bitcoin the world’s best safe-haven store of value. This financial revolution enabled the Bitcoin network to process over $13 trillion worth of transactions in 2021, taking its market cap to over $1 trillion. We believe this is just the beginning and increasing global instability and economic mismanagement will result in increased grassroots acceptance and momentum for Bitcoin. Society will eventually reach a tipping point and fiat will be completely discredited as a medium of exchange. Bitcoin will be the only logical and viable alternative. More and more nations will accept it as legal tender and make it the basis of a new monetary system.
future
To fully benefit from this financial revolution, users must store their bitcoins in non-custodial wallets that give them full control over their private keys. Recent events around the world have shown how governments can easily use banks and centralized exchanges to expropriate users of their wealth. Bitcoin puts people’s wealth outside of this overreach by using private keys. The possession and storage of private keys is therefore of fundamental importance for securing one’s own livelihood.
For this reason, Switzerland is the logical place to develop the most secure Bitcoin storage solution. With a long tradition of security and financial discretion, a Swiss no-custodial wallet secured by military-grade encryption in the heart of the Swiss Alps is the only way one’s bitcoins are fully protected and conveniently accessible.
For Switzerland to remain at the forefront of finance, it must adapt and continue its long tradition of financial security and excellence. We are pleased to see that the legal framework meets the requirements of a new digital money system and we will continue to strive to be a leader in the industry.
This is a guest post by Fynn Kreuz. The opinions expressed are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
