Introduction

How much control do you really have over your money?

Unless you’re hiding all your money under a mattress, you probably use a bank account as a means of storing wealth. And banks are great - they give you access to loans, credit, online purchases, and so much more. And generally, these institutions are considered reliable due to all the regulations in place to protect consumers. But when it comes to banks, most people forget the obvious truth: your money isn’t really there.

The number you see on your bank balance is just a representation of the money that’s supposed to be there in your account, but in reality, it’s just a number that is kept track of by a bank database.

Banks have created an illusion of control. They are using your money to make more money for themselves while making it seem as if it has never left your account.

Unfortunately, that’s how business works. The only way for you to truly have all your money is to have it in physical form, hidden in a safe. Most people today will not choose that option for the sake of convenience; it’s much easier to buy goods online using a credit card and have them delivered straight to your door, versus going to a store and buying them yourself using cash.

In a world driven by e-commerce and digital financial transactions, it seems like the only way to participate is by having a bank account that is capable of executing all of these online purchases.

But what if there was a way to have a digital financial presence without having to rely on banks?

What if you could have complete self-custody over all of your money in a permissionless environment that does not rely on any third party to approve or deny the validity of your assets?

What if the unbanked populations who are unable to open a bank account due to financial, geographical, or even political restrictions could have access to digital money in a world where everything is moving online?

That is the power of cryptocurrency.